Deadspin has the story about a rogue scorekeeper from Vancouver who played god with statistics. Here's a sample:
Partly because I disagreed with the blatant stat manipulation (that I
did) and partly because I'm a Laker fan, I gave Nick Van Exel like 23
assists one game. If he was vaguely close to a guy making a shot, I
found a way to give him an assist. Afterwards, I fully expected someone
to talk to me about it. Indeed they did. A senior management guy –
"great job Alex, that'll get this game on Sportscenter tomorrow
morning!" We (VAN) lost badly, of course.
did) and partly because I'm a Laker fan, I gave Nick Van Exel like 23
assists one game. If he was vaguely close to a guy making a shot, I
found a way to give him an assist. Afterwards, I fully expected someone
to talk to me about it. Indeed they did. A senior management guy –
"great job Alex, that'll get this game on Sportscenter tomorrow
morning!" We (VAN) lost badly, of course.
Not only did this guy gift-wrap stats for his favorite players, he also withheld stats for guys he didn't like:
I also got bitched out by an Atlanta management guy because he felt I
hadn't hooked Mutombo up enough w/ blocks in a particular first half.
(I hadn't – I didn't like him because he was partly responsible for
beating the Sonics and because I thought he was a bit of a punk so I
made sure he didn't get a singly block that I wasn't sure he'd gotten –
which was one in that half.) I told the management guy that the box
score reflected the game and if Mutombo wanted more blocks, he needed
to earn them.
hadn't hooked Mutombo up enough w/ blocks in a particular first half.
(I hadn't – I didn't like him because he was partly responsible for
beating the Sonics and because I thought he was a bit of a punk so I
made sure he didn't get a singly block that I wasn't sure he'd gotten –
which was one in that half.) I told the management guy that the box
score reflected the game and if Mutombo wanted more blocks, he needed
to earn them.
And we thought referees were the problem. I've always been troubled by the fact score/timekeepers are employed by teams and not the league. Why not have a crew travel with the referees for each game? This way, fans (and announcers like Tommy), won't get worked up when jerk-offs like this guy from Vancouver start the clock too quickly/slowly when the game is down to its final play.
Around the league, Quentin Richardson was traded again, this time for Mark Blount.
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