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Tim Donaghy, a former NBA referee caught gambling on games he officiated, alleged in a court filing this week that the league "sought to manipulate games using referees to boost ticket sales and television ratings," and in particular conspired to fix game six of the 2002 playoff series between the Lakers and the Kings.

The claim that the NBA fixes its own games is dubious (though not entirely implausible). What's far more likely is that some of the sport's other participants--players, coaches, and referees--shave points now and then. In fact, it's a near certainty. Illicitly changing the course of an entire playoff series--whether it's the league doing it, or freelance hustlers--is almost impossible without being detected, simply because so many variables operate in every game. If an influential player performed poorly enough to throw one game to the opposing team, for instance, he'd likely spend much of the next game on the bench, rendering him useless as a fixer. But point shaving is a more subtle art: Players on the take don't get paid to throw games--they get paid to win by just a little less than they're expected to. MORE

Big Brown is favored to win the Belmont Stakes tomorrow and thereby become the first horse in 30 years to capture the Triple Crown.

Big Brown has secured the endorsements of everyone from Hooter's to UPS. He just can't seem to get anyone else to like him. Capturing the public imagination involves a delicate alchemy for any athlete, human or equine, but Big Brown has failed where predecessors like Barbaro succeeded for reasons both competitive and commercial. It's not just that his rivals in the two previous legs of the circuit have looked like a pack of stray dogs, or that he prevailed each time with only marginal speed. He's also backed by a rogue's gallery of cheats and crooked moneymen who have alienated casual fans and racing professionals alike -- no easy feat in a sport dependent on cheats and crooked moneymen for its vitality.

The NCAA men's college basketball season concluded with Monday's thrilling championship game between Kansas and Memphis.

Each spring, basketball enthusiasts argue over the respective merits of college basketball, whose playoff tournament ended on Monday night, and professional basketball, which has one week left in its regular season. When NBA fans defend professional ball, they usually point to pro athletes' superior athleticism and college athletes' supposed "mediocrity." But professional ball's defenders have adopted a new tactic this time around, invoking the NBA season's compelling storylines as proof of its preeminence.

Brett Favre, among the NFL's greatest quarterbacks, is ending his 17-year career.

In a sense, Favre's statistical accomplishments tell the whole story -- he holds NFL quarterbacking records for consecutive games played (275), passing yards (61,655), and touchdowns thrown (442). But he also threw the most interceptions (288), including countless ill-considered, game-losing hurls, and both the first and last passes of his career.
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