Donaghy scandal running deeper?

[LoungeLizard]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381842,00.html

At the same time disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy was calling gamblers to offer inside tips and place bets, he also was making 134 phone calls to fellow ref Scott Foster.

This just keeps getting worse for the NBA. Whether Foster was in on this or not, this is just bad for the perception of fans.

 

[NewMonkey]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381842,00.html

This just keeps getting worse for the NBA. Whether Foster was in on this or not, this is just bad for the perception of fans.

If Foster goes down, it boosts Donaghy's credibility, which is going to make his other allegations seem more likely. Stern repeatedly made it sound like Donaghy was absolutely the only ref involved.

 

[jacobdrj]

Well, I think this is going where everybody THOUGHT it was going to go...

Who works alone?

 

[est.1999]

stern has gotta go already. I hate that little prick

 

[Warhawk]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381842,00.html



This just keeps getting worse for the NBA. Whether Foster was in on this or not, this is just bad for the perception of fans.

From the article:

Calls between Foster, 41, and Donaghy, also 41, took place immediately before and after 54 of the 57 games Donaghy officiated from the beginning of the 2006-2007 season until mid-March, when his role in the gambling operation apparently ended. Records also show a vast majority of the calls came in the hours before or after games officiated by Donaghy or Foster.

Donaghy’s phone records for one of those days, Dec. 30, obtained by Fox News, reveal the following:

— 10:34 a.m. – Donaghy calls Foster.
— 10:35 a.m. – Donaghy calls another referee.
— 10:36 a.m. – Donaghy calls Martino, the “middleman” between him and his bookie.
— 10:39 a.m. – Donaghy calls Foster.
— 5:15 p.m. – Donaghy calls Martino.
— 5:23 p.m. – Donaghy calls Martino.
— 7 p.m. – Donaghy referees game between the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. The Magic win in a rout, 97-68.
— 8 p.m. – Foster referees a game between the Toronto Raptors and the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis. The Grizzlies win 110-104. Foster and Donaghy speak 12 minutes after the game.
— 11:27 p.m. – Foster and Donaghy speak for at least the fourth time of the day.
— 11:38 p.m. – Foster and Donaghy speak for at least the fifth time of the day.

The following day, Donaghy spoke with Foster at 1:37 p.m., for two minutes. One minute later, at 1:40 p.m., Donaghy spoke to Martino, also for two minutes.

On a number of other days:

— Donaghy placed three calls to Foster before Donaghy refereed the Jan. 19, 2007, game between the New Orleans Hornets and the San Antonio Spurs. The next day, he called Foster three more times.
— On Jan. 27, Donaghy had the day off, but he called Foster five times, each time for no more than two minutes, before Foster refereed a game that night between the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks.
— On Jan. 18, the next day, Donaghy and Foster spoke three more times.
— On Feb. 2, before Donaghy refereed a game in Boston between the Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, he made three more calls to Foster. He called Foster again after the game, then immediately called Martino.
Only three game days do not show calls to Foster:
— Nov. 29, when the L.A. Clippers hosted Memphis;
— Jan. 22, when Donaghy was in Toronto and, according to court records, used calling cards to place all of his calls;
— Jan. 24, when Cleveland hosted Philadelphia and Donaghy used the same calling card. On Jan. 23, however, Donaghy’s cell phone records show two calls to Foster.

Donaghy might logically communicate with other referees he was officiating with, and there are many such calls in Donaghy’s records. But Donaghy and Foster did not referee a single game together during the 2006-2007 season.

Donaghy also had three other cell phone numbers registered in his name, all of which he used. But he called Foster using the phone the feds say he designated for mostly gambling-related use.

The short calls with Foster stopped abruptly in mid March 2007, when Donaghy is believed to have stopped his gambling.

 

[nbrans]

On Jan. 27, Donaghy had the day off, but he called Foster five times, each time for no more than two minutes, before Foster refereed a game that night between the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks.

ESPN box score for that game here. Kings lost 106-104, free throws even.

Kingsfans game thread here

VF21 play by play here

Seems like there were some no-calls late, but nothing too fishy at first glance.

 

[NewMonkey]

ESPN box score for that game here. Kings lost 106-104, free throws even.

Kingsfans game thread here

VF21 play by play here

Seems like there were some no-calls late, but nothing too fishy at first glance.

Wasn't Donaghy betting the over and under on these games? There were 51 free throws shot in that game, which would seem to be more than are normal.

 

[xrzn]

Wasn't Donaghy betting the over and under on these games? There were 51 free throws shot in that game, which would seem to be more than are normal.

