I took every single practice and every single game seriously, said Cobb. Dean Smith, basketball coach at the University of North Carolina and the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, said last night it is standard procedure for coaches to speak to team members about the possibility of point-shaving overtures and to encourage them to report any efforts to persuade them to manipulate scores. Whats going on? I was forthright and honest with them. So I didnt even go on trial with Kuhn and the mobsters that put the whole thing in motion.. He was hopeful that hed have another chance to make it in the NBA. He tried to subsist as a substitute teacher, and even caddied at the Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, the affluent suburbs where hed previously been arrested for stealing bikes as a kid. He gave me every opportunity to tell my story, says Sweeney of Lavine. After his junior campaign, where he converted 52% of his shots, an inordinate number for a small perimeter shooter, and averaged 22.8 points per game, he was recognized as one of the most lethal scorers in the country. I was having a lot of success, we were turning around the fortunes of the program and I was getting a lot of press in the Boston Globe and area newspapers. Bets in this column are given in the format ", Winner is given as either Opp or BC and the margin of victory. Burkes gang had just successfully pulled off the Lufthansa airport heist at New Yorks JFK airport, where theyd stolen an estimated $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewels, the largest cash robbery in America at the time. I never got to realize my dream of playing in the NBA, but Ive been all over the globe and have experienced so many different and beautiful cultures. 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. Hill and Tony Perla claim that they were all doing cocaine and Kuhn and Sweeney begin marking games that they are favored in and talking about all the money they will make. This is Part II of The Shadow League's feature story on former Boston College basketball player Ernie Cobb. I dont know what went down because I wasnt involved. 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. Alswanger, my high school coach inspired me to rise above my circumstances, he continued. 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. But that had nothing to do with shaving points., At the time, I was nave, Cobb continued. He said he would have done that if the sides were reversed. My moment had arrived. He said Hill told him he was backed by powerful interests in New York, and he was afraid of what might happen to him if he refused to cooperate. Fake cannabis billionaire pleads guilty to securities fraud. The distinguished paper later retracted the story. 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. I was so frustrated at one point that I got on my bike in Stamford, Connecticut and just started riding. The Boston Globe story was initially investigated and written by a young Boston College alumnus named Leslie Visser, who would go on to become a very accomplished, groundbreaking journalist and role model for women who aspired to work in the field of sports media. 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. Mazzei and the Perlas were particularly hopeful that Hill would enlist the support of his associate, James Burke, to finance the payments to the players and to set up a network of bookmakers who were in on the scheme. The conviction of former Boston College basketball player Richard Kuhn for his involvement in the point shaving scandal during the 1978-79 basketball season was The scheme continued to work successfully in the December 23 game against UCLA. 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. Hill gave up everybody including the players involved. Kuhn explains to Sweeney that they are both going to get killed after not successfully fixing a game against Providence. Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Boeing's sustainable flight demonstrator project won a $425 million award Wednesday from NASA, as the company aims to roll out green single-aisle airliners by the end of the decade. 30 Years After His Exoneration, Former BC Hoops Star Ernie Cobb Is Still Fighting to Clear His Name Pt. Their strategy was effective Boston College, a five-point favorite, covered the spread with a 9080 win over Connecticut. Mazzeis connection to Kuhn was through fellow gangsters Rocco and Tony Pearla. Burke had Hill fly to Boston on November 16, 1978, to meet with Mazzei, Kuhn, Tony Perla, and any other member of the Eagles team interested in participating in their scheme. Twice, in 1951 and 1961, the sport was rocked by scandal. I have an incredible circle of supportive friends and have met some amazing people who have impacted my life in ways that I cant even begin to describe., Mr. We had a good old time. The fact that I went to court and fought for my name, that I stood up for myself and cleared my name, that I was exonerated and acquitted, its a travesty that Im still associated with this., My name is indelibly linked to it, Cobb continued. Of course, of course I was upset, but what could I do? Hill flew into Boston, at the behest of Jimmy Burke, late in 1978 to meet with Mazzei, the Perlas, Kuhn and Sweeney at the Logan Airport Hilton and ensure that everything was in place. To establish Hills character, the film showcases numerous scenes from Goodfellas, including when Hill, under trial, is rewarded for not snitching on his family associates. Can anyone shed some Netflix hiring flight attendant for private jet with compensation up to $385,000. 