Say what you will about the Tim Donaghy mess - at least if a guy with the last name of “Gotti” tried to buy an NBA team, I feel confident that Commissioner David Stern would be skeptical. Apparently that’s not the case in baseball in Taiwan, where a consortium of alleged bookies and gangsters bought a team this season. And - what a shock - the CHINA POST reports that the team has been suspended and players and their coach have been arrested on charges of throwing a game last month.

The team in question is the D-Media T-Rex, who play in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Their team is co-owned by noted Taiwanese crime magnate Lin Ping-wen, who allegedly strong-armed his way into a share of the team’s ownership, and then started using his influence to fix games. Among the people arrested so far are bookmakers, the team’s coach and three players, including former MLB pitcher Cory Bailey, who also doubled as the team’s pitching coach.

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• A-Rod isn’t being hit too hard by this economic downturn, as he’s apparently using Benjamins as napkins. (via UMPBUMP)

• Chase Daniel and Warren Buffett: gangstas.

• The Phoenix Suns are doing their best to stay off of YouTube, says the EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE’s Jerry Brown.

• Al Davis probably needs to prove that the Patriots tampered with Randy Moss, or he might be looking at a hefty fine, says Adam Schecter of NFL.COM. Meanwhile, PRO FOOTBALL TALK is reporting that Lane Kiffin is being advised to sue Davis for defamation.

• Royals GM Dayton Moore tells the KANSAS CITY STAR’s Joe Posnanski that he’s had just about enough of sucking: “We’re not a young team anymore. We’re not an improving team anymore. There are no more excuses.”

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• Heidi Watney is starting to receive Erin Andrews-levels of obsession.

• Emmitt Smith will no longer be enjoyed on ESPN’s “NFL Countdown“.

• With Internet problems all around Beijing, Olympic Village athletes will have to get their porn the old fashioned way - from dirty books at the local bookshop.

• Meanwhile, gender testers at the Games just want to make sure girls will be girls.

• “Sun-ny day, beating the clouds away” - Cubs fans pummel a White Sox supporter while attending a 2-year-old’s Sesame Street birthday party.

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ESPN reports that Tim Donaghy has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for providing inside tips to gamblers wagering on NBA games.

It’s the same term Donaghy’s buddy James Battista received last week for placing bets on games based on Tim’s illegal tips.

The ex-ref is somewhat fortunate, as he could have faced up to 33 months behind bars. But NEWSDAY follows up that the ruling by Federal Judge Carol Amon “took into account Donaghy’s cooperation in the investigation.”

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• Provocative photos of CFL cheerleaders cause a coach to call it quits.

• Coming to a college campus near you - NCAA-regulated beach volleyball.

• LeBron James promises the U.S. will win basketball gold once again.

• Unfortunately for swimmer Jessica Hardy, her chances for Olympic glory have been sunk by a failed drug test.

• Happy* 44th* birthday*, Barry* Bonds*! Read more…

The Tim Donaghy saga may soon be coming to a close, as the ex-NBA ref accused of gambling will learn his fate next week. If he receives the same sentence his gambling pals got, Tim will be trading zebra stripes for prison stripes.

John Marzulli of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS reports that the two men implicated in the Donaghy scandal were both sentenced to jail on Thursday. James Battista was given a 15 month term, while Thomas Martino will be behind bars for one year & one day. Read more…

• Robert Redford has signed on to portray Dodgers GM Branch Rickey in ESPN’s upcoming Jackie Robinson flick.

• Annoying analyst Billy Packer is finally sent packing by CBS.

• LeBron James’ little “Vogue” cover controversy with Giselle Bundchen didn’t translate into many newsstand sales.

• Nude climbers really know how to get their rocks off.

• A-Rod’s marriage quickly crumbling? Scott Boras to the rescue!

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Tim Donaghy reached out and touched someone a whole lot of times during his alleged gambling days. And it wasn’t just his bookie getting all the calls - it was another NBA ref.

(Scott Foster [L] was apparently in Tim Donaghy’s five)

FOX NEWS reports that Donaghy had phoned fellow ref Scott Foster 134 times during the 2006-07 season, or about 8 more times than he rang up bookie James Battista: Read more…

Tim Donaghy got a lucky break on Tuesday, as a federal attorney said that the gambling goof doesn’t have to pay the NBA the $1.4 million the league is trying to rustle from its former referee.

Will Brinson of AOL FANHOUSE bounces along a report from NEW YORK NEWSDAY that the Association was asking for the million-dollar amount from their former employee. The figure was based on Donaghy’s league salary from 2003 to 2006 plus the costs of investigating the ref’s alleged game-fixing.

However, the Feds decided that $1.4 mil was a bit too much: Read more…

We hope we never bring David Stern’s coffee with one too many sugars or collate his Q3 report out of order or, you know, accuse him and his league of game-tampering. If we do, we can pretty much count on spending the rest of our lives earning money to pay back The Commish for our temerity.

We knew the NBA had upped the ante in their civil suit against disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy on Thursday, but the details of the latest cut into Donaghy’s flesh with Stern’s legal knife have just been revealed and they couldn’t be more petty without the Heartbreakers.

To wit, David Stern wants Tim Donaghy to pay the NBA back for all of his meals, complimentary tickets, airfare expenses, and… oh, all the shoes the league gave him over the last three years. Tim, you may want to open your mail for the rest of your life with a flamethrower. Just in case.

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