from an SI.com story on the NBA ref/gambling hoo-ha (italics mine)
<<The problem for the NBA in trying to deal with its referee scandal is that the league won't be credited for its efforts. The more David Stern tries to create solutions, the more the public will be reminded of the problem.
It is not unlike the attempts by track and field to test for performance-enhancing drugs in the era of Ben Johnson. Instead of being applauded for trying to clean up the mess, the positive drug tests served to deepen impressions that the whole sport was dirty.
In the meantime, other leagues benefited by ignoring drug problems for as long as possible: The argument can be made that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa rescued baseball while they were all juiced up, raising the popularity of the sport to such a high point that it has been able to withstand the subsequent disgrace of its steroid age....>>
<<The problem for the NBA in trying to deal with its referee scandal is that the league won't be credited for its efforts. The more David Stern tries to create solutions, the more the public will be reminded of the problem.
It is not unlike the attempts by track and field to test for performance-enhancing drugs in the era of Ben Johnson. Instead of being applauded for trying to clean up the mess, the positive drug tests served to deepen impressions that the whole sport was dirty.
In the meantime, other leagues benefited by ignoring drug problems for as long as possible: The argument can be made that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa rescued baseball while they were all juiced up, raising the popularity of the sport to such a high point that it has been able to withstand the subsequent disgrace of its steroid age....>>
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