The Portland Tribune's Dwight Jaynes hears the referees' complaints about their allegedly poor oversight, and wonders if it isn't really a case of most of them chafing at any kind of accountablity at all. For years, he writes, they have been "Lone Rangers," essentially doing whatever they please without fearing the repurcussions. And that period, Jaynes writes, is over: "Oakland Raiders' Managing Partner Al Davis, a bit of a rogue himself, was asked about the NBA's referee scandal during a news conference recently and his answer was 'I dont worry about gambling, I worry about bias.' A referee trying to manipulate a point spread late in a game to cover a bet hes made somewhere? I don't think there's any reason to worry about it. I don't think it's going to happen very often. But officials making certain calls because of a grudge against a player or a team, yes, I've seen it. Officials so apparently in awe of a certain player they're reluctant to call a foul or violation on him? Seen it many times. Referees with obvious feuds going on against certain players or teams? Darned right. You've seen it, too, if youve watched the league for any time at all. I dont think the league, until recently, realized how much this affected its fan base. This sort of game-to-game bias, as much as any other thing, has turned millions of fans away from the league. I hear it constantly from disenchanted NBA fans. And that's too bad. NBA referees are tons better than college referees. But over the years, the league let them enforce the rules in a haphazard manner -- often based on such precepts as rookie or veteran player, superstar or scrub, great team or cellar dweller -- and it has obscured how well most of them can call a game."
Playing basketball in face masks 101, from Basketbawful. Hilarious, maybe kind of PG-13, and with a life lesson to boot: "I left the hospital with two black eyes, 28 stitches, and a freaky mask to wear in case, as the doctor put it, I was 'stupid enough to want to play sports before the nose heals.' Which of course is exactly what I did. Me and some buddies went to the co-recreational gym a few nights later, 'just to shoot around,' and ended up in a five-on-five game against four brutish dudes and a girl. Since I was injured, my friends agreed that I should guard the girl, since she was most likely the least physical of the five. Two plays into the game, however, she whacked me hard across the face while going for the ball. Fortunately I had my mask on, right? Wrong. I was too embarrassed to wear it. The next day, I had to go back to the nose doctor and explain why my nose was now sitting sideways on my face. He responded by shoving a couple wooden sticks into my nose and cracking the bone back into place. Good times. My point? If you break your nose and choose to play hoops, just wear the damn mask."
I'm not sure what to make of the Rafer Alston arrest story. I would, however, like to put all GMs on notice. When police issues strike, the whole "we're looking forward to getting all the facts" line is too heavily recycled. Time to find something new and more convincing. I'd recommend something like "Are you sure it's that Rafer Alston?"
Greg Oden takes us on a video tour of his mom's apartment. Tiny apartment overwhelmed with big young men, and big bags of free Nike gear.
Insight into the recruiting of Maurice Williams. The NBA would have been more fun to watch if somehow Cleveland could have convinced him to take less money to play alongside LeBron James.
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