The o/u on that game was 195.5 at game time. With that many free throws shot, it does look somewhat suspicious.

 

[Kings Faithful]

No overall the game doesn't look to fishy. What looks fishy is the fact that the Mavericks made a late run in that game helped by those few no calls. I'm sure there we alot of other teams affected by these ref collaberations but im still bitter that the Kings seem to always be one of them....

 

[Bricklayer]

What we would need to know here is how often Donaghy called Foster on other days -- when neither was working, during the off season, whatever. Was this guy a best friend of his that he called all the time? Or did he only become a best friend right before and after game time.

What is also interesting here is that if Donaghy was supposedly selling everybody down the river a couple of months ago, so far as I know he did not finger Foster, who apparently might be the one guy he could legitimately nab. Honor amng thieves?

 

[Capt. Factorial]

What we would need to know here is how often Donaghy called Foster on other days -- when neither was working, during the off season, whatever. Was this guy a best friend of his that he called all the time? Or did he only become a best friend right before and after game time.

From the Fox News article linked several places above:

"The majority of the phone calls lasted no more than two minutes and occurred prior to and after games Donaghy officiated and on which he admits wagering."

"Records also show a vast majority of the calls came in the hours before or after games officiated by Donaghy or Foster."

It's hard to interpret "vast majority" but it sure sounds like they became good buddies for about 2 minutes before and after every basketball game (54 out of 57) Donaghy reffed.

Foster better find a good attorney.

 

[uolj]

That, and the fact that the calls stopped entirely at the same time Donaghy stopped betting means that those calls are almost certainly related to the gambling scheme.

I'm not sure what else we can tell from it at this point. Was the other ref even aware of what Donaghy was doing? Was he giving information, getting information, both or neither?

What is also interesting here is that if Donaghy was supposedly selling everybody down the river a couple of months ago, so far as I know he did not finger Foster, who apparently might be the one guy he could legitimately nab. Honor amng thieves?

Yeah, I was wondering that, too. Although, who knows if he told everything he knew about Foster to the Feds but left it out of the document he made public.

 

[tradepeja]

What we would need to know here is how often Donaghy called Foster on other days -- when neither was working, during the off season, whatever. Was this guy a best friend of his that he called all the time? Or did he only become a best friend right before and after game time.

Read the article. Or any of the posts above. He only called Foster around game times and the calls quit as soon as his gambling ties quit. They aren't friends. But I do find it sort of funny he wouldn't point out Foster, although he obviously has alluded to other nameless refs being in on it as well.

I guess the only thing worse than a liar is a snitch.

 

[Bricklayer]

Read the article. Or any of the posts above. He only called Foster around game times and the calls quit as soon as his gambling ties quit. They aren't friends. But I do find it sort of funny he wouldn't point out Foster, although he obviously has alluded to other nameless refs being in on it as well.

I guess the only thing worse than a liar is a snitch.

You need to reread it -- the last point about the short calls stopping is the only one actually addressed by the article. It does not tell us whether they continued to talk on longer calls. Does not tell us at any point if they were talking at other times and other places, consistently over the years, or not at all except the short calls. We've gto suspicious calls, but the article is nto clear aat all on whether there were also non-suspicious calls. It is obviously far more eyebrow raising if the two refs had no real contact at all except for a flurry of short calls around gametimes for a year than if they have been friends for the past 5 years and talking every day (although obviously being freinds would be a good way for the cheating to get spread).

Note 1: Calls between Foster, 41, and Donaghy, also 41, took place immediately before and after 54 of the 57 games Donaghy officiated from the beginning of the 2006-2007 season until mid-March, when his role in the gambling operation apparently ended. Records also show a vast majority of the calls came in the hours before or after games officiated by Donaghy or Foster.
-- so that tells us about the suspicious calls that happened
-- it does NOT tell us whether there were other non-suspicious calls

Note 2: The short calls with Foster stopped abruptly in mid March 2007, when Donaghy is believed to have stopped his gambling.
-- the short calls stopped -- in other words the suspicious ones
-- but did ALL calls stop between the men? Were there even other calls to stop? Again, not addressed.


Have to read these things carefully -- the implication of the article is certainly that the men were virtual strangers and all of a sudden a whole bunch of short suspicious calls around tainted games cropped up -- which would be highly highly suspicious to say the least. But its only an implication based on what the article tells us. If your friend Joe robs a bank at 2:15, and I have phone records showing that he called you at 2:10 that same day, I can't just haul you in court and say you must have been involved unless I also show that he wasn't calling you every other day whether he was robbiing a bank that day or not.

