http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/349861.html
Scandal has NBA refs on a mission
By Scott Howard-Cooper - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
LOS ANGELES -- Connected by scandal, joined in anger, bonded with determination, they gathered in a ballroom tucked into the far corner of a hallway, their public spectacle being addressed privately.
NBA referees met down an escalator, past two security guards checking specially issued IDs, and beyond double doors. The National Basketball Referees Foundation, the charitable arm of the union, held its second annual convention last weekend in Century City. It was their refuge, complete with the stipulation that nothing from the Westside room could be made public.
Some 40 NBA referees attended, about two-thirds of the work force that will begin calling exhibition games in October, with approximately 25 more from the college and high school ranks. Some spouses sat in. Billy Hunter, the leader of the National Basketball Players Association, participated in a panel. So did experts on public relations, conditioning and communications.
Tim Donaghy, however, did not attend.
Saving housekeeping from having to clean a chalk outline off the ballroom floor and investigators from having to take the statement of "I didn't see a thing" from several dozen witnesses, Donaghy was elsewhere as former colleagues met to talk about living with his crime. Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felonies involving gambling on games, some that he worked and others involving inside information. Those left behind, who didn't commit a crime, prepare to pay, too.
Privately, the refs figure they won't make it through the first quarter of the first game before catching the wrath of some fan, thanks to Donaghy's actions. Then again, they didn't have to wait even that long for the fallout to start. Lamell McMorris, the union director, said Cadillac and Merrill Lynch backed out of deals to sponsor the convention because of the gambling scandal that broke about a month before.
"They were very clear," McMorris said. "That it was in direct relationship to the Donaghy matter."
A Cadillac representative said the company never signed an agreement with the NBRF and that deciding against sponsoring the weekend came because it would not have a new line of cars in time to promote it at the event, as originally planned. A Merrill Lynch spokesman said, "We're not aware of any sponsorship" that ever existed at the corporate level.
Radioactive to corporate America or not, the cross section of relative newcomers and the most veteran and respected officials in the game were accepting of the new world waiting for them. No one denied the national perception problem, even though Donaghy remains the only referee implicated. If anything, most of those in the ballroom wanted to publicly stand up for the integrity of the organization, if not for a league rule that prohibits NBA refs from giving interviews without approval.
Speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal, one referee said of the membership: "They're angry. No question about it. But there's also a strong feeling that this group can move forward."
McMorris called the mood "strong but defiant." Defiant about not letting the actions of a former referee define them.
"No doubt about it," McMorris said. "The situation was addressed and dealt with. There was a significant amount of anger and frustration. But I think the ability to gather everyone and galvanize around a purpose and to communicate and talk very forthrightly and directly about it among your colleagues and peers is a very positive thing. It's almost a healing ointment. It's therapeutic."
Referees, many who didn't like the abrasive Donaghy even before the scandal, previously had talked about the crisis only in smaller circles. Coming to Los Angeles was their first chance as a group to begin the healing process and to move forward.
Even behind the scenes, they were professional and often in good spirits from the start, no matter the dark cloud hovering. Going off the schedule, the NBA referees met alone in a separate room before the official opening remarks in what one attendee termed a call to show the public a group with integrity and work with the league to restore a positive image for the profession. As they filed into the ballroom for the beginning of the convention, several officials, wanting to make everyone feel welcome, walked around the room introducing themselves to their younger counterparts from the college and high school game.
The first panel: crisis management. Strictly a coincidence, organizers said, though appropriate.
"I think that the referees right now are shocked -- they're angry," the panel's moderator, Larry Kopp, the president of the TASC group in New York, said later. "They're going through those periods of anger, denial, anger again. As one of the referees mentioned, a lot of what we're talking about now in dealing with this crisis in the public realm goes against the grain of who these men and women are. They're not inclined nor are they willing to discuss their calls, if you will.
"Now they're dealing with a public crisis of confidence in their field and the league as a whole, and they're forced to publicly defend themselves and deal with this issue in a very, very public manner. That's not in their nature."
Other topics followed into Saturday evening and picked up again Sunday morning for another series of panels. The convention ended with closing remarks and another round of a call to arms to not have Donaghy become the face of the referees, knowing full well that the outcome can only be decided by the public, beyond the sanctuary of the ballroom.
About the writer: The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard- cooper@sacbee.com.
