This morning Tim Donaghy will be given his sentencing.

On Thursday Judge Carol Bagley Amon sentenced James Battista, a professional gambler, to 15 months in jail, and Thomas Martino, who passed information between Donaghy and Battista, to a year and a day in jail.

And since the disgraced NBA referee is headlining this show, you’ve gotta believe that he’s going to get the harshest sentencing at all.

TSC is saying he gets 21 months with a +/- line of 1.5 months. Any takers wanna bet on it?

All right. All right. We’re sorry. That was cold.

Despite how questionable you feel a referee is, The Guys Who Make The Calls always appear to be the sharpest and most attentive workers on courts and fields — with the exclusion of the Pacific 10 Conference, the NBA and now, Belarus.

Appears that referee Sergei Shmolik drank so much that he rode the mechanical bull before a soccer match in Belarus. Due to back pain, Shmolik was helped off the field — drunk.

In TV footage shown Wednesday on Russian television, Shmolik staggered as he was helped off the field at the end of Saturday’s match.

Personally, because soccer doesn’t really do it for me — you know, like that borderline 6.0 chick even with the beer goggles — I’d have to agree with this ref’s measures. Common now… Belarus? I couldn’t tell you the hemisphere, nevermind the contident that Belarus resides on.

Tim Donaghy is the cat that swore he didn’t eat the pet bird, but he’s got feathers coming out of his mouth. And what does he do to counteract? He blames the dog.

The former NBA referee alleged that Game 6 of the Lakers-Kings playoff series in 2002 was impacted by the disgusting actions of two of the three zebras who worked the game, according to a filing made by Donaghy’s lawyer in U.S. District Court in New York yesterday.

You got caught for gambling on the game, Donaghy. Take your fines and your prison sentencing like a damn man and quit pointing your gambling fingers.

The NBA’s commissioner, David Stern is in an uproar, and for good reason. He “vehemently denied the allegations, saying they are the desperate act of a convicted felon,” according to Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com. “We welcome scrutiny here. This is something that should be scrutinized.”

This season was going great. No more gambling refs, a Superman cameo at the NBA All-Star game and a Finals between the most historical rivalry in the sport.

It was like the Hollywood masterpiece that somehow made it through the writers’ strike.

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