One, Two, Three, Kill the Referee

You've really got to hand it to NBA referee Bob Delaney. Guy's got balls. In the '70s, just a year and a half into his stint as a young state trooper in New Jersey, Delaney took up a special assignment to infiltrate the mob. The most shocking thing he did,...

By Pete Freedman

February 28, 2008

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You've really got to hand it to NBA referee Bob Delaney. Guy's got balls. In the '70s, just a year and a half into his stint as a young state trooper in New Jersey, Delaney took up a special assignment to infiltrate the mob. The most shocking thing he did, though, was agree to use the name his superiors bestowed upon him: Bobby Covert. Yeah. The fact that this guy was in a covert mission for the cops, while using the name Covert, and the fact that he somehow wasn't immediately pegged as a narc and killed, is simultaneously hilarious and mind-boggling. Almost as mind-boggling as the fact that, in the wake of NBA referee Tim Donaghy's betting-on-games scandal, another NBA ref would so willingly go around the country boasting about his once-upon-a-time ties to the mob. Oh well, guess someone convinced Delaney that this would be a good idea—he went and wrote a book about it called Covert: My Life Infiltrating the Mob. Tonight at 7 p.m., Delaney will be in town reading an excerpt from, answering questions on and signing copies of his book from within the friendly confines of Barnes & Noble, 7700 W. Northwest Highway. Call 214-739-1124 for information.
Thu., March 6, 7 p.m., 2008

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