Scandal has NBA refs on a mission
By Scott Howard-Cooper - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
LOS ANGELES -- Connected by scandal, joined in anger, bonded with determination, they gathered in a ballroom tucked into the far corner of a hallway, their public spectacle being addressed privately.
NBA referees met down an escalator, past two security guards checking specially issued IDs, and beyond double doors. The National Basketball Referees Foundation, the charitable arm of the union, held its second annual convention last weekend in Century City. It was their refuge, complete with the stipulation that nothing from the Westside room could be made public.
Some 40 NBA referees attended, about two-thirds of the work force that will begin calling exhibition games in October, with approximately 25 more from the college and high school ranks. Some spouses sat in. Billy Hunter, the leader of the National Basketball Players Association, participated in a panel. So did experts on public relations, conditioning and communications.
Tim Donaghy, however, did not attend.
Saving housekeeping from having to clean a chalk outline off the ballroom floor and investigators from having to take the statement of "I didn't see a thing" from several dozen witnesses, Donaghy was elsewhere as former colleagues met to talk about living with his crime. Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felonies involving gambling on games, some that he worked and others involving inside information. Those left behind, who didn't commit a crime, prepare to pay, too.
Privately, the refs figure they won't make it through the first quarter of the first game before catching the wrath of some fan, thanks to Donaghy's actions. Then again, they didn't have to wait even that long for the fallout to start. Lamell McMorris, the union director, said Cadillac and Merrill Lynch backed out of deals to sponsor the convention because of the gambling scandal that broke about a month before.
"They were very clear," McMorris said. "That it was in direct relationship to the Donaghy matter."
A Cadillac representative said the company never signed an agreement with the NBRF and that deciding against sponsoring the weekend came because it would not have a new line of cars in time to promote it at the event, as originally planned. A Merrill Lynch spokesman said, "We're not aware of any sponsorship" that ever existed at the corporate level.
Radioactive to corporate America or not, the cross section of relative newcomers and the most veteran and respected officials in the game were accepting of the new world waiting for them. No one denied the national perception problem, even though Donaghy remains the only referee implicated. If anything, most of those in the ballroom wanted to publicly stand up for the integrity of the organization, if not for a league rule that prohibits NBA refs from giving interviews without approval.
Speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal, one referee said of the membership: "They're angry. No question about it. But there's also a strong feeling that this group can move forward."
McMorris called the mood "strong but defiant." Defiant about not letting the actions of a former referee define them.
"No doubt about it," McMorris said. "The situation was addressed and dealt with. There was a significant amount of anger and frustration. But I think the ability to gather everyone and galvanize around a purpose and to communicate and talk very forthrightly and directly about it among your colleagues and peers is a very positive thing. It's almost a healing ointment. It's therapeutic."
Referees, many who didn't like the abrasive Donaghy even before the scandal, previously had talked about the crisis only in smaller circles. Coming to Los Angeles was their first chance as a group to begin the healing process and to move forward.
Even behind the scenes, they were professional and often in good spirits from the start, no matter the dark cloud hovering. Going off the schedule, the NBA referees met alone in a separate room before the official opening remarks in what one attendee termed a call to show the public a group with integrity and work with the league to restore a positive image for the profession. As they filed into the ballroom for the beginning of the convention, several officials, wanting to make everyone feel welcome, walked around the room introducing themselves to their younger counterparts from the college and high school game.
The first panel: crisis management. Strictly a coincidence, organizers said, though appropriate.
"I think that the referees right now are shocked -- they're angry," the panel's moderator, Larry Kopp, the president of the TASC group in New York, said later. "They're going through those periods of anger, denial, anger again. As one of the referees mentioned, a lot of what we're talking about now in dealing with this crisis in the public realm goes against the grain of who these men and women are. They're not inclined nor are they willing to discuss their calls, if you will.
"Now they're dealing with a public crisis of confidence in their field and the league as a whole, and they're forced to publicly defend themselves and deal with this issue in a very, very public manner. That's not in their nature."
Other topics followed into Saturday evening and picked up again Sunday morning for another series of panels. The convention ended with closing remarks and another round of a call to arms to not have Donaghy become the face of the referees, knowing full well that the outcome can only be decided by the public, beyond the sanctuary of the ballroom.
About the writer: The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard- cooper@sacbee.com.
