Not Surprising

I know by the time this is published, this will be old news, but I love that it's somehow news that the NBA uses referees to manipulate games. Sure, some of those can be overcome with a player playing out of his mind, but I think it's a fair estimation that the NBA wants the best matchup possible in the playoffs. Take Jordan's shove off Bryon Russell in the 1998 NBA Finals, or the insane free throw disparity between the Jazz and the Lakers in their most recent series, or Kobe shooting 24 foul shots in one game, or Dwayne Wade shooting more free throws than the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the 2006 NBA Finals, or any number of other questionable calls. I think it's clear that that's the case, especially when everybody knows when the NBA will call out Bennett Salvatore and/or Joey Crawford to work a game, because they're just that notorious. The question is if there is anything that can be done, and I don't mean Congressional Hearings. I could care less about that crap (seriously, let the sports leagues do their thing and butt out - Arlen Specter, I'm talking to you). They can run the league how they want, but there will come a time when the calls will be so bad and the public outcry so great that it could topple The Commish himself if he's not careful