I don’t gamble, never have. Well, wait a minute. I once went to the Mohawk raceway with a new girlfriend. She suggested we bet on the ponies. Not wanting to turn her off I ended up placing three bets, all for horses to place. At the end of the night I was up about three dollars. That was the end of the gambling career. As for the girlfriend, well, I’ll just let your imagination go wild.

In any case I’ve never thought much about wagering my own money. I don’t bet; don’t buy lottery tickets, no nothing. The house always wins. I just take solace that I’m still up those three dollars.

So if you don’t gamble Phil, what do you do? Basketball, “Piston basketball” if I was ever asked that question. When I’m not farming, writing, broadcasting or speaking in public, I’m following every move in the National Basketball Association.

So last week when news reports broke that referee Tim Donaghy is being investigated by the FBI for allegedly betting on games he had officiated over the last two seasons. The FBI was looking at whether the referee had made calls to affect the point spread in games. He is also being looked at for wagering in those games or having friends who were in on it. For me, it was a huge deal. For the NBA and big money sports leagues in North American the implications are ominous.

Simply put if the allegations are true, maybe the NBA is more akin to the WWF, WWE or the latest reincarnation of professional wrestling. That might be a stretch but the point is made. If you can’t trust that the games are really games and the fix is not in, it isn’t real. Further to that we may find out that Donaghy is the only bad apple in the NBA orchard. What if others whether they be referees, coaches or players are in on it. The economic impact of North America’s sports leagues may lie in the balance.

In Ontario Sports Line offers customer ways to bet on professional sports matches around the world. That is except the NBA. I remember the time when Toronto was going to get a franchise; NBA commissioner David Stern had a real problem with Ontario’s sports line offering customers opportunities to bet on NBA games. That was stopped I believe under the tenure of former Premier Bob Rae. That paved the way for the Toronto Raptors to arrive in 1995.

Betting on basketball, especially in the United States is big business. You can bet on the over/under, point spread, every quarter, every game, total points, the whole nine yards. In a recent ESPN article featuring Brandon Lang, a sports handicapper who gives wagering advice said on any given night with 8 NBA games going, there is $50 million bet, legally and illegally. I don’t know the figure for Canada. However, I’m sure when you include the NHL in the picture sports betting is off the chart.

At the best of times this seedy underside of society is murky water. This is the way Brandon Lang in the ESPN article describes the Donaghy misadventure.

“The mob has had its hands in fixing and shaving games going back to the late ’40s. They’ve always been under question for getting teams to shave points. The fact that they finally got to an official — well, at least an official who got caught — isn’t surprising. Listen, this is just the first guy to get caught. I think, without question, there are more officials out there who have shaved points. I guarantee you there are. This is just the first guy to get caught.
And it’s going to be fascinating to see how this all plays out because [if the allegations are true, it’s my opinion that] he’s going to cut a deal and rat on everybody. And it was a mob bookie that supposedly turned him in. That was the worst thing they ever could have done. They turned him in, now he’s going to give them all the evidence, spill everything and then go in the witness protection program. I don’t get it. He was their meal ticket. Whatever risk they had with him, turning him in was a bad move. Now he’s going to be dropping dimes on them.” (Brandon Lang, taking a question from ESPN’s Wayne Drehs July 23, 2007)

At big mess, you bet. Over the years I’ve enjoyed many a Piston game with fans from across southwestern Ontario. However, over time the high cost of going to games has limited me. Now, with a bit of fraud in the mix, I can see where all that money is surely at risk. Don’t think the Raptors won’t feel it too. Knowing what’s real in professional sport has certainly become clouded. The economic impact of the Donaghy transgression will surely be felt in the months to come.