1.0 link 106395 <![CDATA[Tim Donaghy, Disgraced Former NBA Referee, Claims Officials Fixed Playoff Series]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/10/former-nba-referee-claims_n_106395.html NEW YORK &mdash; NBA referees, influenced by cozy relationships with league officials, rigged a 2002 playoff series to force it to a revenue-boosting seven games, a former referee at the center of a gambling scandal alleged Tuesday.

Without identifying anyone or naming teams, Tim Donaghy also claimed the NBA routinely encouraged refs to ring up bogus fouls to manipulate results but discouraged them from calling technical fouls on star players to keep them in games and protect ticket sales and television...

]]> 2008-06-18T05:12:00-04:00