Are other referees guilty of gambling? I’d bet on it

Recently, NBA referee Tim Donaghy has been the subject of media and law enforcement scrutiny due to his alleged gambling on games which he refereed.
This is a huge scandal, as Donaghy, according to information collected by R.J. Bell of the Web site Pregame.com, cheated during the two seasons investigated by the NBA. Bell found that 57 percent of the time, the teams involved in games officiated by Donaghy scored more points than expected by Las Vegas sports books.
However, Bell said that in the previous two seasons, this only happened 44 percent of the time, leading one to believe that Donaghy could be involved in a scam involving point spreads. In basketball, this is relatively easy to fix. All Donaghy needed to do was call a few extra fouls late in a game, and he could easily rob one team of points or award points to a team in order to make the numbers he needed to cash in.
Bell also found Donaghy officiated in 10 straight games throughout last season where the point spread moved 1.5 points or more before the beginning of the game. Bell said that this is an indication that big money had been wagered on the game. The fact that the big money won every time, Bell said called “another indication that something [was] going on."
According to accusations made by the FBI, Donaghy had been working with low-level members of organized crime, and through an investigation into organized crime — not into sports betting — Donaghy’s actions became apparent.
However, I believe that Donaghy’s actions weren’t caught simply because he was breaking the rules. He was caught because he is a self-centered jerk who thought the rules didn’t apply to him.
In fact, Donaghy, originally from nearby Delaware County, Pa., had problems with his neighbors while living in West Chester, Pa. According to various reports posted online and in print (I found the information on Philly.com.), Donaghy set his neighbor’s tractor on fire and drove their golf cart into a ravine. He even called the police on a 6-year-old neighbor for supposedly “throwing rocks into his yard.”
Would this make him a bad referee? Not necessarily, but does it make him a jerk who craves constant attention? Yes, of course. If he is asking for police attention through his off-the-court antics, it is easy to expect someone to eventually figure out his cheating ways. But, unfortunately, he had been in the league for years before he was caught, so what does that say about other officials who might not be as flamboyant off the court?
If someone so abrasive gets away with these actions for such a long time, how long have other referees been quietly getting away with similar schemes? I’m not saying anyone else is cheating. This could be an isolated incident, but it is unlikely.
Something like this should cause professional sports to turn a critical eye on all referees and umpires. I don’t expect many referees to be cheating now. I bet the recent events will cause a scare that will keep all officials honest.
Hopefully, sports organizations will do more to keep the officials honest now that this has come to light. It’s bad enough to watch your team lose the game. But, it’s worse to learn that the team lost because the referee wanted to make a few bucks on the side.