Donaghy's Not Alone: Gambling in Sports

by BOHChris, Blog of Hilarity

While the sports world still considers the ramifications of NBA ref Tim Donaghy and his little Mob ties/gambling/game fixing/Steve Nash-screwing situation, it's important to put this in a proper context. While Donaghy's case is one of the most high-profile in recent memory, here are some other high profile gambling-related incidents with sports personalities from years gone by.

Legendary NBA coach Hubie Brown never engaged in any gambling activities as a coach, however he did as a commentator. Brown allegedly wagered money under the alias "Boobie Crown" that he would be able to use the phrase "upside" 747 times during the 2001 NBA Draft. Brown collected his funds, then used them to purchase an evening with former NBA player Yinka Dare, who Brown said "had great length" and "a tantalizing close range shot."

Former Ohio State and Colts QB Art Schlichter (pictured) was once $150k in debt from gambling, ultimately serving several stints in prison before dedicating himself to a life free of gambling, determined to help others avoid his pitfalls. Schlichter says he hit his lowest point when he found himself in a jail in 2004 betting on a hotly contest game between the WNBA's New York Liberty and Indiana Fever. "No healthy man should ever find himself starving for action enough to watch the WNBA," Schlichter said.

Former Arizona State PG Stevin "Hedake" Smith was a part of a point-shaving scandal with "Campus Bookie" Benny Silman. Smith allegedly shaved points of several games, including one in which he got himself charged with 2 technical fouls: the first for exposing himself to the opposing team in order to stop a fast break; the second for putting the basketball in an inappropriate, albeit impressive, place for one minute, resulting in a game-stoppage of 30 minutes when refs deemed the ball "too ookie" for usage.

Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham got into a bit of a quagmire while overseas. In 1992, a young Beckham found himself on the wrong end of English bookie Lord Gamblington (may or may not be his birth name) after an altercation at London nightclub "Schubbers" after spilling his Cosmopolitan on Gamblington's knickers. Gamblington forced Beckham, then a 17 year-old member of the Manchester United team, to shave points in the next day's soccer game. Beckham held the ball for minutes on end, blatantly missed kicks wide, and fell on the floor without provocation several times. The game was called "one of the finest games of footy in history".

Oakland A Mike Piazza (pictured right, with beards) was known to be a man about town in his days as a New York Met. However, what was never revealed to the public is that Piazza created quite a stir with his gambling-related antics in night clubs around NYC. One night in 2000, Piazza once demanded the attention of everyone in hotspot Bungalow 8, asking everyone to bet on if he could fit an entire baseball bat in his rectum. As horrified onlookers lost money, Piazza not only took one baseball bat into his colon, he took a second. Then a third. This would go on until Piazza found an entire tree in his derriere as well as a cool million dollars in his wallet. "At least it's not as thick as Lasorda," said Piazza.

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So as you can see, across the board, gambling is as much a part of athletics as gay sex. I hope we all learned an important lesson today.