Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball (Sport and Society) - Hardcover
Synopsis
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.
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About the Author
Albert J. Figone has seen sports from all sides. He is a professor emeritus of kinesiology and a former head baseball and assistant football coach at Humboldt State University, and he previously coached football, baseball, and track at California high schools. He lives in Folsom, California.
Reviews
College sports and point-shaving have a long history. No surprise, given that college athletes are often cash-strapped kids on scholarship from poor backgrounds. In the current environment, they exist in a hypocritical environment in which it may seem that everyone around them, from coaches to administrators, is getting rich off their athletic abilities. Figone, a former head coach in college and high school, has written a carefully researched and annotated history of game fixing in college basketball and football. Basketball, of course, has been the favorite of fixers through the years, likely because there are fewer variables (players) competing and a couple of key basketball players can have a very effective yet subtle influence on a game. Gambling and fixing games became a real issue after WWII and was centered on the East Coast. But it quickly spread. Figone presents the various scandals in great detail yet generally avoids moral condemnation. He’s written a history, not a sermon. A compelling, informative look into the dark side of collegiate athletics. --Wes Lukowsky
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Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball (Sport and Society)
Published by
University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 2012
ISBN 10: 0252037286
ISBN 13: 9780252037283
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Conover Books, Martinsville, VA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Ex-library with the usual library markings (if not for the library markings this copy would be graded in fine condition); no dj; overall a nice used copy! Black boards with gilt lettering on the spine. 196 historical and informative pages nicely enhanced by black and white photographs and illustrations! "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.". Seller Inventory # 052660
Stock Image
Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball (Sport and Society)
Published by
University of Illinois Press, 2012
ISBN 10: 0252037286
ISBN 13: 9780252037283
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Good - Bumped and creased book with tears to the extremities, but not affecting the text block, may have remainder mark or previous owner's name - GOOD Standard-sized. Seller Inventory # M0252037286Z3