 

[tradepeja]

If your friend Joe robs a bank at 2:15, and I have phone records showing that he called you at 2:10 that same day, I can't just haul you in court and say you must have been involved unless I also show that he wasn't calling you every other day whether he was robbiing a bank that day or not.

But if your friend Joe is robbing a bank every day, and he calls you before, or you call him before each robbery, then that's pretty good probable cause. I just think the whole "friends" thing is extremely moot as I remember several refs saying he was a loner and never socialized with any of the other refs.

I will say, my judgment might be clouded as I would love nothing more than to see news of a whole conspiracy that spans back to the 2002 playoffs or prior to explode into public view.


Just looked for the quote about him being anti-social....can't find it yet but I know its real. Anyone have it?

 

[Kingzrool]

You need to reread it -- the last point about the short calls stopping is the only one actually addressed by the article. It does not tell us whether they continued to talk on longer calls. Does not tell us at any point if they were talking at other times and other places, consistently over the years, or not at all except the short calls. We've gto suspicious calls, but the article is nto clear aat all on whether there were also non-suspicious calls. It is obviously far more eyebrow raising if the two refs had no real contact at all except for a flurry of short calls around gametimes for a year than if they have been friends for the past 5 years and talking every day (although obviously being freinds would be a good way for the cheating to get spread).

Note 1: Calls between Foster, 41, and Donaghy, also 41, took place immediately before and after 54 of the 57 games Donaghy officiated from the beginning of the 2006-2007 season until mid-March, when his role in the gambling operation apparently ended. Records also show a vast majority of the calls came in the hours before or after games officiated by Donaghy or Foster.
-- so that tells us about the suspicious calls that happened
-- it does NOT tell us whether there were other non-suspicious calls

Note 2: The short calls with Foster stopped abruptly in mid March 2007, when Donaghy is believed to have stopped his gambling.
-- the short calls stopped -- in other words the suspicious ones
-- but did ALL calls stop between the men? Were there even other calls to stop? Again, not addressed.


Have to read these things carefully -- the implication of the article is certainly that the men were virtual strangers and all of a sudden a whole bunch of short suspicious calls around tainted games cropped up -- which would be highly highly suspicious to say the least. But its only an implication based on what the article tells us. If your friend Joe robs a bank at 2:15, and I have phone records showing that he called you at 2:10 that same day, I can't just haul you in court and say you must have been involved unless I also show that he wasn't calling you every other day whether he was robbiing a bank that day or not.

Your profession becomes obvious at times.

 

[Superman]

Wasn't Donaghy betting the over and under on these games? There were 51 free throws shot in that game, which would seem to be more than are normal.

Meh; 25 free throws isn't an inordinate amount of free throws for a team to shoot over the course of a normal NBA game. And it was 27-24 in favor of the Mavs, so neither team had an advantage. There also wasn't a considerable increase in the fourth quarter.

Doesn't really seem all that suspicious to me. Of course, with Donaghy involved, there's every reason to believe that there were some improprieties.

I have no trouble believing that Donaghy wasn't the only referee breaking the rules, and if he was able to get caught up in gambling and such, why couldn't anyone else? Stern's attempt to pass this off as an isolated incident, calling Donaghy a rogue referee who didn't work with anyone else in the NBA is just PR. He doesn't know because the NBA hasn't conducted any real investigations on the matter.

 

[beb0p]

Donaghy also had three other cell phone numbers registered in his name, all of which he used. But he called Foster using the phone the feds say he designated for mostly gambling-related use.

I find this sentence curious. As reported, Donaghy called Foster more than his own bookie. And as reported earlier, the opertation is set up in such a way that Donaghy passed all of his insider info through his bookie and his bookie only.

So if Donaghy called Foster more than Martino, and assuming all the calls with Foster were not about gambling, then the feds could not say Donaghy designated that phone for mostly gambling-related use.

Just thinking out loud...

 

[Gargamel]

What we would need to know here is how often Donaghy called Foster on other days -- when neither was working, during the off season, whatever. Was this guy a best friend of his that he called all the time? Or did he only become a best friend right before and after game time.

What is also interesting here is that if Donaghy was supposedly selling everybody down the river a couple of months ago, so far as I know he did not finger Foster, who apparently might be the one guy he could legitimately nab. Honor amng thieves?

Unless they can get transcripts of the conversations, we can bet that if/when Foster is questioned, his lawyer will portray him as an unwitting victim whom Donaghy milked for info about other games w/o his knowledge of Donaghy's actions.