There are several areas to get to this week, but first I want to extend a “Welcome Back” to our readers, as well as an apology. We’ve had some serious technical issues with the site since early April, which precluded nearly 90% of our staff from being able to post. A big thank you to those members of our staff who were able to continue giving you some coverage here…particularly Wes, who did a fine job handling the NHL Playoffs coverage. Hopefully we’re back for good, but if there are any issues, please feel free to let us know.

It’s been an interesting summer so far sports-wise. I’ll be honest — my interest in the sporting world normally declines significantly once the NCAA Tournament concludes. Sure, I get as juiced about the Stanley Cup Playoffs as any hockey fan, but it’s kinda like being an indie rock fan: The number of people who share your enthusiasm can fit inside an Applebee’s, and that’s about it.

But this summer has been different. Already, we’ve had a relatively exciting NHL post-season, a non-boring NBA playoffs (in one conference, at least), a near-miss in the Triple Crown, some decent matches in Euro 2008, and a refereeing scandal that threatens to topple one of the three remaining high major sports leagues left in the United States. Some thoughts on these items, and more, after the jump.

THE DEAL WITH DONAGHY

The reaction to the revelations earlier this week by Tim Donaghy’s lawyer that there were playoff games influenced by league intervention into refereeing styles has split into two camps — those who don’t believe Donaghy because he’s a felon, and those who do believe Donaghy despite his being a felon. Alright, fine — I can understand those philosophies if they exist in a vacuum.

But people seem to be forgetting that Donaghy is making these allegations AS a former referee who was arrested in a gambling scandal, who is awaiting federal prison time. Why on earth would someone in that position dig their grave deeper by potentially perjuring themselves in federal court? A lot of people (David Stern included) have said that these allegations are the acts of a desperate man. Perhaps, but they’re also NOT the actions of a stupid man. Donaghy may be a sleaze, but he’s hardly an idiot. And it would take an idiot to throw perjury charges on top of what the federal government already has on the man.

Why is it hard for some people to believe that the NBA fixes games? It’s a perfectly legitimate business function of a league that lives and dies on two things: TV coverage of its stars, and TV ratings of its premiere games. Add into that equation the fact that basketball is by far the easiest sport for referees to control (due to pacing and game flow), and you have a near-perfect model. This is further enhanced by the protectionist model that the Association uses with its referees. They can’t be questioned on the court by players or coaches without a technical foul being issued, they’re not available to the press, and playoff assignments are always limited to a very select group.

Of course, the problem with accepting this premise is that it completely eliminates the “chance” factor that drives most sports gambling — and while the NBA may live and die on star exposure and television ratings, the reason that those ratings exist is due in large part to gambling interests. It’s not just the NBA, either — major college sports, the NFL, international soccer, baseball, and the NHL also rely heavily on the focus of people whose main interest is financial, rather than out of some affinity for a team or a sport. Without that “chance” factor, people have no reason to bet on games.

So if Donaghy’s allegations are indeed accurate, what we’re seeing is the fallout of the NBA’s greed. Not content to simply capitalize on gambling interest, they set out to physically alter the results of games in order to conform to an idealized set of results.

THE GLUE

A quick note on the missed Triple Crown by Big Brown last weekend…and, surprise surprise, it also deals with gambling. I will say this — as soon as Casino Drive dropped out with an injury, everybody on the planet should have immediately suspected that the fix was in. All that money that was on a legitimate contender to Big Brown suddenly reverted back to him, skewing the lines to the point where the only smart money was on Big Brown. Then, shock of shocks, Big Brown is “out of gas”, and some out-of-nowhere horse pulls off the victory. Somebody’s offshore account got pretty fat after that performance.

THE BIG STAGE

I admire ESPN for sticking the Euro 2008 matches on the deuce this week…it’s provided us with some interesting games (sort of). However, it’s kinda sad to have all-British announcing crews doing these games. Nothing against the fine gentlemen on the microphones for these contests, but for god’s sakes…soccer has been relevant in the United States for the last 14 years. Can we not find at least two decent American announcing teams to do these games for the American audience?

Part of the problem with soccer is the classic American inferiority complex that we have with sports where we’re not sure of our grasp of the rules and culture — hockey being a fine example. Although at least in hockey, we have announcers from the northern tier of states who can step in and give us some broadcasting.

Now, I realize that our pool of soccer announcers in the USA is pretty damn thin — heck, I’ve been first in line to criticize them in the past (i.e., Jack Edwards and the embarrassment that was the 2002 World Cup). But surely there are at least four homegrown announcers who can get in the booth and translate the game to the American audience? While the British announcers are doing an admirable job of broadcasting the games in a British style, some of their catchphrases and mannerisms are going to fly right over the heads of an American audience still trying to grasp the significance of International soccer.