In a Few Years

In a few years, when we look back at the week that was in professional sports, we may realize that this week has had a profound impact on the sporting world more than we do today. In a stunning allegation, gambling's favourite son, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, claimed that the outcomes of past playoff games were fixed by "company-men" refs who called the games in order to see the series extend to a game 7, and therefore, give the league the extra ratings it needed.

Many writers who covered one of the series in question, the West Final between the Kings and Lakers in 2002, said at the time that the calls in Game 6 were "offensively bad". Whether one believes the disgraced referee now or not, revelations like this, when tied to recent history, are too much of a coincidence to ignore.

If, in the next few weeks and months, more revelations of this sort come out against the NBA, the NFL's SpyGate will seem like minor shoplifting when compared to the game fixing the NBA will be accused of. How can we know it's not going on now? The league already admitted they wanted a Celtics-Lakers Final before the playoffs began; now we have one. Coincidence? When so much circumstancial evidence is presented, it's difficult to give the league a free pass. Let's hope the league steps up and tries to clean up after itself like baseball did after allegations of steroids.

In other (seemingly) more important news, CBC did not renew the famous "Hockey Theme" song, leaving the door open for rival CTV to purchase it for TSN and for its Olympic coverage in 2010. Besides my obvious joy from this (being an intern at TSN this fall), I can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of the end for hockey on Canada's public broadcaster. Will CTV go after Don Cherry next? Bob Cole? And when will the next eventual bid for full broadcasting rights be? One year, two tops?

In a few years, we may look back at June 2008 and pinpoint this week as the time that the NBA hit rock bottom and the death of hockey on CBC. And if not, it's just another week in sports.

One of the Funniest Things I Have Read In A Long While

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=gallo/080604

The NHL's "secret" response to Tiger Woods' comment that no one watches hockey anymore.

Time for a New Obsession

Well, another hockey season is in the books, and, for once, the best team in the regular season was the best team in the playoffs, and, as a result, no one can deny that the Detroit Red Wings were the NHL's best in 2007-2008. As much as everyone wanted to pick Pittsburgh, Montreal, or (gulp!) San Jose, the better team won. And we can't even complain that they rode a hot goalie or bullied their way to the Cup (ah, the Ducks): Detroit played smart, classy hockey and deserved to win.

But there is no hockey until training camp starts in September (yes, only 3 months from now), so now we must focus our attention on other sports.

First, the NBA.

Crap. Their final (heretofor referred to as "Finals") begins tonight and as I write this the Celtics lead by 5 with 5 minutes left in the first half. I guess that means I can turn the channel back in 90 minutes and very little will change. Any sport that has a referee with gambling and Mafia connections and another who was openly hostile against one particular player one year - Tim Duncan last year - then suspended for such hostility, then referees a series featuring that exact player the following year has some serious issues with fair play. Forget the SpyGate and steroid hearings, U.S. Congress; get your attention towards the unfair competition at hand in the NBA. Maybe that's why the league got their dream Finals match-up...

Okay, well, there's always baseball. But it's June, and virtually nothing is decided now. Oh, except that the Blue Jays are an average team and will likely stay that way throughout the rest of the year. Next.

The NFL season is still 3 months away, and hockey is 4. Maybe it's time I brush up on my CFL knowledge.

Or I could just stop watching sports...

Hmm...

How many teams are in the CFL again?