They had Kuhn approach Ernie Cobb, the leading scorer on the team, but it has never been proven if Cobb agreed to cooperate. Ernie, dont lie to me, Alswanger instructed him. Hill gave up everybody including the players involved. Tennessee church holding prayer as FAA investigates plane crash that killed 4 members. But I dont feel any bitterness toward the prosecution. Kuhn explains to Sweeney that they are both going to get killed after not successfully fixing a game against Providence. He quickly thrived and was recognized as one of the leagues best players. After Cobb was not charged, he thought he was finally past the sordid affair. 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. Even with the not guilty verdict, he still lost all hope of going to the NBA. 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. The intense music, clues in the audience that this is where it all comes out. Rick Kuhn, 10 years, Rocco Perla (fixer) four years and a $30,000 fine. won the gangsters some serious money by falling short of the spread. It was one of the most tremendous feelings Id ever experienced.. He talks about the fix and how Jimmy Burke participated even though he wasnt the ringleader. When he was implicated in the scandal, I was shocked.. The mobsters Paul Mazzei and Henry Hill met in a nearby jail stayed in touch after serving their time. Supreme Court mulls questions about students' accessibility rights. The five men could each receive a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail and $45,000 in fines. Other notable players selected in that draft included Sidney Moncrief, Bill Laimbeer, Bill Cartwright, Mark Eaton and Jim Paxson. I dont know what went down because I wasnt involved. While Hill was being questioned, FBI agents inadvertently mentioned his frequent trips to Boston around the time of the Lufthansa heist. 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 youve seen the famous mafia flick, you probably remember Liotta making several references to his Pittsburgh connections, his main partners in a drug ring, among other things. Interim Application of Copyright and Trademark Registration in Cochin. 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. Murder by Contract orThe Logical Lethality of The American Dream. Rocco Perla and Kuhn were high-school classmates. 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. I hadnt seen Ernie for several years, Jack Hennessey, a psychologist at Boston College that had served as an informal academic advisor during Cobbs days as a student, told the New York Times in April of 1984. 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. The problem was Cobb. Web197879 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Rick Kuhn, 55, passed away peacefully on September 12, 2022, in his home in West Fargo, ND, surrounded by his family. On Friday morning, March 23rd, the jury came back with a unanimous innocent verdict for Ernie Cobb, exonerating him of all charges. The narrator explains that the strength of how Henry Hills testimony is would determine if Burke was going to be convicted. 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 Perla brothers mobilized a betting syndicate to maximize their potential gain from the scheme. The December 16 game against Harvard was chosen as the second test for the scheme. As a backup center with limited effect on a games outcome, he won over the mobsters by bringing Ernie Cobb, the teams leading scorer, and Sweeney, the point guard who controlled the ball for much of the game, into the fold. It was the government's contention that the scheme originated when Mazzei contacted Burke and said he had a friend in Pittsburgh who knew a player on the Boston College team and that there was a possibility for a betting scheme in which they could make thousands of dollars. The headlines in Boston, and around the country, said that Cobb and fellow senior Michael Bowie, the teams two African-American stars, were the players that were implicated. The Boys of Dunbar, A Story of Love, Hope and Basketball. 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. Professional wrestler Jay Briscoe dies in car accident at 38, Sister Andre, world's oldest living person, dies at 118, Ukraine's interior minister, other officials killed in helicopter crash near school, Qantas flight lands safely after engine trouble prompts mayday call, Meditation may alter gut microbes, study of Tibetan monks suggests. Were you shaving points for the mob?. With the focus limited to the specific players involved, BCs basketball program didnt suffer at all. 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. The abbreviated version of events reads like this:the Perlas brought in a Pittsburgh hood named Paul Mazzei, who contacted his friend Henry Hill, an associate of New Yorks Lucchese crime family that had befriended him during a stretch in federal prison. All of those guys walkedin his footsteps., He was the African-American guard in the modern era of B.C. Bets in this column are given in the format ", Winner is given as either Opp or BC and the margin of victory. 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]. 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. Playing for the Mob: The Story of College Kids Breaking Bad Fourteen hours later, I arrived in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.. For added effect, ESPN landed Liotta, whose character served as a narrator in Goodfellas, to narrate its film. I just thank God there is justice.. Sweeney was not charged. By my junior year, it was show-time, said Cobb. The fixing begins to wear into Sweeney, who confides in his roommates but never seeks out the proper authority. But Im so proud of him because he picked his life back up and made the best of it. Dubbed Playing for the Mob, it documents the twists and turns that brought Sweeney and two other BC players into the throes of New York mobster Henry Hill, whose name later became famous when he was portrayed by Ray Liotta in the 1990 hit movie Goodfellas. 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]. Black Test Car orA Dark Machine of Destruction? Apparently, someone called into the online editor the second to inform them of the "miss." It had to cost around $200,000 at the time to defend me.. To allay any suspicions of foul play, they decided to bet on Boston College to win by more than the point spread ("cover the spread") in a game that they were confident the Eagles would win handily. It wasnt until I actually saw him play that I realized how special he was as an offensive talent. He continues to be involved in sports and is in an older mens basketball league that competes around the world. In 1978, Rick Kuhn was in his final season at Boston College,amarginal player with little going for him. I cooperated willingly, and Im glad I did, Sweeney says. I dont know if they recognize it, but B.C. With Sweeney making it out with no sentence, the mystery still remains of how involved he really was. ESPN He was hopeful that hed have another chance to make it in the NBA. He said he was brought in on the deal for his ability to maximize profits through his contacts in the gambling world. They all have different versions of the story, but regardless games are going to start being fixed. 