by Tom Matlack
A Betting
Tom Matlack talks to disgracedNBA referee Tim Donaghy aboutbetting on games he refereed,gambling in America, and the roadto recovery and redemption.
My column (and this magazine, for that matter)isn’t about Hollywood images of manhood. I willcertainly write about and interview plenty of guys
marines to athletes to guys working in the trenchesof poverty and abuse. But to me, manhood andgoodness are not about getting it right from the
you’re going to do about it.As my grandmother told me when I called her shortly after being tossed out of the house fourteenyears ago for being a drunk and a liar, “Tom, it’snot how you fall in life that counts; it’s how youpick yourself up.”So when I say everyone has a story, I meaneveryone. I am particularly interested in guyswho made huge mistakes in their lives. Are theynow following my grandmother’s advice? To me,manhood is about redemption. It’s about admittingyou screwed up. I’m always willing to listen to guyswho others might criticize me for talking to, even just to learn what not to do.When I spoke to convicted murderers at SingSing, I asked them what moment made them aman. I was moved to tears by their courage insharing their stories with me. Given the mistakesI’ve made in my life, I’m in no position to judgeothers. But I am in a position to be inspired. That’s
inspire you as a reader. So, fasten your seatbelts.It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
“So, fasten your seatbelts. It’sgoing to be a bumpy ride.”
to explore a manhood problem that no one seemsto want to talk about. We’ll get to sex, drugs, andWall Street in future columns. But why doesn’tanyone want to talk about gambling? We won’tlegalize the drugs that are destroying our inner cities and causing Mexico to be burned to theground, yet when it comes to casinos and lotteries,the government just keeps expanding in hopes of covering budget shortfalls. We’re all too willing toignore the fact that we’re generating tax incomeby encouraging addictive behavior, largely amongthose least economically able to “play.”Along with Pete Rose, former NBA referee TimDonaghy is among the most famous compulsivegamblers caught participating in professionalsports. Many of my friends urged me not to givehim the time of day, but I wanted to talk to Tim
NBA referees can unfairly impact the outcome of a game.Donaghy worked as an NBA referee from 1994 to
season games and 20 playoff games. He resigned
LeBron James, or a Dwyane Wade, or a DwightHoward, the whistle’s blown right away. It’s justway, way too subjective, and they need to narrow
back.
MATLACK:
Who do you think the NBA wants to
DONAGHY:
You know, I don’t really believethat they have a stake in who they want to win the
go up into that sixth and hopefully seventh game,to where globally there’s a tremendous amount atstake.
MATLACK:
: So tell me a little bit about your story, and how you got in trouble.
DONAGHY:
Well, certainly I got in troublebecause I suffer from a gambling addiction, and
I crossed the line I should havenever been near.
I was betting on the NBA, and eventually on NBAteams that I refereed. And the reason that it’sall exposed is that a friend of mine was passingthe information along to people associated withorganized crime, and when I decided I wanted tostop betting, the people who were getting thesepicks, and making millions of dollars off the picks,certainly didn’t want to stop, and they picked me upin Philadelphia and basically threatened to exposeme to the NBA or have somebody visit my wifeand kids in Florida. So I participated, giving themthe picks, and this whole thing was heard over Gambino wiretap, and the operation was basicallyexposed. I became a cooperating witness for the government against people associated withorganized crime, and also the culture that existedwithin the NBA.
MATLACK:
So, at that point, once they werethreatening you, you started actually making callsbased on making sure that the bets that they weremaking were going to win?
DONAGHY:
No, it was never making calls in thegame. In fact, there were times when they madereference to why I made certain calls against theteams I told them to bet. The bottom line is, I wasfrom the league on July 9, 2007, amidst reports of an investigation by the FBI into allegations that he
seasons. On August 15, 2007, Donaghy pled guiltyto two federal charges related to the investigation
prison. He published a memoir, Personal Foul, inwhich he claims that NBA referees often let their biases get in the way of doing their jobs.
MATLACK:
I’m a big Celtics fan, so I’m somewhat
close and personal, watching the refereeing, andit just seems like it’s a real problem in the gameright now.
DONAGHY:
It’s a huge problem, because withthe blueprint of the book and exposing what goes
open, it’s really putting the NBA and the refereesin the spotlight. And the bottom line is that thereare a lot of knowledgeable fans out there who arebeing turned off by what’s going on. Not only haveI received a lot of letters from fans, but also ownersand players, saying that they’re hoping that thisthing truly becomes an athletic competition whereeverybody’s treated the same.
MATLACK:
Do you think there’s any role for video? In other sports, there’s the ability to goback and actually look at a play. I know it’s hard todo in basketball, because it’s moving so quickly,but I always thought if you had somebody in abooth somewhere, he could actually be makingthe closer calls based on video rather than beingon the court, having to try and look through hugebodies. Does that make any sense to you, or no?
DONAGHY:
It absolutely makes sense,because there’s an accountability factor with that.
miss a call and have it overturned.
MATLACK:
Which rule do you think is broken
a game, what do they use?
DONAGHY:
The traveling violation is one. It’sbeing ignored or not based on the player. Another is freedom of movement, where certain people areallowed to grab and hold, and dislodge people.But then again, if you do something like that to a
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A Betting Man
Tom Matlack talks to disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy about betting on games he refereed, gambling in America, and the road to recovery and redemption.
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