What's that Foul Odor?

This morning, Tim Donaghy, the former N.B.A. referee who came clean (or as clean as someone made entirely of horse manure and guano can come) concerning his betting on games he officiated, was given a sentence of 15 months in the slammer.

Call me a law-and-order Republican (or Nancy), but 15 months? Does that come with the poolside view or the ocean view? I'm sorry but that's ridiculous. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines you get beaten with a tire iron continuously for 47 years just for knowing someone who once had a friend who saw a movie in which a character was depicted doing crack.

At the very least, this guy has soured a national pastime. And on this front, it's worth noting that until the Supreme Court recently stepped up to the plate, we were holding guys indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay for simply failing to wear a flag pin when entering a mosque.

However, Donaghy's actions go beyond soiling professional basketball. What is the actual cost to society of a fixed game? Just ask the city of Sacramento, which was robbed of a Western Conference Championship in 2002 when the Lakers were gifted 27 free throws in the fourth quarter of Game 6. Let's start with the Sacramento dads who, infuriated by the biased officiating, turned their anger on their wives and children. Domestic violence costs a lot: among other things (like, um, causing immense physical and emotional suffering), it takes up police, hospital, and social service resources. Then there were the other Kings fans who lashed out in self-destructive ways, punching cinderblock walls and breaking their hands or getting fall-down drunk, driving home, and crashing their cars. Others turned their disappointment and upset outward, committing vandalism and various assaults. And still others moped around for days in a funk, unable to focus on their jobs and important responsibilities. In addition, I'm going to go ahead and posit that a few suicides may have been sparked by the illegitimate Lakers win. It is difficult to accept, but cheating refs cost lives, property, and productivity.

Then there is the matter of the economic benefits of winning a Conference Championship (and, likely, the eventual NBA Championship) that were stolen from Sacramento. It's not just t-shirt and hat sales that were lost, but new season ticket sales and general increases in local business that accompany a championship season.

In short, fixing games as a ref is not a victimless crime. It's serious business, which makes Donaghy's sentence an embarrassment. I'm not saying that I'd favor the death penalty here; I'm just saying that if a state decided to enact it for "nefarious reffing," I think it would pass muster under the 8th Amendment.