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BY CAROL SLEZAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Before he became a mob informant, before he entered the witness-protection program, before he was immortalized in print and film, he was just another low-life gangster, doing the usual low-life gangster things. Drug-dealing, truck-hijacking, assault, arson, robbery and, oh yes, point-shaving. It was all in a rotten day's work for Henry Hill.
Before they met Hill and his associates, they were just three Boston College basketball players. But Jim Sweeney, Rick Kuhn and Ernie Cobb became caught up in the mobsters' point-shaving scheme. And after Hill spilled the beans to federal investigators, the players' lives were thrown into turmoil. Kuhn was indicted and found guilty. Cobb was indicted and found not guilty. Sweeney had his reputation ruined. When basketball players meet mobsters, bad things happen.
But, as millions of fans of "The Sopranos" could attest, people like a good mob story. And a new book by David Porter, Fixed--How Goodfellas Bought Boston College Basketball, is that. Like the book Wiseguy and film "GoodFellas," which made Hill a household name, Fixed is compelling drama. And if you're a college basketball fan, I'll wager Fixed will chill you to the bones. For Porter's account of the Boston College 1978-79 point-shaving scandal is a reminder of just how easily point-shaving schemes can be hatched and executed. All it takes is a point spread, a few garden-variety thugs and a player or two with the ability to rationalize their actions.
"A player isn't being asked to lose a game," said Porter, on the phone from his home in Trenton, N.J. "He's only being asked to win by less."
What kid doesn't need the money? And the temptations--the bookies, the low-level mobsters, the alumni with an urge to make a quick killing--are everywhere. In the 20 years since the BC point-shaving scandal was disclosed in 1981, college basketball's popularity has skyrocketed. As has betting--legal and illegal-- on college basketball games.
"Whenever a gambler loses a close bet, he thinks it was fixed," Porter said. "But it's probably happening less in those games and more in games he doesn't even know about."
When Tom Davis, BC's coach, found out his players had been charged with point-shaving, he spent hours replaying game films, trying to determine instances where the players were deliberately making mistakes. He couldn't. Had Hill not been arrested for other mob crimes, had he not decided to tell the authorities about the point-shaving scheme when they questioned him, it probably never would have been proved. There were whispers, there were suspicions, but there was no hard evidence. If it makes you wonder how frequently point-shaving goes undetected, you're not alone. In some ways it's the perfect crime. In some ways it's a victimless crime. Unless you happen to care about the integrity of sports, that is.
We have short memories. The BC scandal happened long ago. But what about the point-shaving at Arizona State during the 1993-94 season? And how many more suspected cases never have been made public? How many investigations have fizzled out because of lack of evidence? What was gambler Richard Perry (the same Richard Perry who pled guilty to sports bribery in the BC scandal) doing in a hot tub with those three UNLV players in 1991? What about the '96-97 Fresno State team, which covered the point spread in just eight of its 30 games?
"I believe point-shaving is more prevalent than in the past, but that is not to say it's rampant by any stretch of the imagination," Porter said.
But after reading Porter's book, I'm left with images of mobsters. Mobsters sitting in the stands at college basketball games, meeting with college basketball players, fixing college basketball games. Because, as Porter said about point-shaving scandals, "the food chain always ends with organized crime." The problem is larger than college basketball, of course. And solutions are hard to come by.
The lives of Sweeney, Kuhn and Cobb took a terrible turn because they were sucked into the point-shaving scheme. The money they got? It was enough to buy some stereo equipment, some jewelry, a few good meals. In other words, it wasn't worth the consequences. Kuhn went to prison for several years. Cobb lost his chance to play in the NBA. Sweeney tarnished his reputation forever. In the end, the kids always lose, the game always loses. And the mobsters always win.
Take the former wiseguy Hill, for instance. He was kicked out of the witness-protection program for "repeatedly breached security," according to Porter, but he has remained alive and thriving. Clean and sober and living in an undisclosed location, Hill has become an entrepreneur. He has started a Web site, goodfellahen ry.com. He's working on a cookbook, Cookin' On the Run, which will feature Italian classics, among other delicious dishes.
"He's had a rebirth," Porter said. "He's living proof that 15 minutes of fame can last 20 years."
And proof that, for some, crime always will pay.
