I know I’ve been quiet the past few days. There just hasn’t been much going on. But today is shaping up to be interesting.
ESPN is reporting the arrest of Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. Also arrested: Terry Rozier, guard for the Miami Heat.
According to the NYPost:
Billups, an NBA Hall of Famer, has been charged with partaking in an alleged illegal poker ring tied to the Bonanno, Genovese and Colombo crime families, sources told The Post.
A total of 31 people across the country are charged with running rigged games, which took place in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Las Vegas, sources said.
The players involved were being paid by mobsters to play in card games fixed with technology and card shuffling machines to give the house the advantage, sources familiar with the case said.
The athletes were told to take a dive when they had to and win when they were told. It didn’t appear as if they were attempting to pay off any debts, sources said.
Rozier’s arrest is tied to another case.
ESPN is suggesting this might also be tied to the Jontay Porter case.
Porter pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and admitted in court to manipulating his performance in two games during the 2023-24 season. He is awaiting sentencing in December.
Four men, including Porter, have pleaded guilty in the case. Two other men have been named as conspirators and have been in plea negotiations, according to court filings.
And I did promise a firing, didn’t I? This is a sports firing, but it’s an odd one: Ken Williamson has been “permanently suspended” as a SEC referee.
…following eleven complaints against the seasoned official and his crew during the Auburn-Georgia game on Oct. 11, sources told Yellowhammer News on Wednesday.
“According to sources, nine of those complaints were validated by conference officials,” the outlet wrote.
The game’s biggest controversy came late in the second quarter, when Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold lost the ball near the one-yard line during a QB sneak and was recovered by Georgia cornerback Kyron Jones.
Though multiple angles from ABC’s broadcast appear to show Jackson crossing the goal line before the ball was punched out, officials ruled it a fumble — awarding the Bulldogs possession after the recovery.
Now come on, you know there is no such thing as organized crime. And they will kill anyone who says there is.
Seriously though, with the astonishing amount of money in professional sports today, it is almost strange that we have not seen more of this type of thing. The strangest thing is though, that the sports leagues, be they the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. are almost encouraging this sort of thing by pushing organized sports betting.
I can not get though any movie or other streaming video online be it Amazon Prime, Tubi, or YouTube, without having it interrupted with a commercial with Jamie Fox or some sports star trying to extoll the benefits of online sports betting. I have to say, I have absolutely no idea how that form of betting works. Heck, I feel guilty when I purchase a scratch off $2 lottery ticket at the local convenience store for my wife.
I suspect that this is but the tip of the iceberg and that we will see a lot more names come out in regards to this story. I just wonder if we will see the really big players or just sacrificial lambs?
“Seriously though, with the astonishing amount of money in professional sports today, it is almost strange that we have not seen more of this type of thing.”
I think we are going to see more of this kind of thing. I’m kind of hoping that this is going to expand outward and catch a lot more people in the whirlpool.
” The strangest thing is though, that the sports leagues, be they the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. are almost encouraging this sort of thing by pushing organized sports betting.”
This 100%. I also think we’re going to see that the growth of sports betting, encouraged and supported by the leagues, is going to end up being very very bad for professional sports. I think people are already tired of the incessant betting ads, and I think it isn’t going to take too many scandals before people start changing the channel.
Tip of the iceberg, indeed. But I do suspect that we’ll end up with just some sacrificial lambs.
Director Blue has about the mob guys and the technology they used.
“The WNBA may be in scope as well.”
Really? That would be fantastic.
But Director Blue makes it sound like that came from Screaming A. “That may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard from anyone in modern history” Smith.