Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Tell me you didn’t have one of these older relatives growing up;

You’d be sitting in front of the T.V., totally engrossed in a playoff game involving your favorite team, living and dying with every single play. In would walk your dad or uncle, glance at the television, smirk in your direction and say;

“I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up. You know the games are fixed. It’s all business.” (Bizzy-ness must be uttered in a thick accent to get the proper effect of growing up in a Greek household)

I can’t tell you how mad I used to get at them. How dare they insinuate the athletes I worshipped or people who ran the games I loved would do anything to undermine their integrity? Sports are business? HAH! Those guys were in it for the same reason we watched; love of the game.

Well, long before Mo Vaughn told us it wasn’t about the money, I’d realized it was ALL about the money. My father and uncles were right about sports being bizzy-ness. What I’m afraid of is they may have been on to something with the “fixed” part, too.

This NBA point shaving scandal has the potential for huge repercussions. Right now, only Tim Donaghy has been named, though authorities believe the former referee will cooperate with the investigation. A source close to the FBI told me “it’s a shame the news went public so soon because now they’ll have a chance to circle the wagons and cover up.” You know what that tells me? The feds believe this runs deeper than just one renegade ref.

You have to feel bad for the officials not involved. Their job is tough enough, with people questioning every close call and searching for ulterior motives. Can you imagine the scrutiny they’ll be under now? The courtside heckling alone will be worth the price of admission, though I’m guessing the folks in striped shirts won’t find the taunts very humorous after hearing them night in-night out over 82-games. You can bet the NFL, MLB, NHL and all other sports organizations are holding their breath that the mobsters ratting out Donaghy don’t start singing in their direction, too. Would you be surprised?

I’m not trying to single out referees here. Being so close geographically to Boston College, we’re all well aware how simple it is for those with a financial stake to sink their claws into players naïve enough to fall into the trap. It’s the reason every organized sport warns its athletes against the dangers of gambling. Get too far in the hole, and your only choice is throw a game or watch yourself or a loved one suffer physical harm. (You Pete Rose supporters out there might want to think about that before hitting someone with the “he never bet against the Reds” argument!)

The glue that binds any game to its fans is the understood trust that the outcome on the playing field is genuine and dependant solely on the honest efforts of the competing athletes or lady luck. Lose that trust, and you might as well become roller derby, professional wrestling or a Don King production.

Tim Donaghy refereed 63-regular season games in the 2006-07 NBA season, including a February contest where the underdog Knicks were awarded 39-free throws to Miami’s 8 on the way to an upset victory. Donaghy was also on the court for 20-playoff matchups. In one of those, the atrociously officiated Game 3 of the Spurs-Suns series, Amare Stoudemire played only 21-foul plagued minutes while Tim Duncan exploded for 33-points and 19-rebounds. Were these games fixed?

Ask you father or uncles.

What do you think of this Tim Donaghy/point shaving situation? Does this run deeper than just Donaghy? Does it go on in other sports, too? Does it help explain why Major League Baseball's reaction to the Pete Rose scandal?