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 It is quite a ride, so please, enjoy it. Hes a good person. Convinced that Cobb was innocent after his mentee walked him through everything that had transpired, and certain that he was being used by the federal government to send more organized crime figures to prison, Alswanger began working the phones. The very next day, the Nets cut me., When the F.B.I. Regardless of what the audience thinks, the eyes of the law he is not guilty. Columbia University names Nemat Shafik as first woman president. I was focused in the moment. . Fourteen hours later, I arrived in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.. Richard Kuhn AIA by BSA Staff Name: Richard Kuhn AIA Job title and company: Design director, Perkins+Will Degree(s): B. The movie begins by introducing the key Boston College basketball players and the Pittsburgh mobsters. Rick Kuhn during Boston College men's basketball's 1977-1978 season. They were touting me as the next sub-6-footer to have an impact in the NBA. While Hill was being questioned, FBI agents inadvertently mentioned his frequent trips to Boston around the time of the Lufthansa heist. While Jim Sweeney is also introduced, hes the other captain from a better upbringing: the poster child for BC. We were all so excited for him. He dreamed of walking away from Boston College at seasons end as one of the schools most revered sons before embarking on what he hoped would be an accomplished, financially rewarding career in the NBA. We were looking good as a team and my goal was to be the best player I could possibly be. Hes now happily at work on his latest project, a sports cartoon character named Mike (as in microphone) that appears on his daily sports blog and in 35 comic books downloadable on Amazon. Riper, Tom Van. It had to cost around $200,000 at the time to defend me.. Early on, before the season got underway, Cobb says that he was approached by a man from Pittsburgh named Rocco Perla, who hed seen hanging around campus with his teammate, senior forward Rick Kuhn. As a freshman, he played sparingly and averaged 4.5 points per game while the Eagles finished with a disappointing 9-17 overall record. After discussing their strategy with Kuhn and Sweeney, it was agreed that an upcoming game against Providence would be an appropriate test for their scheme. Supreme Court mulls questions about students' accessibility rights. I got through it on my own, and I didnt get whacked, is how he sums it up. When he returned to the United States, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he became a Special Education teacher and high school basketball coach. Suspecting that some bookmakers might be getting wise to the scheme, the conspirators temporarily revised their strategy after the UCLA game. Boston College's basketball team ended their 197879 season with a 229 record. 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). Sweeney describes his side of the story, claiming he is invited to dinner with Kuhn and Tony, where he meets Henry Hill who threatens to kill him if he doesnt begin fixing games with Kuhn. Visser became the NFLs first female beat writer in 1976, when she was assigned by the paper to cover the New England Patriots. My girlfriend and I bought a new stereo, television and some furniture. We also see Liotta, as Hill, trying to impress Robert DeNiro, who portrayed the mobster Jimmy Burke. After perhaps his greatest moment during the preseason, when he had that outstanding game against the Celtics right before the regular season tipped off, Cobb was relaxing in his hotel room when he heard a knock at the door. Coupled with the narration being done by Ray Liotta, the actor that played Henry Hill in the movie, adding to the films overall gangster aesthetic. Henry Hill avoided going to prison, and he went off into the sunset of the governments Witness Protection Program, said Alswanger. 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. 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. Apparently, someone called into the online editor the second to inform them of the "miss." It goes to show that crimes like these dont stay in the past, especially when they involve other peoples money. Testifying for the government, Sweeney acknowledged meeting with Hill but said that although he agreed to participate in the scheme he never intended to go through with the deal. But its the points that Cobb and teammate Michael Bowie didnt score during the 1978-1979 season which has spawned a federal investigation. He quickly thrived and was recognized as one of the leagues best players. There were a lot of rich kids who went to Boston College. Tennessee church holding prayer as FAA investigates plane crash that killed 4 members. They showed me these pictures of these mafia guys and were asking me, Do you know him? Im not angry at the school. 197879 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal. You understand? When Henry Hill started threatening Kuhn and Sweeney, promising that they couldnt play with broken limbs, the players, according to Hill, claimed that they were doing their best, but the scheme would never work unless Ernie Cobb was in on the fix. [ii] Holy Cross ultimately won by only two points, as Cobb scored eight points in the final minute to bring the Eagles close, and everyone involved lost a substantial amount of money. But by the next summer, in 1980, he sparkled while playing for the New Jersey Nets during the pre-season. Rocco and Tony Perla were giving money to Rick Kuhn. Holy Cross was favored to win and, consistent with the scheme, were bet on to win by a margin greater than the seven-point spread. Just by being there, Id already reached success beyond my wildest dreams. 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. Sweeney, starter and team captain, intentionally fouls himself out of the game. The same channels would be used for the passing of the point spread from Burke and Hill to the players. The move on and they all thought the fixes were history. The documentary, narrated by Ray Liotta (who portrayed Hill in the film), was set up so that the viewer needed to watch Goodfellas beforehand to understand many of the references in the story. will air the latest installment of its acclaimed 30 For 30 series with a look back at the infamous Boston College basketball point shaving scandal from the 1978-79 season. Bruce Pearl, a normal student in the class of 1982, is introduced and talks about the smart, diverse basketball players. They said they were trying like hell but they couldnt get the job done because Cobb was the key man on the team., After Boston College beat Holy Cross 89-87 in the first game between the two schools that season, Hill said in SI, Well, B.C. He said he was brought in on the deal for his ability to maximize profits through his contacts in the gambling world. Snitching is seen as one of the worst things you can do to a business partner, but to these people, it is just water under the bridge. Hes innocent., When they indicted me, they wanted Peter Vario, the mobster, so they tried us together, said Cobb. The 80-minute documentary tells how BC forward Rick Kuhn conspired with two of his hoodlum friends from Pittsburgh to bet against the Eagles. Even though he was not guilty, Boston College has erased them from their memory. But I know that its not really in vain, because I know the truth.. A federal jury in Brooklyn yesterday convicted former Boston College basketball player Rick Kuhn and four codefendants of conspiring to manipulate the scores of Boston College games during the 1978-79 season. would play a few games each year, Cobb was awash with emotions. less serious, the aftermath was compared to the fallout that would occur today. 