Mr.Bottomtooth
07-29-2007, 07:36 PM
Bad bounces along his way
Scandal ref said to have cheated through high school and college
BY MIKE JACCARINO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, July 29th 2007, 10:12 AM
HAVERTOWN, Pa. - Long before NBA referee Tim Donaghy landed in the middle of a betting scandal, he had a rep as an operator.
Back in high school, he was suspected of cheating on his SATs by fooling an aging nun, a former teacher at Cardinal O'Hara High remembered.
The cheating allegations against Donaghy - who is now the target of a federal probe for allegedly betting on NBA games, including several he officiated - were never proven. But he was later heard bragging about the alleged scam.
"I taught him for a year, and I think every homework assignment he turned in to me was copied," one teacher at the school told the Daily News.
The same teacher said years later he was in a New Jersey bar and heard Donaghy boasting to pals that he had cheated his way through Villanova University.
Neighbors and friends of the family say the worst part of the NBA scandal is the shame he has brought to his father, Gerald, a highly respected NCAA official who refereed the Final Four before retiring.
"They were very nice people, a typical Havertown Catholic family, very down to earth," said Donaghy's high school basketball coach, Buddy Gardler, who is legendary in the Philadelphia Catholic League.
Donaghy was the third of Gerald and Joanne Donaghy's four sons. His brothers are Jimmy, Chris and Kevin.
Donaghy grew up in a two-story brick-faced house on Bryan St. in Havertown, a suburb of Philadelphia.
In the 1970s, Donaghy was the paperboy, delivering The Philadelphia Inquirer to his neighbors in a little wagon.
"He was a funny kid ... well-liked and goofy, a real character," said Anne Egbert, 61, who lived around the corner.
Besides refereeing basketball games, Gerald Donaghy worked for General Electric as a manager. He was widely liked and respected by his neighbors and co-workers. But his son Tim began causing trouble in school at an early age, friends said.
"Of the four brothers, he was the wildest," said Jude Egbert, 37, who went to grammar school and high school with Donaghy. "Timmy had a bad temper. He was the troublemaker of the Donaghys. Timmy had a fuse, and that fuse was short.
"For some reason he could not get along with some people."
It was in high school that Donaghy met reputed bookie James Battista.
The FBI, which first heard Donaghy's name during an investigation of the Gambino crime family, is also investigating Battista and another childhood pal of the NBA ref's, Thomas Martino, sources said.
Battista was convicted of criminal conspiracy and bookmaking in 1998 along with five co-defendants, court records show.
The others were Anthony Rufo, 40, of Broomall, Pa.; Peter Ruggieri, 38, of Glen Mills, Pa.; Jeffrey Rossin, 44, of Richboro, Pa.; Steven McLaughlin, 38, of Las Vegas, and Patrick Smyth, 36, of Havertown.
Ruggieri, reached at the Jersey Shore last night, referred questions to his lawyer, who could not be reached for comment.
Records show the men all lived close to each other in Delaware County, Pa.
Battista's attorney in the case, Arthur Shuman, said, "That was not a tight connection but a group of bookies brought in in a wide sweep of Delaware County bookmakers.
"They were not associated other than that they may have bet into each other if one had too much on one game."
High-school pal Egbert said he long heard the rumor that Donaghy did not take his SATs, but always thought it was an "urban legend."
A teacher at the school, who asked to remain anonymous, remembered the incident well.
The teacher said Donaghy, who graduated from Cardinal O'Hara in 1985, was taking the test when he left to use the rest room. A few minutes later, another teen allegedly took his seat and finished the test, the teacher said.
An investigation was launched, but the nun who administered the test couldn't say for sure if Donaghy had pulled a switcheroo, the teacher said.
"The nun said she thought it wasn't the same kid who took the rest of the test. But she was in her 70s, and she wasn't 100% sure," the teacher said.
Fearing a lawsuit, the principal dropped the issue, he said.
About a month later, another teacher at the school said he overheard Donaghy bragging he had someone else take the SATs for him.
Donaghy was a B student and played basketball and baseball all four years at Cardinal O'Hara, the last two years on the varsity teams.
"He was a hard-nosed kid who could play," Gardler said. "He followed directions and was coachable."
Plenty of people did not remember Donaghy fondly.
