The NBA Finals

Normally, I would not even bother to mention the upcoming NBA Finals (yawn!). This year, we are told that it is a "special" finals because the Lakers are playing the Celtics. We are treated to grainy images of the smooth Magic Johnson and the raggy-headed Larry Bird wearing their short shorts while facing each other in any of the numerous Finals in which they played in the 1980s. (I grew wondering why they even bothered to play the the regular season because it was always the Lakers and Celtics.)

Now, we are faced with the marketing blitz that it's the 1980s again. There are two things that will get me excited about this series:

1. If Larry Bird and Magic Johnson--along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale and James Worthy--show up to play.

2. If they started at time that I could watch the whole game without subsequent sleep deprivation.

As far as I am concerned, the NBA is irrelevant.

How stupid is this?

An NBA referee is under investigation for betting on games, including some he refereed.

ESPN article.

Fox Sports article.

How could anyone put themselves in this position?

If this is true, this is one of worst sports scandals in American history. This is even worse than the Pete Rose gambling scandal. This could further tarnish the NBA's already tarnished reputation.

I rarely watch the NBA the way it is. The games are boring. This will repel me further, if that is possible.