So David Stern of the NBA still wants to deny that the league manipulates the games? All along I have been thinking that maybe I'm too harsh on this poor man! Maybe I'm biased and blinded by my own fury And, of course, there is no denying that I am a Rantmaker.

BUT I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I'm not alone in believing that the NBA sucks and that results of the series/games are pre-decided before the jump off is called at the start of play.

The reason of this re-affirmation – the feedback comments from people in a New York Post article reiterating thoughts that match-fixing and referee manipulation are not entirely groundless. Check it out at:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2008/06/11/2008-06-11nba_commissionerdavidsterndismissese.html

The comments reaffirm my faith in humanity ... the intelligence of human beings ... the smartness of the animals with opposable thumbs.

While you can always read the full article and the follow-up comments, I pass on some of them below and these are just from the first page. Read and enjoy them:

joebruno999 Jun 11, 2008 1:59:02pm
David Stern has one objective and one objective only. Deflect blame away from the NBA for anything and everything. Anyone with an open mind would probably deduce that Donaghy is telling the truth about other referees doing what he got caught doing. Common sense. Players get tens of millions in salaries. Refs get relative peanuts. So doing a little business makes sense, if the ref's gotta pay the bills. Stern is like every other lawyer in this world. His client (the NBA) is innocent. Yeah, and so was Charles Manson.

Slugger Jun 11, 2008 2:13:53pm
David Stern is a liar. In 2002, the NBA referees handed the Los Angeles Lakers a playoff victory over the superior Sacramento Kings Basketball team. It was the most obviously fixed series of basketball games I have ever seen in my life. There was a Kobe Bryant forearm to Mike Bibby's nose which resulted in a foul call on Mike Bibby. There was a Robert Horry game-winning shot that came after the game had ended. And David Stern can only say that Tim Donaghy is the criminal, when he is the biggest criminal and phony that has presided over a major sport since the late major league baseball commissioner Mountain Landis.

vince301 Jun 11, 2008 2:14:25pm
What????? You mean Charles Manson (aka the 5th Beatle) DID kill those people????? And all along I thought it was the Little Piggies.......

Livinginterribletimes Jun 11, 2008 2:30:27pm
I believe he is telling the truth. I always felt and you can tell when one team is being favored or penalized by unfair officiating. Just look at the current series.You know the Lakers are already deemed to win. Kobe is one of the last few remaining draws in the NBA and if his Lakers don't win....the commish knows his league is in trouble because we all know Kobe will pout and shout and he doesn't want his premier money maker to be unhappy.

bigbrooklyn Jun 11, 2008 2:32:13pm
i dont think he's lying. i think his reasons for doing this aren't just, but the game was rigged, i remember game 6 like yesterday. The kings used to dominate, it was always kings vs lakers this and that. That was so blatantly obvious to me something was wrong. im not sure if they wanted the lakers to win the series or bring it to 7 games to get more money, but it was rigged either way. it seems we have no sport without flaws. i dont consider the flaws of football to be as bad as the others though

rollo555 Jun 11, 2008 3:08:13pm
David Stern is a lying, thieving ***. He has ruined basketball, and I am sure that Tim Donaghy is right on the money when he says this. It's been rigged for years, they should just admit it. We need more refs to stand up and state the truth now. All referees are major slime, payoff loving, money grubbing scum.

tdl326 Jun 11, 2008 3:30:58pm
Stern's just trying to do damage control in light of the current series. I have to believe in what Donaghy's saying. The league's been corrupt for years. I believe in "pro" wrestling before I believe in leagues like the NBA, NFL, NHL etc..... David "Mo money" Stern, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme...........

superman_1969 Jun 11, 2008 5:40:33pm
So I see this guy at the gym this morning and I say what about Donaghy telling what he knows and this pea brain says he's just saying that stuff to not make himself look bad. I only called him naive. How come with everyone stealing everything that's not nailed down for the last 50 years I know of that we have never heard of one nba ref, one mlb umpire or one nfl official ever caught lying, cheating or gambling? How would you like to have lost a 10,000 dollar bet on that Kings-Lakers series now? Or 500 or 250, who cares how much? Now I just watch the playoffs (sometimes) and don't get sucked in for a whole season.

FIRECRACKER392 Jun 11, 2008 6:56:55pm
Now they want Viagra, Just because Baseball Players take it !!!

Yeshua Jun 11, 2008 7:35:43pm
David Stern was in on the fix when he suspended the NY Knicks (incl. Patrick Ewing) for leaving the bench of a brawl in 1996-1997 2nd round playoff series vs. Pat Riley's Miami Heat.