Research Catalog

Title

Cheating the spread : gamblers, point shavers, and game fixers in college football and basketball / Albert J. Figone.

Author

Figone, Al

Publication

• Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2012]
• ©2012

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xv, 196 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

• "Delving into the history of gambling and corruption in intercollegiate sports, Cheating the Spread recounts all of the major gambling scandals in college football and basketball. Digging through court records, newspapers, government documents, and university archives and conducting private interviews, Albert J. Figone finds that game rigging has been pervasive and nationwide throughout most of the sports' history. The insidious practice has spread to implicate not only bookies and unscrupulous gamblers but also college administrators, athletic organizers, coaches, fellow students, and the athletes themselves. Naming the players, coaches, gamblers, and go-betweens involved, Figone discusses numerous college basketball and football games reported to have been fixed and describes the various methods used to gain unfair advantage, inside information, or undue profit. His survey of college football includes early years of gambling on games between established schools such as Yale, Princeton, and Harvard; Notre Dame's All-American halfback and skilled gambler George Gipp; and the 1962 allegations of insider information between Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former Georgia coach James Wallace "Wally" Butts; and many other recent incidents. Notable events in basketball include the 1951 scandal involving City College of New York and six other schools throughout the East Coast and the Midwest; the 1961 point-shaving incident that put a permanent end to the Dixie Classic tournament; the 1978 scheme in which underworld figures recruited and bribed several Boston College players to ensure a favorable point spread; the 1994-95 Northwestern scandal in which players bet against their own team; and other recent examples of compromised gameplay and gambling"--
• "Delving into the history of gambling and corruption in intercollegiate sports, Cheating the Spread recounts all of the major gambling scandals in college football and basketball. Digging through court records, newspapers, government documents, and university archives and conducting private interviews, Albert J. Figone finds that game rigging has been pervasive and nationwide throughout most of the sports' history. Naming the players, coaches, gamblers, and go-betweens involved, Figone discusses numerous college basketball and football games reported to have been fixed and describes the various methods used to gain unfair advantage, inside information, or undue profit. His survey of college football includes early years of gambling on games between established schools such as Yale, Princeton, and Harvard; Notre Dame's All-American halfback and skilled gambler George Gipp; and the 1962 allegations of insider information between Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former Georgia coach James Wallace "Wally" Butts; and many other recent incidents. Notable events in basketball include the 1951 scandal involving City College of New York and six other schools throughout the East Coast and the Midwest; the 1961 point-shaving incident that put a permanent end to the Dixie Classic tournament; the 1994-95 Northwestern scandal in which players bet against their own team; and other recent examples of compromised game play and gambling"--

Series Statement

Sport and society

Uniform Title

Sport and society.

Subject

• Sports betting > United States
• Football > Betting > United States
• Basketball > Betting > United States
• College sports > Economic aspects > United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Call Number

JFE 13-1490

ISBN

• 9780252037283 (hardback)
• 0252037286 (hardback)
• 9780252078750 (paperback)
• 0252078756 (paperback)

LCCN

2012037767

OCLC

YBP 2012037767

Author

Figone, Al

Title

Cheating the spread : gamblers, point shavers, and game fixers in college football and basketball / Albert J. Figone.

Publisher

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2012]

Copyright Date

©2012

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Sport and society

Sport and society.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Research Call Number

JFE 13-1490