Bookmakers, on seeing the heavy action, moved the line as high as twelve to discourage bets on the favorite (St. John's) and attract more bets on the underdog. Cobb was drafted by the Utah Jazz in the 6th Round and cut during training camp. The story of the infamous Boston College Basketball Point Shaving Case. Due to this the cause of this scandal remains unclear to this day. My moment had arrived. She knew the terrain in terms of what I needed to be doing, said Cobb. For example, if the Eagles were favored by 10, the mobsters would want the players on the take to make sure the team won by nine points or less. On June 23rd, 1983, more than four years after hed played his final game at Boston College, Ernie Cobb was indicted and charged with taking cash bribes to alter the outcomes of games against Harvard, Rhode Island and Fordham. The Boston Globe reported on Friday that Cobb and Bowie are targets of the federal probe into allegations of point-shaving in three Eagles games. I feel like I did all that fighting after I lost my dream of playing in the NBA, and it was all in vain. Henry Hill avoided going to prison, and he went off into the sunset of the governments Witness Protection Program, said Alswanger. When he finished with his testimony, he made a beeline straight for the restroom. Acknowledged taking $500 from conspirators, but claimed he acted under duress and was never charged. like that until he got there. When New York mobster Jimmy Burke got involved,. He told me to keep playing and working hard and that one day I might get another chance., When the story first broke in January of 1981, Cobb was in shock. In this case, while the line may have opened, or at one time gone to two, because of the heavy betting on Holy Cross, the syndicate had to lay as many as seven points, and therefore lost their bet. Sweeney was a self-confessed bookworm from an exclusive Jersey prep school, where he was all state in three sports. Said Hill, "He wanted me to fly up to Boston. Point-Shaving Trial Starts Today The Heights, Volume LXI, Number 35 So the scam continued. He is appealing Mr. Kuhn's conviction, and the defendant will remain free on $50,000 bail pending the outcome of that appeal. Visit MassGaming if you or someone you know has a gambling problem. Did it start out with a loss for the gamblers on Dec. 6, 1978, when Boston College handily beat Providence, 83-64? But I know that its not really in vain, because I know the truth.. I loved it in Israel, the fans loved me and the people were so beautiful. At that point, I was looking forward to a trial, said Cobb. When I got back and told Jimmy and Paulie about the scheme, they loved it, Hill recalled in Wiseguy. Theyd place bets on the underdog and win, thanks to the points, while the players still delivered victories for their team. The motley crew next ensnared Boston Colleges leading scorer, Ernie Cobb. Self-described Boston College basketball fixer, he confessed the conspiracy to agents investigating the signature crime of his mob crew, the Lufthansa heist immortalized in Goodfellas. Recruited into scheme by Mazzei. Boston College Men's Basketball's 1977-1978 Season - Getty Images [1]. RICK KUHN TELLS OF DEATH THREATS - The New York Times Out of everything that happened, thats one thing that hurts me tremendously, Cobb said. | The stories from all participants have changed in various interviews and often contradict each other. But what was I going to do, take it to court?It was here that they began telling Perla we would have to have Cobb. The Perla brothers were small-time gamblers who saw the upcoming 197879 Boston College Eagles basketball season as a perfect opportunity to earn a lot of money. Mazzei in turn contacted Henry Hill, a Lucchese crime family associate from New York who had befriended Mazzei while both men were serving sentences in a federal prison. Kuhn and Hill say hes lying. Teammate Rick Kuhn, a former minor league baseball player with connections to small-time Pittsburgh mobsters, conspired with the mobsters to initiate the point-shaving process, in which some BC. Can I play slot games for free? The 197879 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal involved a scheme in which members of the American Mafia recruited and bribed several Boston College Eagles men's basketball players to ensure the team would not win by the required margin (not cover the point spread) or win by the required margin (cover the point spread), allowing gamblers in the know to place wagers against that team and win. At the close of the two-week trial, Alswanger was the last character witness who took the stand in Cobbs behalf. