It looks like someone's headed to Vegas

There was a lot of talk over the NBA All-Star weekend about whether or not an NBA team would move there. After the Donaghy scandal played out, I think we all naturally thought there was no way this could happen anymore.

Guess we were wrong.

From Yahoo Sports:

Casino giant Harrah's Entertainment announced Wednesday it is partnering with AEG, the company that brought David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy to build a 20,000-seat arena capable of housing an NBA or NHL team. The arena, behind the Bally's and Paris hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, is projected to open in 2010.

"This arena is being developed with the capability of hosting an NHL or NBA franchise from day one," said Timothy Leiweke, the president and chief executive of AEG, which owns the Galaxy and the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"We continue to have productive conversations with potential owners and are optimistic that either basketball or hockey, or both, will be played in Las Vegas when the venue opens," he said in a statement.

The arena to be built on 10 acres of land that Harrah's owns is to be privately financed. Construction is set to begin on the project in the summer of 2008.

I must admit I'm a little surprised by this. Hockey is essentially dead in the US and Las Vegas seems like an even weirder place for hockey than Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the NBA All-Star game was a nightmare and with Donaghy set to name 20 refs who he said he'd seen gambling - which is against NBA regulations - this proposed arena seems like a money pit. Would Stern really let a team go to Vegas after the Donaghy fiasco?

Sure, why not. Despite what Stern or anyone else might say, money is always the bottom line. I would totally root for the Las Vegas Point Shavers.

-WCK

When did Tim Donaghy move to Romania?

The outcry about Tim Donaghy's actions has certainly been loud. A lot of columnists and bloggers have been saying no one will ever take the NBA seriously again.

But maybe we should take a step back and consider what actually happened. So far it seems Donaghy was the only person doing this.

Besides, there are plenty of examples much worse than Donaghy's.

Today's example to make that point clear comes all the way from the country of Dracula: Romania. It seems that in the top soccer league, two refs are in deep shit for allegedly fixing some of the league's opening games.

"(Referees) Sebastian Coltescu and Augustus Constantin are responsible for making wrong decisions which changed the results of their matches," said a league statement.

Local media and soccer officials accused the referees of making favorable decisions to help Steaua Bucharest and Rapid Bucharest secure opening victories in Liga 1. Steaua beat Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt and Rapid defeated Dacia Mioveni, both by a 2-1 scoreline. Both have been suspended for an undetermined period of time.

In addition to that the head of the Central Referees Commission, Gheorghe Constantin, said the contentious decisions made by the two referees could not be considered basic human errors. "They made major errors," he told reporters.

In June, the Romanian League dropped six referees and four assistants for unacceptable performances in the previous league season.

They're all expected to be impaled for their crimes against soccer. I kid. Sort of.

Can you imagine if anything of this magnitude ever happened in any of our sports leagues? People would hang themselves and Jay Mariotti's head would explode (which might not be all that bad).

I realize the Donaghy mess is bad, but let's be honest, it's not THAT bad. So before you get your panties in a knot, just remember it could always be much worse.

-WCK

Guess who reffed a controversial NBA Playoff game

I've got to admit, the Suns/Spurs series this year made me madder than any series since the Kings lost to the Lakers in 7 in 2002 in the Western Conference Finals. And what's this? Tim Donaghy reffed that travesty of a Game 3 in Suns/Spurs series. You know, the one in which Simmons ripped the officiating crew a new one.

A brave soul out on the internet managed to get all the questionable calls from Game 3 up onto YouTube. Obviously Donaghy didn't make every bad call in that game, but he made his share.

Go ahead and take a look back. It's all there for you to see.

Dwyermaker and I still refuse to recognize the Spurs's championship for the 2007 season. And you know what, this video ain't got either of us changing our minds on that decision.

-WCK