Tim Donaghy: A Nasty Moment for the NBA

Yesterday, Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to accusations of betting on games he officiated. He faces upto 25 years in prison. This is a sad time for the NBA, no doubt. Amid all of the scandals in all of the other sports, this one hits pretty close, an official who is supposed to keep things fair, might have tipped some of his games. People, don't get the notion that he dramatically influenced games, but especially in close games he officiated, he contributed to tipping the iceberg. I live in Phoenix, the hub for all the NBA controversies by far, no argument there. Look at the Suns playoff history, especially the last three years, to understand why fans here are in a state of paranoia. And Dallas Mavericks fans, shut up, because we have 20-30 more years of failures than you have. Anyways, we don't know right now what Tim's motives were, whether he was threatened or he did it for cash, but in this day of sports scandals, this is one of the many. This could end up just washing up and going away as there are many other problems, look at cycling and of course, baseball. It is just another speed bump on the road, fans, DO NOT TAKE THIS SCANDAL TOO SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!

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Q&A on ESPN.com

Possibly facing Arizona Charges?

Official Story

Arizona Diamondbacks. Have you heard of them?

Chris Young hits the ball, BACK TO THE WARNING TRACK, GONE!!!!!!!!!!!. HOME RUN! No, this is not the Chris Young of San Diego, who is a pitcher, who of course doesn't hit a lot of homers. But many people dont know that. This is Chris B. Young, CF for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Some people tout him as the next Mike Cameron or Andruw Jones. Unfortunately, many people havent heard of him, nor have they heard of the surging Arizona D'backs, who have won 7 of their past 10, and 18 of their past 24. They are currently 68-53, and are up 3 games on the San Diego Padres. Not many people know this team as it is very young. Nonetheless, this is a very dominating team right now, beating top-tier teams at will. Remember the Chicago Cubs, who took the lead in the NL Central around a week or two ago, they were considered formidable, but the D'Backs took 2 of 3 in Wrigley Field. In fact, that was the starting point of this long, great stretch for the D'Backs. They don't have a superstar right now, although they have a surefire future superstar in Justin Upton, who is 19 and can do everything on the baseball field. The new slogan of the team is "Anytime, Anybody", and that explains it all, whether pitching, defense, or hitting. You've got the veterans like Eric Byrnes, Orlando Hudson, and Tony Clark, who are leading this young team, reigning Cy Young champ Brandon Webb, and one of the best bullpens in baseball. Whenever you have time, switch the tube on and watch this team, they are fun to watch.

AL East: Things to Look Out For

With the season going down to the wire, many division races have all of the sudden woken up. One of them is the AL East, where the former 9 game lead the Red Sox had on the Yankees has been sliced into 5 games. As of the moment, the Yankees are in a virtual tie with the Mariners for the Wild Card lead. Before the All-Star Break, most everyone was writing this team down as underachievers and as a failure. So much for that. We're only in the middle of August, and the Yanks have already belted out 24 HR's. And young pitching studs like Phil Hughes and a tantalizing future star in Joba Chamberlain have given the Yanks a spark. And of course, you can't discount the Rocket's nailing of Alex Rios to stick up for A-Rod. In my mind, this is the best team in baseball right now. The experts think that the BoSox have already won the division. What crap. Look, I'm not giving the Bronx Bombers the division right now, but they have a ton of potential, and Boston has looked a little unstable of late. All I know is, STAY TUNED, this contest is only going to heat up.