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/06/sports/rick-kuhn-sentenced-to-10-years.html. I saw Ernie score 28 points against the Celtics in one of the final pre-season games when he was with the Nets, said Alswanger, Cobbs former high school coach. It was one of the most tremendous feelings Id ever experienced.. 2011-2023 GDC Media Ltd takes no responsibility for your actions. The court papers said Kuhn of Swissvale, Pa., has agreed to testify against former teammate Ernie Cobb, 27, a basketball player from Stamford, Conn. Cobb has pleaded innocent to a charge of conspiring to commit sports bribery,a charge stemming from the point-shaving scandal. Kuhn was convicted for his role in the scheme and now lives in southwest Pennsylvania. A former Boston College basketball player who has spent two years in prison for conspiring with professional gamblers to rig games told a Federal commission on crime yesterday about his role in the scandal and warned college athletes not to ''jeopardize their futures'' by succumbing to the temptations of ''big money.''. As he said regarding point shaving, the shit I was doing, that was going on in my life? The conspiracy unraveled in 1980 after Hill was arrested by New York State authorities on drug trafficking charges and was subsequently implicated in the Lufthansa heist, which occurred while the point-shaving scheme was underway. Devin Willocks Father Going After Georgia Bulldogs For $2 Million After Sons Death In SUV Driven By UGA Staffer. Jack Molinas engineered a larger scheme in 1961, which resulted in 37 arrests of students from 22 colleges. The test run for the scheme proved unsuccessful when Boston College's team established an early lead and ultimately won the game by nineteen points. Sweeney took out one of those little schedule cards, circled the games he thought we could fool around with, and gave the card to me. The story read, in part, as follows: Ernie Cobb tossed in 1,760 points in a stellar basketball career at Boston College and only two other Eagles scored more. Yet in Wiseguy, published four years later, Hill claimed he attended the opening game of the season against Providence on December 6, which Boston won 83-64. May 1 (UPI) -- First Republic Bank was sold Monday to JPMorgan Chase, as regulators seek to calm a turbulent banking sector that has now seen three U.S. banks fail in less than two months. Knowing they were in serious trouble, the players agreed to cooperate. Mazzei and Tony Perla were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. He turned to me and said, Coach, Im glad youre sticking up for your kid. Rick Kuhn - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com I dont know if they recognize it, but B.C. The FBI didnt have to prove the games were fixed, only that there was a conspiracy to manipulate the scores. won the gangsters some serious money by falling short of the spread. Boston College was favored by twelve to thirteen points, but won the game by only a three-point margin, 8683. Instead, they'd shave points to win against the spread. Same here, and yet when they did their list of greatest sports scandals a few weeks back (when Miami broke) they didn't have it on there the first day. Kuhn agreed to participate, and brought in his teammate Jim Sweeney.[1]. Kuhn, 28, was one of five people found guilty of conspiracy to engage in racketeering and other charges that stemmed from a point-shaving scheme hatched for the 1978-79 school season. Ex-convict at center of scheme, was connected to Kuhn by one of the players high school friends. He just kept swishing them in, 30 or 35 points, I dont remember., Hill went on to say, And they (Kuhn and Sweeney) were still saying, We got to have Cobb. I realized that and so I passed the word through Tony (Perla), At all costs, talk to him. Next thing I heard Cobb was all set, but it was going to take another $2,500 for his share. Some had connections to various upper-level gambling circles and some were connected to the mob as we take a look back at one of the biggest betting scandals seen during the 1980's in America. Their strategy was effective Boston College, a five-point favorite, covered the spread with a 9080 win over Connecticut. Mr. Kuhn, a reserve forward on the 1978-79 Boston College team, and four other men were convicted last November of a plot to manipulate the scores of six games that season to provide betting coups for gamblers. Confident from their recent success, the conspirators viewed the February 10 game against Holy Cross as an opportunity to reap the full benefits of their scheme. Enter Rick Kuhn, a senior forward for the Boston College basketball team during the 1978-79 season. This has gone on for