OK, so Tim Donaghy, on top of influencing NBA games in which he officiated, has now gone on the record saying that officials were asked to skew playoff games.
Boxing is filled with fixes.
In soccer, Italian soccer was rocked by a match-fixing scandal, which included giants AC Milan and Juventus. Porto was just chucked out of the Champions League for a match-fixing scandal in the Portuguese League.
So, at what point are sports fans going to treat all sports as if they are watching pro wrestling?
Well, pro sports around the world are reaping the whirlwind. When players' salaries escalated, officials' salaries didn't go up at the same level. It's tough to swallow that somehow, the ref, who gets booed more than any of the players and, really, is under more pressure than most of the players on most nights, gets thousands when the players who are screaming at them make millions.
So, of course, refs are going to be tempted to cheat. To take orders. In the case of the NFL, refs have day jobs... well, that's just awful.
By not showing officials the money, pro leagues are now finding out that they've opened the doors to corruption.
Put it simply; it's hard to influence a ref who is rich. So, if owners can find the money to pay athletes millions, surely they could pool enough dough to cover a few dozen referees, making what should be the average salaries the players' make. That's right. I strongly believe that if the average salary in the NHL is well over a million bucks, then that's what Bill McCreary should be making.
When officials make money like you and me, despite having to work their asses off (ask a soccer ref or a basketball ref about fitness) and bounce from city to city, in leagues where everyone else is getting rich awfully quick... well there's an awful double standard going on.
So, while it's easy to blame Donaghy for corruption, it's also just as easy to see how the NBA got there. Or how Juventus was able to intimidate referees.
And, until leagues are willing to give their refs dramatic pay increases, I am beginning to fear that I can't be so sure that the best teams always win.

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