I didnt know what that was all about. They had Kuhn approach Ernie Cobb, the leading scorer on the team, but it has never been proven if Cobb agreed to cooperate. "It really could be far more serious and more of an annual situation than anyone suspects," said Ralph Miller, basketball coach at Oregon State University. 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]. When the story first broke, it said that Michael Bowie and I were the ones implicated, said Cobb. For all I know, he told them I was in, that it would cost an extra $2,500 per game and he was trying to hustle the gangsters while pocketing the extra money. They treated me great. Director Joe Lavine goes on to feature many references and clips of the movie. 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. But for many, there is a fierce bitterness that still lingers to this day. 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. I was forthright and honest with them. 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. You understand? He jumped in the air, as if soaring for a rebound, as cheers filled the courtroom. Hes innocent., When they indicted me, they wanted Peter Vario, the mobster, so they tried us together, said Cobb. Intentional point shaving on the floor was never proven, and if Hill hadnt later confessed the scheme to prosecutors after getting busted for his other crimes, the whole ordeal might have passed without notice. While Hill was being questioned, FBI agents inadvertently mentioned his frequent trips to Boston around the time of the Lufthansa heist. We werent really checking for B.C. It would fit with ESPN, which reports sports but also has an underlying self-deprecating humor, is basically his pitch. They greet each other like old friends; there is no bitterness between them. Netflix hiring flight attendant for private jet with compensation up to $385,000. So, in very basic terms, if B.C. 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. Just by being there, Id already reached success beyond my wildest dreams. Kuhn grew up to be 6-foot-8, and signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds right after finishing high school. "Boston College's tradition in athletics rests upon the accomplishments of many thousands of men and women. would play a few games each year, Cobb was awash with emotions. The government presented telephone records showing evidence of extensive communications between the conspirators during the 197879 season and records provided by Western Union and various hotels which further corroborated government testimony. The point-shaving allegations surfaced during an unrelated investigation into the 1978 theft of $5.8 million from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at New Yorks Kennedy Airport. ESPN Looks Back On Boston College Point Shaving Scandal And A Player Speaks Out. Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 Oct. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2014/10/01/espn-looks-back-on-boston-college-point-shaving-scandal-and-a-player-speaks-out/#3f03989d26b8. Suspecting that some bookmakers might be getting wise to the scheme, the conspirators temporarily revised their strategy after the UCLA game. The next step in the saga is how these players get connected to the mob. Thats the real strength of his story, that you pick yourself up and make something of yourself.. It was national news that brought Cobb, Sweeney, and Kuhn under massive headlines. ESPN's latest 30 for 30 film tackles the Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal. I was eating Rory Sparrow up, who went on to have a decent NBA career, in that camp. 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]. But its one of the most famous in sports history, to which Sweeneys name will be forever linked. Art. There were a lot of rich kids who went to Boston College. I was reading about the Boston College point-shaving scandal of the late 70s and I was wondering whatever became of Rick Kuhn in his later life. Jimmy Burke goes berserk and shatters his own TV. Rick Kuhn, 10 years, Rocco Perla (fixer) four years and a $30,000 fine. 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. Web197879 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team. Tell me what you did and what you didnt do. Although a participant in the scheme, Hill was granted immunity from prosecution and testified as a government witness. Needing an inside man, the brothers wanted to recruit Rick Kuhn, a high school friend of Rocco who was entering his senior year at Boston College and was expected to be a key member of the 19787 Rocco Perla and Kuhn were high-school classmates. Still, he feels lucky. Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The Justice Department Wednesday filed a complaint against a sheriff's department in Cumberland County, Tenn., alleging it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when firing an officer with an opioid use disorder. Sometimes, B.C. He took advantage of an opportunity that surfaced when a pro team from Israel offered him a spot on their roster. It was all so positive.. Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A class ring that went missing decades ago has been returned to its owner. Whats going on? Hill was listed as a co-conspirator, but was not named as a defendant. 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 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. Jim Sweeney was not charged. Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. After the four-week trial in 1981, Jimmy Burke was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Paul Mazzei and Tony Perla were sentenced to ten. At one point, he said accepted $500 from Kuhn, but only to give the illusion of cooperating in the scheme. The scheme was conceived by Rocco Perla and his brother Anthony in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1978. Rick Kuhn, the former Boston College basketball player who was convicted last November, and sentenced last February for his involvement in the point shaving Only on occasion does the scandal come up. At that point, I was looking forward to a trial, said Cobb. Hill gave up everybody including the players involved. Jim Sweeney admits that Kuhn gave him cash. The former friends work hard to cast blame and the true conversations that went on between the mobsters and players will never be discovered. NEW YORK -- Former Boston College basketball player Rick Kuhn, jailed for his 1981 conviction in a point-shaving scandal, has asked for a reduction of his 10-year When he was implicated in the scandal, I was shocked.. But for Bowie, it was too little, too late. When he first stepped on the hallowed parquet floor at the legendary Boston Garden, where B.C. Ernie Cobb played professional basketball in Israel for 17 years, where he learned to speak fluent Hebrew. The 197879 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team represented Boston College during the 197879 NCAA men's With Sweeney making it out with no sentence, the mystery still remains of how involved he really was. 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. Towards the end of the film, we see Hill and Mizzou, one of the people Hill snitched on, are meeting at a restaurant 30 years later. Joe Beaulieu, the starting center on the 1978-79 Boston College team, also testified he was approached by Kuhn to participate in the plan, but he said he rejected the proposal. If this film has taught us anything, it is that it doesnt matter which side was more at fault, ultimately the decisions they made changed their lives forever. Walgreens settles West Virginia opioid lawsuit for $83 million. This is an important part of the documentary because it shows the respect they have for one another regardless of the past. 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. "He said he had a betting thing set up in a way to make money during the season so that we could be taken care of," said Reed, now a nurse in Syracuse, N.Y. Reed also testified that Kuhn threatened to kill her if she ever told of the scheme. NEW YORK -- Former Boston College basketball player Rick Kuhn, jailed for his 1981 conviction in a point-shaving scandal, has asked for a reduction of his 10-year prison sentence. 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. The distinguished paper later retracted the story. I was nervous because I didnt know what was going to happen. The mobsters Paul Mazzei and Henry Hill met in a nearby jail stayed in touch after serving their time. He said he would have done that if the sides were reversed. For the conspiracy to work, the men knew they would need the cooperation of other players on the team, according to the testimony of Henry Hill, a convicted felon and the key prosecution witness. Bets in this column are given in the format ", Winner is given as either Opp or BC and the margin of victory. He graduated on time with a degree in sociology. Des., University of Florida; MArch, Harvard GSD Professional interests: My passion lies in all things design but specifically in higher education, cultural and civic projects. His testimony continued terribly, he was a nervous wreck, he was rambling about unnecessary information and he couldnt even look in Burkes direction. 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