four years. In imposing what are believed to be the stiffest punishments ever given to a college athlete for fixing games, Judge Bramwell rejected an appeal for leniency by Gary Zimmerman, Mr. Kuhn's lawyer, who had asked the judge to consider an alternative sentence, such as publicservice work. }Customer Service. Sweeney spoke with a very nervous Kuhn afterward. They reintroduced the original strategy, which proved successful for the February 3 Fordham game when Boston College, a ten-point favorite, won by seven points. He is benched in his final year. Loughery told me that I had the ability to play in the NBA. Hill went into witness protection and died in 2012 of a heart attack. I didnt like dealing with a third party I didnt know and had never metBut the word came back that Cobb was enthusiastic and, dont worry Henry, nothing can screw up now., In the 30-for-30 documentary that ESPN just aired, Henry Hill admits that he never talked to me, said Cobb. May 1 (UPI) -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is urging Texas Gov. As it was, BC were beaten 98-96 and the money was lost, thanks to Cobb scoring eight points in the final minute. The Perla brothers had a connection to the Eagles through forward Rick Kuhn, who was a high school friend of Rocco. I was relishing that moment. Former Boston College basketball player Rick Kuhn, convicted on - UPI I am trying to reach Mr. Cobb maybe you have contact still. Unlike Kuhn, Sweeney had a clean-cut image. When he first stepped on the hallowed parquet floor at the legendary Boston Garden, where B.C. The gambling gangsters needed to spread out the wagers since, the story goes, many back then had limits of $25,000. Mr . Nobody knows for certain how much money was made. H e refused comment yesterday on whether any attempt had been made to get Mr. Kuhn to cooperate in this investigation for consideration s in his sentencing. When I think about my journey, it brings tears to my eyes. The bookies began to smell a rat, and not just the one Hill himself would become 18 months later. Proponents argue that legal and regulated sports betting would actually reduce the chances of another BC scandal. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Mazzei, Hill and the Perlas devised a plan to rip off bookies without having players throw games. Cobb's trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 31 before Judge Leonard Wexler. Hill reportedly cleared over $100,000 ($373,400 today) and bettors higher up the line were said to have made up to $250,000 ($933,400 today). The investigation will reportedly include reports by The Commercial Appeal of Memphis and Sports Illustrated magazine that the school's basketball coach, Dana Kirk, offered $10,000 to relatives of the all-American Keith Lee while recruiting the 6-foot-10-inch forward four years ago. He graduated on time with a degree in sociology. I was a senior in high school when Ernie Cobb was a senior at Boston College and Id heard that he was a very good player, said Lemuel Mills, a Boston area hoops aficionado, coach, community mentor and historian. Leopards dont change their spots. NEW YORK -- Former Boston College basketball forward Richard Kuhn and four other people were indicted today on federal racketeering and bribery charges in a point shaving scheme, the FBI announced . In the summer of 1978, Rocco Perla and his older brother Anthony, back in Pittsburgh, were the ones who initially conceived the point-shaving scheme that would later rock the college basketball world. The true story of the famous Boston College point shaving scandal. The very next day, the Nets cut me., When the F.B.I. Kuhn, whose 10-year prison sentence for his part in the 1978-79 Boston College scheme was reduced to four years after he testified against a teammate, will be released from federal prison in. Suspecting that some bookmakers might be getting wise to the scheme, the conspirators temporarily revised their strategy after the UCLA game. So I guess the thought process was, Well, if there were criminal activities going on, it had to be the brothers! My name and picture, and Michael Bowies as well, was on the front page of every newspaper in the country.. Once the FBI arrested Hill the following year though, it all came out. But in the first game the scheme was tested, against Providence College, Boston College won by nearly double the point spread. 1978-79 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal And now, here I was on that same floor, pumped sky high, giving my defender buckets! He wasnt a trial lawyer, so he brought in his colleague, David Golub. (Photo by Frank O'Brien/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) PURCHASE A LICENSE. