Donaghy and College Refs

Many people are anxious to see how the Tim Donaghy scandal will affect college basketball, since so many people bet on college hoops. In fact, college hoops actually accounts for more money in terms of sports betting, due to the perception that NBA players do not play their hardest on certain nights. It is hard, thus, to bet that a team will win when their motivation isn’t there. For college players, the motivation of winning the championship is always there, and every player is playing to make it to the next level. There are no guaranteed paychecks. So for the average fan, whenever we lose our bracket pool, we can blame it on the refs. This will likely be the most lasting affect of the scandal.

John Clougherty, the head of the ACC officials, had this to say: “This will open up a situation for someone to say that, ‘I told you so. Those guys in stripes are less than honest. Any time a fan loses a bet, he’s going to say the official is on the take. It just worries me, whether you’re in the NBA or college, we’re going to have to fight an image problem. Our integrity has been damaged, without question.”

If you would like to complain about the refs to the guys in the stands next to you, or if you would like to defend the honest ones, then you can get NCAA Basketball tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 31, 2007 - Post a comment