We all remember that beautiful moment during the 2007 Black Super Bow … All-Star weekend in Vegas when Charles Barkley and NBA referee Dick Bavetta made sweet love down by the fire. Maybe we’re exaggerating a bit but their kiss could have been the sign of something more sinister. We’re not talking James Dobson sinister. We’re talking Pete Rose and Tim Donaghy. “The donkey kicks twice at midnight. Take the Washington Generals tomorrow, Chuck. They’re due.”

Much has been written about former NBA referee Tim Donaghy’s latest allegations about gambling in the NBA. The New York Times reports that former referee Hue Hollins claimed extensive inquiries were made about Bavetta.

In addition to asking questions about Donaghy, Hollins said the agents inquired extensively about Bavetta. They asked if he ever noticed that Bavetta “was making sure that the home team would win, and I told them I had no idea because I didn’t work with him a lot.”

Hollins said the agents did not ask about a specific team, game or series and did not ask about Game 6 in 2002.

“They were very specific about their questioning, as though they had heard something,” Hollins said. “They knew exactly what they were going after.”

If Hollins is telling the truth about the FBI inquiries, there could much more to Donaghy’s claims than the desperation of a doomed man. There’s no way to know what other information the FBI has but it seems as though the NBA and David Stern are in for heavier scrutiny and his blanket denials may not hold weight much longer. Game 6 in 2002, the ending of Game 4 of the Lakers-Spurs series this season, the Game 5 suspensions of the Suns-Spurs series last season, etc. The denials already ring hollow with fans and many in the league.

Since Pope Benedict XVI has decided to come up with seven new sins out of freakin thin air, I think its only fair that someone should come up with a set of Seven Deadly Sins specifically geared towards the world of sport. Here goes nothin’ and may God have mercy on my soul:

1) Thou shall not get caught using performance enhancing drugs.
– See, its ok to use them, its ok to give them to your teammates, its ok to shoot them in other’s rear ends, its even ok that you sell them and supplement your already hefty income that was unjustly given to you because you aren’t naturally that good…just do not get caught doing any of it. Its the ultimate don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t get caught. Don’t get caught, and you’re a hero like Albert Pujols, not sayin’ just sayin. Get caught and you’re vilified…unless you’re Shawne Merriman.

2) Thou shall not get caught cheating
- Ok, so everyone cheats in sport. To paraphrase the famous quote is if you aren’t cheating you aren’t trying to win. If you get caught cheating however, you are found breaking the sin and of course the torches start getting lit and you begin a slow march towards execution.

3) Thou shall not create a rap/rock/blues/jazz/etc. album
- You are an athlete. You are not a musician. No one cares that you think you have talent besides playing a game. You don’t. Stop trying or you shall be mocked and ridiculed for all of eternity.

4) Thou shall use prophylactics when engaging in sexual behavior.
- For this, its ok to be a womanizer, it’s your birthright as the ultimate alpha-male, just do it right and don’t spread your seed. For every Shawn Kemp, Travis Henry (not his actual kids in the picture…least he doesn’t think they are) or Elijah Dukes that is spat on there’s a Wilt Chamberlain who does it right and is praised for it. Don’t be a dork, cover your pork.

5) Thou shall not get caught harming animals for fun.
- No one knows this rule better than Michael Vick, Tripp Isenhour, Pedro Martinez or Qyntel Woods. Pedro gets a bit of a pass because he did it in a country where its legal, but pretty much any athlete who does anything cruel to an animal meets a pretty unfortunate sports demise. The Lord looks down on those who harm the lesser species. We’ll see what happens with Pedro this season.

6) Thou shall not get caught gambling.
- Tim Donaghy, Pete Rose, Wayne Gretzky’s wife, Michael Jordan’s mysterious retirement for baseball all have some ties to gambling and all have never be the same. The easy solution is to wait til you’re out of sport like Charles Barkley here to publicly gamble away all your money. People find that kind of gambling far more light hearted, but if you do it while you’re active in sport you shall have a pall cast upon you…and you might get forced to run a team in Charlotte named after a guy called Bob for all of eternity.

7) Thou shall not beat on your lady, get caught, arrested, and have a mugshot taken like this
- Sports, by their nature, are very aggressive. It takes an aggressive person to participate at the highest of levels of sport. The problem some have is leaving that aggression on the field or court of play. Those who choose not to will forever be branded WIFE-BEATER and those scarlet 2 words will follow you until your death…Jason Kidd.

I guess Bob Delaney knows a thing or two about marketing. According to the Sacramento Bee, the former New Jersey state trooper, former undercover agent and current 21 year veteran NBA referee’s upcoming book “Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob” is due out in January and the timing of it is a bit dubious in light of the mob gambling scandal that recently rocked the NBA. The book details “his life in the 1970s as Bobby Covert of Alamo Trucking working his way inside the Mafia.”

The book should prove to be an interesting read because I would like to learn about how stupid the Mafia actually is to not think that a man named “Bobby Covert” was NOT a covert, undercover, agent trying to infiltrate them. That name is worse than Ron Mexico or Max Power. If you’re trying to go undercover, I’d think you really would not want to have “COVERT” as your name. It is a wonder this guy is alive today, but hey, he is, and he’s smart enough to know the value of good timing. Mobsters and NBA Refs are HOT these days, Hansel hot.

Charles Oakley was interviewed by The Star recently and, as he is apt to do, Oak dropped a few interesting nuggets. Never at a shortage of words, Oakley waxed about his career, the FBI NBA gambling probe, and books. Here’s the highlights from the article with my thoughts in italics:

On his life currently:
“I’m doing the rock star life right now…Travelling, chilling, hangin’ out.”
Not a bad way to live life man…oh to have the life of an ex NBA player for just one day…ok maybe a week…maybe a month.

On a possible comeback:
“I’m not coming back cheap.” “If you read this article and you think you can get me cheap, there’s another thought coming.”
Who wouldn’t want to pay top dollar for a 43 year old bruiser who hasn’t played in 3 years? ERNIE GRUNFELD GET ON THE PHONE QUICK! I think the old man should just stick to washing cars

On Ton Donaghy:
“If the guy was fixing games, he was wrong. If players are getting money to win games, lose games, they’re wrong.”
Way to take a bold stance on this one Oak.

On Coaching in the NBA:
“There’s a lot of less talent for smarts in the game, but a lot of talent for athletic ability.”
Wha??

On his upcoming book:
“I’m not pulling any punches, true stories. It ain’t one of those Charles Barkley fake books, it’s a Charles Oakley book, it’s not an O.J. book, it’s an Oakley book.”
This sounds more like a Jose Canseco book to me and I will of course be reading it. Let me stick it on my Amazon shopping cart right now!

Good article, a little odd in that it says that Oakley is 6’3 when he’s clearly 6’9, but it does provide a great chance to show off some of the better Oakley quotables from the past:

“If it ain’t broke, don’t break it.”
“[Entourages] are like contracts. Everybody’s got one. Some are just bigger than others.”
“It was like the police trying to stop a shootout: You gotta have your gun out. Don’t go out there with your hands down.”
“Nowadays, these young guys, anytime you say something, you’re picking on them. Back in the day, half of these guys wouldn’t get in the league…The league is just like daycare.”
“Oh well, that’s basketball. It used to be basketball. I don’t know what it is now.”

From The Star