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/26/sports/rick-kuhn-recalls-point-shaving-case.html. The FBI were unable to prove that fixing had occurred from examining the games. She also recalled Kuhn saying that Cobb was too into his own game to cooperate with the betting thing, but the New York gangsters were adamant about getting him involved. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. white basketball player named Rick Kuhn, who has hopes of playing in the NBA. Ernie, dont lie to me, Alswanger instructed him. Sweeney was a businessman like me. Zimmerman also asked the court to consider Kuhn's 'crime-free background' and his cooperation with federal authorities in the Cobb case. Golden State Warriors Draymond Green Feels Former Teammate Harrison Barnes To This Day Dont Like Me For KD Coming Here. Over all, he said, the scheme failed. All of Henry Hills and the Perla brothers information was coming from Rick Kuhn, and who knows what he was saying to them to cover his own skin., (Jim Sweeney, Photo Credit: tampabay.com), Kuhn and Sweeney got in over their heads, Cobb continued. Edward McDonald was a Federal Prosecutor who interrogated Hill in May 1980. Was it due to great defence or did he have an off night? Playing for the Mob: The Story of College Kids Breaking Bad Admitting he accepted $1,000 for the game only fuels the speculation. Those later betters on St. John's lost money because they laid more than the eventual nine point margin of victory. A fitness fanatic who augmented his training by swimming and riding his bicycle very long distances, Cobb hopped on his ten-speed shortly after the indictment was announced and began pedaling. Gambling can be addictive. Hill mentioned the point shaving scam, which the FBI were completely unaware of. Hill said in Wiseguy, Jimmy and I put a few bucks down; in Playing For The Mob, Tony Perla says New York were cut down for over $250,000.. Its from Martin Scorseses GoodFellas, a film widely considered one of the best ever and among the greatest examples of the gangster genre. They mentioned the $1,000 that Rocco Perla gave my girlfriend and I told them the truth. But as a drug-using gangster who feared for his life, its unsurprising that his recollections were inconsistent. His lifes dream of making it to the NBA, which was where he belonged, was taken away from him. He worked hard in class. See the article in its original context from. Im not angry at the school. The Perla brothers proposed a simple scheme: they, along with Kuhn, would select certain basketball games where the projected point spread separating Boston College from its opponent was expected to be significant. What we do know is that money was won and money was lost, and the scam ultimately took down one of Americas most dangerous gangsters. Burke was sent to prison for 20 years (though he later died of cancer in 1996). Whatever his understanding, Cobb underperformed in the Harvard game, scoring 12 points when he averaged 23. That friend was Rick Kuhn, a 6-foot-5 senior forward on scholarship with the Eagles. April 30 (UPI) -- Cuba has postponed its annual International Workers' Day parade for the third time in more than 60 years as fuel shortages hamstring the country. Live Betting. That includes Rick Kuhn, the former minor league baseball player who started the scandal and who . Hill brought in his mentor, Jimmy Burke, to finance the operation and set up a network of bookies who could advance the financial potential of the scheme. I dont know if the losses can ever be made upnot the losses me and my family and friends have suffered. A look at who the key figures were in the Boston College point shaving scandal: Kuhn was a BC player at the center of the controversy. With his name swirling down the vortex of the mob cesspool from the moment the story broke, Ernie Cobb found it difficult to make a living. In 1949/50, 33 players across seven teams shaved points. When he arrived on campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Cobbs internal mantra was, I gotta stay eligible. With those persistent affirmations dancing through his mind, he took his academic responsibilities seriously from day one. Hill got picked up on drug trafficking charges in 1980. Said Hill, "I asked the players which of the upcoming games they felt we could shave. ----Wider Inquiry at Memphis State A former FBI agent hired by Memphis State earlier this year to adviseathletes on how to stay away from drug dealers and gamblers is now taking his job a step further. While the line may have been as low as 13 at some point, the syndicate had to lay 15, and therefore lost their bet when Rhode Island won by only 13. Other times, they didnt deliver as promised, which caused some very dangerous and ill-tempered men to lose large sums of cash. He says he took it under duress though, with Kuhn telling him he needed him to be involved, whether he liked it or not. The Perla brothers were small-time gamblers who saw the 1978-79 Boston College basketball season as a perfect opportunity to earn a lot of money. The Nets coaches were telling me, Coach, hes gonna be a great pro., I had a great camp with the Nets and was poised to make the team, said Cobb. