Yeah, if the question was, "Was the lottery rigged?" Then it's not a loaded question, completely different from Stern's comeback one. A loaded question would be something like, "What method did you use to rig the lottery?" or "Which year's lottery was rigged?"
People hate Rome but you tell me if any other local Radio (or ESPN) host would have the balls to ask the question. If only for beating into Sterns mind that THE WORLD KNOWS YOU'RE A FRAUD.
man, i also didn't think that was "sticking it to him", but reading the entire transcript, my mind is changed. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8...r-david-stern-radio-host-jim-rome-get-lottery i hate stern, but, as jim rome would say, he severely "got over on him". ain't an easy thing to do.
I don't like anyone involved in this either but man... and look, I already know Stern is on a power trip and completely insane with power but... WOW man. Ha. On aside -- that thread with the Jim Rome/Mutombo/Cookie Monster mockup - that was GOLD.
Hmm, doesn't seem like a loaded question to me. But the way he phrased it, one could interpret it as him assuming Stern had a desire to rig it, but may or may not have. Just seemed like he was using a turn-of-phrase to me, nothing more, nothing less. Stern came off like typical Stern, a giant prick. That Stern got so defensive only makes him look even more suspicious. Rome isn't asking for cheap thrills or "good copy", he's asking because people legitimately wonder about it. Which should tell Stern and the NBA quite a bit about the state of its public relations.
Stern's too dense to see that. A lot of casual fans are think that the league is fixed to some degree, which looks terrible for the NBA. I really hope Adam Silver changes that, I hope Silver changes a lot of things- but I doubt he has the balls to be little more than a less confident reincarnation of Stern. Meaning, I think he'll do what Stern would do, decide what Stern would decide- rather than trust his gut or make a decision.
asking the commissioner of the NBA if he rigged the lottery is completely for the intention of shock value/cheap thrills. what does he expect him to say, "yes, i rigged it"?
i still don't understand why nobody has asked him why he doesn't just air the ping pong balls live on tv. i don't care how boring that might sound, i guarantee it will get no fewer viewers than the current made-for-tv production does, and i would bet it gets more. he has never addressed that, right?
DonnyMost, We can agree that the "fix" can't work unless Stern knew about it, so asking Stern if the "fix was in" is insulting to Stern. It is somewhat loaded if you expect a Yes / No answer. As a No says nothing about whether Stern has fixed one before. They fair question (I suppose) is to ask Stern "What would you say to people who believe the fix was in."
I agree. I"m not trying to defend Stern, but Rome should (and probably did) expect an answer like that from Stern...so Rome got what he asked for, cheap thrills and shock value.
The ping pong balls live would definitely help. But I think the issue is feasibility. They'd have to either have equal chances for everyone (which I think will only cause more probelms) or they have to remove every single ball from the team that was last picked. They should really just do away with the lottery and give it to the lowest seeded team. If the team has below a certain number of wins (say 12 in a non-regular season) they get the 14th pick in the draft and everyone gets bumped up one spot. If a team has the 1st overall pick last year or the year before, they cannot get the pick this year and will be given the 3rd pick.
Oh my goodness did anyone listen to the clip? David Stern was very angry about a question that should have been pretty simple to shrug off. (if it weren't true *wink*) http://thebiglead.fantasysportsven.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/061312-David-Stern.mp3 The conversation was more contentious than I anticipated. Was there a rumor that Rome beat his wife?
I don't even have to look it up. The NBA lottery is run by an extremely reputable firm and neither the commish nor anyone else is going to be able fix it. Mistaking outcomes based on probability for underhanded behavior is sorta in the Black Helicopter arena.
