this is neither here nor there, except to make sure we all realize as recently as 1997, an Asian betting syndicate was sabotaging the entire lighting rig on a stadium in order to win a bet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=A-r7KNNpeWs

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-floodlights-went-out-ndash-and-an-asian-betting-syndicate-raked-in-a-fortune-2066133.html

http://www.kckrs.com/dan-tan-mr-x-floodlight-failure-and-international-match-fixing/

it hasn't changed the way I look at soccer as much as it's changed the way I look at sports in general. as long as there is gambling, there will be people trying to win a bet. Tim Donaghy tried to say the NBA game fixing was a result of David Stern directives to get the highest ratings, but do we really want to believe it would be such a ridiculously convoluted goal? why not just believe it was some dudes trying to get paid off some bets they made? isn't that the easiest scandal to believe in?

anyway

let it go dude, it's just one loss

but yes, it is related to the fact that tonight's game reminded me that I can't watch sports now without wondering about what extent they've been tainted by corrupting influences outside the game.

I mean, we *know* Donaghy was shaving points in a large number of games over the course of a number of years, isn't it pretty naive to think that he is the only NBA ref that's ever engaged with a corrupting influence?

that's really neither here nor there, I just can't watch sports without having that shit cross my mind now.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbp0ntKmri1ruichm.gif

(ill never stop watching and loving it)

like that shit never even happened, despite being a HUGE FUCKING DEAL in North American sports.

At least, I thought it was.

And last night's game wasn't really a good candidate.

Question: do you think this sort of stuff happens equally in favor of your teams or do you think there is some pro-Laker syndicate mucking things up out there?

32-20, 28-16. Not bad for a team 20th in attempts at the rim and 29th in attempts from 3-9 feet. IMO those were fixed also.

getting calls quicker than you say lucky charms?

i don't trust David Corleone Stern and his in house trading to fix certain things

i see the fix is in.

Yea that's stupid. At this point Durant/LeBron is the bigger draw. Most fans have moved on from any Kobe/LeBron shit. Nike and the NBA forced it, but it never caught on. Durant and LeBron is the bigger attraction. There's no fix.

Lakers/Heat in the Finals would produce more than last years 10.1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association_Nielsen_ratings

and the Lakers are still the top team in the league for road attendance.

Of course, the Lakers are playing shitty this season, but that doesn't mean they still aren't the bigger draw.

Of course the Lakers bring in the ratings. However, in terms of matchups a Heat/Lakers finals isn't that desirable anymore. I don't see the NBA fixing a Heat/Lakers finals at this point.