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. I think you could poll a lot of people in the business and the Boston College scandal is off their radar. Julie has contributed to stories on many big sports moments, from the NFL's 100th season to Super Bowls to Justin Verlanders trade to the closing of the Palace of Auburn Hills. I thought he might have been a student, because he was young and I saw him hanging around Rick Kuhn all the time. He named Cobb, Kuhn and Sweeney as being involved, so the FBI visited the trio in early morning raids. A mobster met a drug dealer in prison and their friendship continued after their release. Also involved were bookmakers across the East Coast. As such, its impossible to be certain which game was the first they attempted to fix. The fifth man convicted, Paul Mazzei, 37, of Pittsburgh, is imprisoned for a narcotics violation and is scheduled to be sentenced for the point-shaving scheme Feb. 12. He was determined to prove that he could do the work, which would enable him to further chase his athletic dreams. Cobb was acquitted of any wrongdoing, despite Kuhn giving Cobb's girlfriend an allegedly unsolicited envelope with $1,000. We've analysed the best Fantasy Premier League picks ahead of Game Week 34. Former Boston College basketball player Rick Kuhn, jailed for - UPI According to Dr. Roy Nicks, chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the investigator, Ben Hale, will direct an inquiry into published reports that athletes at the school have been given money and special favors. Man, I would watch Jo Jo White, Dave Cowens and John Havlicek playing on television, on that same famous floor where Bill Russell and Bob Cousy and all of those great Celtics teams won all those championships, said Cobb. "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.". Whats going on? '30 For 30' tackles BC point-shaving scandal - Boston Colleges - ESPN Speaking in 2014, Cobb said: the ethical thing to do at 50 years old is different than what you would do at 16 or 20. Result is the outcome of the syndicate's bets. won by only two points and I had a lot of losing money down on this game. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. But that didnt matter. In 1978, Hill was introduced to Tony Perla, who told Hill that he had a friend on the Boston College men's basketball team. #10. But for Bowie, it was too little, too late. In one of Hills versions, that game inspired Cobbs recruitment. In practice, he was the lunatic who his teammates sucked their teeth and rolled their eyes at when he told the coaches that they needed to run more sprints after an exhausting practice. The characters and events were later immortalized by the actors Ray Liotta and Robert DeNiro in the classic film, Goodfellas. The spread comes out in Las Vegas, usually two to three nights before games, said Tony Perla. Ernie Cobb played professional basketball in Israel for 17 years, where he learned to speak fluent Hebrew. SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches following aborted mission, delays. ESPN's latest 30 for 30 film tackles the Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal. Anyone can read what you share. Bowies reputation was immediately sullied and he subsequently lost his job playing pro ball in Europe when the story broke. Edward A. McDonald, who coincidentally had graduated from Boston College in 1968 and who had played briefly on the basketball team, prosecuted the case.[2]. Either way, the mob were unhappy that the plan hadnt worked. Other notable players selected in that draft included Sidney Moncrief, Bill Laimbeer, Bill Cartwright, Mark Eaton and Jim Paxson. was favored to win a game by ten points, Kuhn had to make sure, if the game was in play with the mobsters and the bookies, that they won by less than ten in order for the gamblers to make money. I just knew that not only was I going to make the team, but I was going to be a factor in the NBA. The season was drawing to a close and the criminals were tired of a scam which didnt always pay off.
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