Before he became a mob informant, before he entered the witness-protection program, before he was immortalized in print and film, he was just another low-life gangster, doing the usual low-life gangster things. Drug-dealing, truck-hijacking, assault, arson, robbery and, oh yes, point-shaving. It was all in a rotten day's work for Henry Hill.
Before they met Hill and his associates, they were just three Boston College basketball players. But Jim Sweeney, Rick Kuhn and Ernie Cobb became caught up in the mobsters' point-shaving scheme. And after Hill spilled the beans to federal investigators, the players' lives were thrown into turmoil. Kuhn was indicted and found guilty. Cobb was indicted and found not guilty. Sweeney had his reputation ruined. When basketball players meet mobsters, bad things happen.
But, as millions of fans of "The Sopranos" could attest, people like a good mob story. And a new book by David Porter, Fixed--How Goodfellas Bought Boston College Basketball, is that. Like the book Wiseguy and film "GoodFellas," which made Hill a household name, Fixed is compelling drama. And if you're a college basketball fan, I'll wager Fixed will chill you to the bones. For Porter's account of the Boston College 1978-79 point-shaving scandal is a reminder of just how easily point-shaving schemes can be hatched and executed. All it takes is a point spread, a few garden-variety thugs and a player or two with the ability to rationalize their actions.
"A player isn't being asked to lose a game," said Porter, on the phone from his home in Trenton, N.J. "He's only being asked to win by less."
What kid doesn't need the money? And the temptations--the bookies, the low-level mobsters, the alumni with an urge to make a quick killing--are everywhere. In the 20 years since the BC point-shaving scandal was disclosed in 1981, college basketball's popularity has skyrocketed. As has betting--legal and illegal-- on college basketball games.
"Whenever a gambler loses a close bet, he thinks it was fixed," Porter said. "But it's probably happening less in those games and more in games he doesn't even know about."
When Tom Davis, BC's coach, found out his players had been charged with point-shaving, he spent hours replaying game films, trying to determine instances where the players were deliberately making mistakes. He couldn't. Had Hill not been arrested for other mob crimes, had he not decided to tell the authorities about the point-shaving scheme when they questioned him, it probably never would have been proved. There were whispers, there were suspicions, but there was no hard evidence. If it makes you wonder how frequently point-shaving goes undetected, you're not alone. In some ways it's the perfect crime. In some ways it's a victimless crime. Unless you happen to care about the integrity of sports, that is.
We have short memories. The BC scandal happened long ago. But what about the point-shaving at Arizona State during the 1993-94 season? And how many more suspected cases never have been made public? How many investigations have fizzled out because of lack of evidence? What was gambler Richard Perry (the same Richard Perry who pled guilty to sports bribery in the BC scandal) doing in a hot tub with those three UNLV players in 1991? What about the '96-97 Fresno State team, which covered the point spread in just eight of its 30 games?
"I believe point-shaving is more prevalent than in the past, but that is not to say it's rampant by any stretch of the imagination," Porter said.
But after reading Porter's book, I'm left with images of mobsters. Mobsters sitting in the stands at college basketball games, meeting with college basketball players, fixing college basketball games. Because, as Porter said about point-shaving scandals, "the food chain always ends with organized crime." The problem is larger than college basketball, of course. And solutions are hard to come by.
The lives of Sweeney, Kuhn and Cobb took a terrible turn because they were sucked into the point-shaving scheme. The money they got? It was enough to buy some stereo equipment, some jewelry, a few good meals. In other words, it wasn't worth the consequences. Kuhn went to prison for several years. Cobb lost his chance to play in the NBA. Sweeney tarnished his reputation forever. In the end, the kids always lose, the game always loses. And the mobsters always win.
Take the former wiseguy Hill, for instance. He was kicked out of the witness-protection program for "repeatedly breached security," according to Porter, but he has remained alive and thriving. Clean and sober and living in an undisclosed location, Hill has become an entrepreneur. He has started a Web site, goodfellahen ry.com. He's working on a cookbook, Cookin' On the Run, which will feature Italian classics, among other delicious dishes.
"He's had a rebirth," Porter said. "He's living proof that 15 minutes of fame can last 20 years."
And proof that, for some, crime always will pay.