Re: Celts 0, Suns 0, Refs 1

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: Mafiaso316@AOL.com
>
> OK, explain Duncan to SA, Wizards with #1 pick after Jordan takes over 
> team
> and rumors leak him returning to NBA,  I know there are more examples out
> there, but I am so ticked about this loss I can't even think straight.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that these things (and others, like 
Ewing to the Knicks) can be explained by one word: "coincidence".  In an 
essentially random world, coincidences are not only likely, they ought to 
be expected.  As for this game, I don't think David Stern or the league 
gives a rat's ass who wins one Boston-Phoenix game (unless someone is 
*still* pissed off about 1976).  Now, it's possible that a few of Jordan's 
heroics have been unduly influenced by referees, but David Stern (or 
anybody else) would be an idiot to actually direct officials to call a 
game a certain way.  Much easier to merely let Jordan's charisma and myth 
as the "greatest player ever" help influence the officials calling his 
games.  That way, the league gets what it undeniably wishes to occur 
(their star player and cash cow winning the championship) without anything 
directly tying them to it.  Plausible deniability.

As for draft picks and the like, well, as far as I know, they may be fixed,
  as I have no firsthand knowledge of the methodology used, or the actual 
behind-the-scenes activities, but David Stern would have to have gonads 
the size of which he could not hide in pleasant company if such were the 
case.  The risks are staggering.  It's *possible* but to me it doesn't 
seem very likely at all.  If a conspiracy is going to be effective, it 
must operate efficiently and intelligently (not to mention discretely).  
This isn't an episode of "The X-Files"; it's real life (well, as real as 
the NBA gets, anyway).  Seems to me it's much more likely ineptitude 
rather than a conspiracy.

Bird