I posted an article with a link the other day to Bill Simmons’ excellent analysis of the Tim Donaghy situation on ESPN.com (it’s here if you haven’t read it yet). The bottom line, in Simmons’ eyes, is that this really isn’t surprising, and in some ways, expected.

I was speaking with a friend a couple of days ago, and asked him “What are the chances that Donaghy’s really the only one, as David Stern is trying to paint him to be?” My friend paused on the other end of the phone for about 15 seconds, and said, “Remote.” I’m pretty sure he was thinking of the same circumstance I’m about to tell you, because I think he was the one who told me the story in the first place.

Close to 20 years ago, the radio play-by-play guy for an NBA team was let go without warning. I won’t name the team or the announcer, because I don’t want to implicate the wrong guy (I’m 99% sure I remember who he is…it’s the 1% that doesn’t want to look like a libelous prick). This announcer was let go for placing wagers on NBA games, including the ones involving his employer. He obviously had a lot of inside information at his disposal…being a member of the media, he had access to the locker rooms, team trainers, etc. But he spent much of his time snooping around the one place he had no reason to be…the officials’ locker room.

Now tell me…what OTHER information might the officials know that NOBODY else knows…?

Like I said, this was quite a few years back…anyone think that circumstances have changed? In the age of communication, it’s easier than ever to place money on a game with a strong degree of anonymity. Tim Donaghy’s anonymity would have been kept if he wasn’t stupid enough to piss off a mob-backed bookie. What’s more likely: he was the only one, or the others are just smarter about how they do their business?