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. The Providence game was played on December 6, 1978, and Boston College was favored to win by six to seven points. 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.. Jim Sweeney admits that Kuhn gave him cash. On the stand during the trial, Rick Kuhns girlfriend, Barbara Reed, with whom he shared an apartment during his senior year at Boston College, testified that she overheard Kuhn and Sweeney discussing the Fordham game, saying that they had to keep the ball away from Cobb because he shot the ball all the time. Rick was born on October 14, 1966, in Jamestown, ND, to Timothy Kuhn and Marretta (Deede) Kuhn. Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The husband accused in the New Year's Day disappearance of Massachusetts mother of three Ana Walshe made a series of Internet searches about dismembering bodies and disposing of them, prosecutors said in court Wednesday. At trial in 1981, the government's case consisted primarily of the testimony of Hill and three other witnesses: Sweeney and Joseph Beaulieu, both Boston College players, and Barbara Reed, a 23-year-old nurse who lived with Kuhn during the 197879 Eagles season. It wasnt an absolute disaster but it was a cousin. He killed people. 197879 Boston College Eagles basketball season, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, "Key figures in the BC point shaving scandal", "James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke, Gangster, 64, of 'Wiseguy' Fame", "Kuhn Gets 10-Year Sentence In BC Point-Shaving Case", "Guilt by Wikipedia: How Joe Streater Became Falsely Attached To The Boston College Point Shaving Scandal", 1946 NFL Championship Game bribery scandal, 2009 Melbourne Football Club tanking scandal, 2012 Olympics women's doubles disqualifications, 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=197879_Boston_College_basketball_point-shaving_scandal&oldid=1112461833, 197879 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, College basketball controversies in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 September 2022, at 12:41. The six games figuring in the point-shaving case were Boston College against Providence, Dec. 6; Harvard, Dec. 16; UCLA, Dec. 23; Fordham, Feb. 3; St. John's, Feb. 6, and Holy Cross, Feb. 10. 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. The February 6 game against St. John's was a "push" (winning back exact bets), as the syndicate neither won nor lost when St. John's prevailed 8576, the exact point spread (nine) the bookmakers had offered.[i]. now all well past their primes after serving their time, including the gangster Ray My family has suffered. Overall, the real end to the Boston College point-shaving scandal is the trial, the main conflict of the film. Kuhn would be responsible for ensuring, by his play on the court, that Boston College fell short of the point spread. Rick Kuhn, 10 years, Rocco Perla (fixer) four years and a $30,000 fine. The police have Henry Hill as an informant in hopes that he will have information on his boss, Jimmy Burke and other mobsters involved in the Lufthansa robbery, where five million dollars was stolen in the heist. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images No source was given for this claim, with Streater's last appearance for the team occurring in the 197778 season, but this claim remained for more than five years, resulting in a number of media sites including Bleacher Report, ESPN and Yahoo News erroneously naming him as a point-shaver.[5]. In 2014, the ESPN-produced 30 for 30 series debuted Playing for the Mob,[6] the story about how Hill and his Pittsburgh associates, and several Boston College basketball players, perpetrated the point-shaving scheme during the 197879 season, an episode briefly mentioned in the movie Goodfellas. Kuhn and two money men were The next step in the saga is how these players get connected to the mob. Rick Kuhn, 55, passed away peacefully on September 12, 2022, in his home in West Fargo, ND, surrounded by his family. They greet each other like old friends; there is no bitterness between them. 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. Playing for the Mob: The Story of College Kids Breaking Bad But Kuhn was a player of limited ability, so he recruited his roommate and best friend, who also happened to be the most important player on the floor, the teams senior point guard, Jim Sweeney. Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A Memphis-area church is holding prayer services Wednesday for four of its members who were killed in a plane crash in Texas. 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. 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. The final player involved in the fix, Rick Kuhn, is introduced. Zimmerman also asked the court to consider Kuhn's 'crime-free background' and his cooperation with federal authorities in the Cobb case. By my junior year, it was show-time, said Cobb. Although Cobb maintains that he received money from Rocco, he claims it was just for winning the game even though Rocco claims he knew for sure. The syndicate was able to lay nine points when the game was first available to be bet, and therefore pushed. Sweeney purposefully misses a free throw to help the fixers win even though he is the best free-throw shooter in the nation. Holy Cross wins by two causing the mobsters to lose hundreds of thousands. Sweeney has won several FIMBA tournaments as a player in the 50-plus division.
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