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 Contact Me. 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. Sweeney says that he and Maura have almost recouped their costs in launching the character. 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 The mobsters are done fixing games with the Boston College players and call them babies for barely getting the job done. Walgreens settles West Virginia opioid lawsuit for $83 million. The distinguished paper later retracted the story. 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. This past August, the International Maxibasketball Federation (FIMBA), the governing body for global organized basketball tournaments for age groups beginning at 30, named him as its USA Ambassador. It was a path that led them to Hills underworld higher-up, Jimmy Burke (the Robert DeNiro character in Goodfellas). I didnt think anything of it. The structure includes a minute-by-minute analysis, a slow-motion capture of the climax of the story, and a bolded narrative that gives the article structure. They could have probably gotten away with the fix if they handled certain things better. Burke was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment. The jury of eight women and four men reached its verdict after three days of deliberations and a trial that lasted five weeks. I loved it in Israel, the fans loved me and the people were so beautiful. The same channels would be used for the passing of the point spread from Burke and Hill to the players. We had a good old time. The conspirators chose the January 17, 1979, game against Connecticut to implement this plan. He killed people. Ultimately, nothing happened. And look what he did to the lives of those kids. Bruce Pearl, a normal student in the class of 1982, is introduced and talks about the smart, diverse basketball players. Hill was listed as a co-conspirator, but was not named as a defendant. 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. 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. While Jim Sweeney is also introduced, hes the other captain from a better upbringing: the poster child for BC. I just had to be alone, Cobb told the reporters afterwards. They kept saying that they liked the idea of just shaving points and not blowing the games." The goal for making some real money is to get the character a TV gig with ESPN, NBC Sports, or another major sports network. Sports. And he also cultivated interest, in the area's black community, in terms of being engaged and intrigued bywhat was going on with Boston Colleges basketball program. [3] Kuhn was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment,[4] later reduced to 28 months. BOSTON - NOVEMBER 17: Rick Kuhn (#35) during Boston College men's basketball's 1978-1979 season. Sometimes, B.C. Mazzei and Tony Perla were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. For over 30 years, hes been living in Clearwater, Florida, married to his college sweetheart. If you missed Part I, you can read it here. After a four-week trial, each conspirator was convicted on charges of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) conspiracy, conspiracy to commit sports bribery, and interstate travel with the intent to commit bribery. 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. 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. This scene gives the audience insight into the type of person Henry Hill was and how hard it was to testify against someone like Burke. talked to the Nets, their head coach Kevin Loughery called him in and said, You know why I have to let you go, said Alswanger. 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. Whats striking about the point shaving scandal from the perspective of 35 years is how different, i.e. Tell me what you did and what you didnt do. Danois, Alejandro. But that had nothing to do with shaving points., At the time, I was nave, Cobb continued. When he told Alswanger about the indictment, his old high school coach spoke sternly with him, as he'd done sometwelveyears earlier when Cobb had just returned home fromthe juvenile detention facility. Holy Cross wins by two causing the mobsters to lose hundreds of thousands. The fixers changed the original plan and bet on Holy Cross, but the players were told this right before the game. The syndicate was very happy with this result, and Kuhn was given cash to distribute to the players for their efforts. Investigators find phone records from Pittsburgh to Burke that allow them to connect the point-shaving scheme to him. 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 gotta tell me the truth, because I gotta know how to go on this?. Hill turned state's evidence in exchange for avoiding prison and possible execution by Burke and the Lucchese family. Hill and Burke were brought into the scheme, after receiving approval from Lucchese family capo Paul Vario. The phone calls flooded in from his friends and family in Boston and Connecticut, with despaired voices on the other end asking, Did you do this? He didn't want to be bothered with these kids anymore." It wasnt an absolute disaster but it was a cousin. It is unclear how much money the players involved in the point-shaving scheme were paid. Ernie Cobb is also introduced, a senior, team captain, and Boston Colleges top scorer. But by his sophomore year, when he was inserted into the starting lineup, it was apparent that the 5-foot-11 scorer brought a dimension to the Boston College squad that it sorely needed when he averaged 17.4 points per game. Today, Cobbs relationship with Boston College remains strained. In this game, UCLA was favored to win over the Eagles by a fifteen to eighteen-point spread, so the syndicate bet on them to win by a margin greater than the point spread. 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. 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. I was back at home, visiting for the summer and about to return to Israel, Cobb said. I feel it.. 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. As a freshman, he played sparingly and averaged 4.5 points per game while the Eagles finished with a disappointing 9-17 overall record. Paul Vario were brought into the scheme, he was the African-American in. What went down because I got ta know how to go on this? points per game while the finished. The five men could each receive a maximum sentence of 30 years, been. Launching the character bitterness toward the prosecution of going to the players for their efforts and was recognized as of... Introduced, hes the other captain from a better upbringing: the poster child for BC phone records Pittsburgh. Someone called into the scheme - NOVEMBER 17: Rick Kuhn ( 35. 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