Mystics and Donaghy

Well, I missed my last Mystics game of the year. That's the only bad news of this part of the season right now. Detroit and Phoenix (and their fantastic Westhead offense) are at the top of their respective conferences, and all signs are pointing to DC making the final playoff spot in the East.

The Mystics have been really impressing me this year. I believe that I was among those who said that they'd never reach the playoffs. And yet, here they are at the brink. It's especially amazing considering the WNBA's very short season. Of course, the smallness of the league helps. I just wish that (if they make it) they wouldn't have to play the Shock in the first round. But that's a pretty much impossible wish.

I was getting frustrated with the lack of Tim Donaghy news that had been coming out lately. A coworker and I were making up stories as to what happened. "Maybe the mob had him killed!" "Maybe Stern is keeping it quiet so we can forget about it and pay more attention to the problems in baseball and football," etc. A couple days ago, I found this article confirming that he is alive, and has a decidedly (if justifiably) grumpy wife.

But then! I found this article last night. It seems that he's probably going to turn himself in today. Which is good.

I just have major problems with how the league (and to a lesser extent, the media) has been dealing with this down time. Obviously there have been many closed meetings at NBA HQ about this whole ordeal. If Stern is serious about his proposed transparency, then he should be letting us know general information about how the league is dealing with this. Nothing specific, but just bare bones. To help us, as fans, know that they're serious about this never happening again--and more to the point to reassure us. This is (obviously) a very big deal, and the silence has been deafening for more than three weeks.

On the 24th of July, in his press conference about this scandal, Stern said, "And we will continue to both not only keep you advised, but I think it's my obligation as commissioner to retain the best outside experts in these matters and consultants to advise the NBA on what we can do better to assure our fans that our games are being decided on their merits. I think that's the obligation that every sports league has." It is my feeling that he has not met that obligation as of right now.