"I think he's one of those guys who always thought he was smarter than the adults. He felt like he could do what he wanted and get away with it," said one, adding, "he would always talk to you like he was a genius and you were a dummy."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2007/07/29/2007-07-29_bad_bounces_along_his_way.html
Scandal ref said to have cheated through high school and college
BY MIKE JACCARINO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, July 29th 2007, 10:12 AM
HAVERTOWN, Pa. - Long before NBA referee Tim Donaghy landed in the middle of a betting scandal, he had a rep as an operator.
Back in high school, he was suspected of cheating on his SATs by fooling an aging nun, a former teacher at Cardinal O'Hara High remembered.
The cheating allegations against Donaghy - who is now the target of a federal probe for allegedly betting on NBA games, including several he officiated - were never proven. But he was later heard bragging about the alleged scam.
"I taught him for a year, and I think every homework assignment he turned in to me was copied," one teacher at the school told the Daily News.
The same teacher said years later he was in a New Jersey bar and heard Donaghy boasting to pals that he had cheated his way through Villanova University.
Neighbors and friends of the family say the worst part of the NBA scandal is the shame he has brought to his father, Gerald, a highly respected NCAA official who refereed the Final Four before retiring.
"They were very nice people, a typical Havertown Catholic family, very down to earth," said Donaghy's high school basketball coach, Buddy Gardler, who is legendary in the Philadelphia Catholic League.
Donaghy was the third of Gerald and Joanne Donaghy's four sons. His brothers are Jimmy, Chris and Kevin.
Donaghy grew up in a two-story brick-faced house on Bryan St. in Havertown, a suburb of Philadelphia.
In the 1970s, Donaghy was the paperboy, delivering The Philadelphia Inquirer to his neighbors in a little wagon.
"He was a funny kid ... well-liked and goofy, a real character," said Anne Egbert, 61, who lived around the corner.
Besides refereeing basketball games, Gerald Donaghy worked for General Electric as a manager. He was widely liked and respected by his neighbors and co-workers. But his son Tim began causing trouble in school at an early age, friends said.
"Of the four brothers, he was the wildest," said Jude Egbert, 37, who went to grammar school and high school with Donaghy. "Timmy had a bad temper. He was the troublemaker of the Donaghys. Timmy had a fuse, and that fuse was short.
"For some reason he could not get along with some people."
It was in high school that Donaghy met reputed bookie James Battista.
The FBI, which first heard Donaghy's name during an investigation of the Gambino crime family, is also investigating Battista and another childhood pal of the NBA ref's, Thomas Martino, sources said.
Battista was convicted of criminal conspiracy and bookmaking in 1998 along with five co-defendants, court records show.
The others were Anthony Rufo, 40, of Broomall, Pa.; Peter Ruggieri, 38, of Glen Mills, Pa.; Jeffrey Rossin, 44, of Richboro, Pa.; Steven McLaughlin, 38, of Las Vegas, and Patrick Smyth, 36, of Havertown.
Ruggieri, reached at the Jersey Shore last night, referred questions to his lawyer, who could not be reached for comment.
Records show the men all lived close to each other in Delaware County, Pa.
Battista's attorney in the case, Arthur Shuman, said, "That was not a tight connection but a group of bookies brought in in a wide sweep of Delaware County bookmakers.
"They were not associated other than that they may have bet into each other if one had too much on one game."
High-school pal Egbert said he long heard the rumor that Donaghy did not take his SATs, but always thought it was an "urban legend."
A teacher at the school, who asked to remain anonymous, remembered the incident well.
The teacher said Donaghy, who graduated from Cardinal O'Hara in 1985, was taking the test when he left to use the rest room. A few minutes later, another teen allegedly took his seat and finished the test, the teacher said.
An investigation was launched, but the nun who administered the test couldn't say for sure if Donaghy had pulled a switcheroo, the teacher said.
"The nun said she thought it wasn't the same kid who took the rest of the test. But she was in her 70s, and she wasn't 100% sure," the teacher said.
Fearing a lawsuit, the principal dropped the issue, he said.
About a month later, another teacher at the school said he overheard Donaghy bragging he had someone else take the SATs for him.
Donaghy was a B student and played basketball and baseball all four years at Cardinal O'Hara, the last two years on the varsity teams.
"He was a hard-nosed kid who could play," Gardler said. "He followed directions and was coachable."
Plenty of people did not remember Donaghy fondly.
"I think he's one of those guys who always thought he was smarter than the adults. He felt like he could do what he wanted and get away with it," said one, adding, "he would always talk to you like he was a genius and you were a dummy."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2007/07/29/2007-07-29_bad_bounces_along_his_way.html