Line Set on Donaghy Sentancing

Today is the day the judge’s hammer comes down on Tim Donaghy.
The disgraced NBA referee faces up to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring with gamblers and betting on games.

Since Las Vegas isn’t posting a line, we’ll set the over/under at 15 months.
Donaghy is betting, err hoping, for the under – a good bet since he was right close to 80 percent of the time when it came to NBA games.

12:30 p.m. update:
Well, the 200th post in WCBias.com's short history was right on. Donaghy got 15 months today, hitting our over/under "right between the eyes" as Marv Albert would say. I guess that means the house wins. Go ahead and PayPal those betting losses to editor@wcbias.com.

Betting Advice From NBA Insider Tim Donaghy

With Andruw Jones on the shelf, we had to scramble to find a new guest blogger here at WCBias.com. This week's blogger is former NBA referee and sportsbook phenom Tim Donaghy, providing his insight on the NBA Finals:

What's up sports fans, bookies and crime families!

Well, since WCBias.com foiled my witness-protection plan scheme that saw me shave my head and return to the NBA under the alias of Joey Crawford, I've decided it would be best if I went back into hiding and stuck to offering my insight on betting the NBA.
Thanks to Crawford and myself, the Lakers rolled up the Spurs and are now the odds-on favorites to win it all.
I've had a few beers this morning, but if I'm reading the board at the MGM sportsbook right, it looks like the oddsmakers have installed the Los Angeles Lakers as 2-1 favorites to take out the Celtics.
This is somewhat of a surprise considering Boston had been the favorite since the All-Star break. And with home-court advantage (along with our questionable officiating) being a determining factor throughout the playoffs, you’d think Boston would get the nod because of the four games scheduled to be played there.
Then again, a majority of the so-called basketball “experts” in the media are taking the Lakers, who have been playing better as of late thanks to our fabulous no-calls. That has made for a lot of betting action on L.A. and little action being thrown down on the Celtics – hence the underdog tag for the Cs.
So the money makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is the Game 1 line: Boston favored by 2.5 at home. If the Cs play four of the seven games at home this series, why aren’t they favored to win the whole thing?
Which brings up another interesting question: What were the odds of L.A. or Boston winning the title heading into the season?
Well, back in July, the Lakers were neck deep in Kobe trade turmoil and 50-1 dogs to win the NBA championship. So that $20 I threw down on the Lakers is potentially worth $1,000.
The odds for Boston were even crazier, 300-1. So the 20 bones I dropped on the Cs could be worth $6,000.
But enough about me and my winnings. If I were a betting man … oh wait. … Here’s what I would bet if I were a Lakers guy … With those odds, the best bet is to hope for a Laker victory in five games at the odds of 3-1.
Along the same lines, Boston fans should scrap the 8-5 odds for the series and gamble on the games. You get 20-1 odds if you take the Celtics in four, 11-1 in five, 6-1 in six and 17-4 in seven. I think BSlim hit the nail on the head when he took Boston in seven. For those who don’t know, Slim has a history of putting down brilliant $50 bets every time he’s in Vegas. When in doubt, go with the redhaired Irishman and go with Boston.
Cheers for now my fellow mobsters, gangsters and good friend Charles Barkley.
I’ll be checking in throughout the playoffs.
TD

Donaghy enters witness-protection program as Joey Crawford

WCBias.com has learned disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy has entered a witness-protection program after receiving mob-issued death threats for his cooperation with authorities in an underground betting scandal.

Donaghy, believed to have bet on over 100 NBA games, will be sentenced in July on gambling and wire-fraud charges. He faces 25 years in prison, but WCBias.com has learned Donaghy is already wearing stripes.

According to sources close to the situation, Donaghy’s witness-protection program has him back officiating in the NBA – the last place in the world anyone would expect to see him.

Donaghy shaved his head and has taken on a new identity, going by the name Joey Crawford.

The plan has worked like a charm so far as Donaghy has blown call after call, got in an on-court squabble with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and failed to blow his whistle in the waning seconds of Game 4 when Brent Barry was clearly fouled by Derek Fisher. A foul call would’ve put Barry (a 95% shooter) at the line with a chance to send the game into overtime.

But instead of blowing his whistle, Donaghy decided to swallow it, just like Crawford would have. Late Wednesday, the NBA even sent out a statement admitting Crawford blew the call and that Barry should’ve gone to the line for a one-and-one.

Donaghy’s impersonation of Crawford has been so outstanding, Jack Nicholson is hoping to meet with him after tonight’s Game 5 in hopes of having him audition for the starring role in his upcoming film about the life of Pete Rose entitled “Charlie the Hustler and Degenerate Gambler.”

WCBias.com: There can only be one

The dumpster divers at WCBias.com have acquired exclusive cutting-room floor images from the advertising campaign David Stern didn’t want you to see during the 2008 playoffs. This is the first in our series spoofing the NBA’s “There Can Only Be One” slash “Where Amazing Happens” campaign, focusing on crooked NBA referee Tim Donaghy. Click on the image for a larger view.