If Sport Was Religion

If sport was religion, my faith would be waning right now.

In the last week, now former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was investigated for betting on games for the last two years, including ones he oversaw, and NFL star quarterback Michael Vick was indicted for his involvement in a dogfighting ring.

The majority of attention from sports fans, and casual observers in general, has been to the Vick story, and not just because that story broke first.

Vick is a star in America's most popular sport, and his alleged crime disturbs the vast majority of people for its disgusting content.

As horrible as Vick's alleged crime is, it is not at all related to his sport, and does not put his sport's integrity in jeopardy.

The Tim Donaghy situation goes well beyond that of Pete Rose, and is the closest the modern day sports world has to the Black Sox scandal of 1919, when the A.L. Champion White Sox threw the World Series against the Reds.

After a playoff that featured an horrendous series of blunders, particularly in the Suns-Spurs series, this is the last thing the NBA needed. Donaghy's alleged crimes put every call, every game, and every record the league has into question, and as much as Commissioner David Stern would like to believe that it is an isolated incident, nothing of the sort can be taken at face value anymore.

Stern, certainly a better commissioner than his counterparts in the other leagues, needs to issue a full blown investigation into all facets of the league, not just referees. No aspect of the league can receive the benefit of the doubt if the NBA wants to repair its image, and the league with the biggest crackdown on gambling needs to prove to the fans that it is a clean game.

Sport is not a religion. But if Stern wants his paying patrons to believe again, he'll need to perform a miracle.