Fear and loathing . . . everywhere

Does everything have to be a conspiracy?

Sports fans everywhere believe that superstars and marquee franchises are granted special treatment by the league. Every superstar, that is, but the one on your team. That guy is always getting the shaft.

This week, when disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy accused refs of fixing games, it precipitated an outpouring of conspiracy theories on sports radio and elsewhere.

Who could argue? The fix is undoubtedly in. How else could the San Antonio Spurs, playing in the vaunted 37th-largest media market in the nation, have won three championships in the past five years?