"The Arizona State case is one of the most significant sports bribery conspiracies involving college athletics in the country," proclaimed an FBI press release.
The essence of sports is spontaneity and truthful effort. The minute the fans have any doubt that the outcome may be scripted, the truth of the event is over. The sport is over, the game is over.
Believe it - college sports are in a crisis. Point shaving is too easy, too likely and much more common than our wildest thoughts.
The most recent point shaving incidents, at Northwestern and Arizona State, followed the same script, a script that is frighteningly easy to imagine played out on any and all college campuses.
At Arizona State, basketball player Stevin Smith had a $10,000 gambling debt when student bookie Benny Silman allegedly offered to eliminate his debt and pay him $20,000 per game. Just for a little point shaving. Smith didn't even have to lose a game, just make sure his club didn't cover. The bettors took home $280,000 over the first three games.
The Northwestern situation mirrored ASU's. Kenneth Dion Lee, a Northwestern guard, incurred a gambling debt, and Kevin Pendergast, a former Notre Dame kicker, allegedly masterminded a plot for the 1-17 Wildcats to make sure they lost by more than the spread. In return, Lee's debt would be eliminated, and he'd receive $4,000 per game.
In both cases, the players allegedly recruited teammates to help with the point shaving. The scary thing is that in only one of the fixed games was the outcome changed. This wasn't a case of losing games; it was just about beating the spread.
It's so easy to do. Take a few low-percentage shots, hold the ball and force a teammate into a bad shot, launch that lead pass a bit too far, miss a free throw. It's all about controlling the spread.
The publicized cases took place at ASU and Northwestern, but the most alarming case took place at Cal-State Fullerton. Six-foot-11-inch Corey Sanders, who averaged just 11 minutes a game, was approached by a man after practice and offered $1,000 per game and $100 for each missed free throw, plus if he followed through all season he could make up to $75,000. Sanders turned him down and turned the guy in, but who else would have?
Put this into perspective: A 20-year-old kid is confronted with the opportunity to earn big money and all he has to do is shave a few points. Imagine you're 20; what would your price tag be? Would you do it for $20,000? How about $10,000? What about $1,000, or maybe even just a few hundred for that important dinner date you can't afford.
"It's easy to miss a free throw or have a ball stolen," Lee said in a 1995 Sports Illustrated issue. "Look at a college kid. If someone says, `I'll give you $2,000 if you keep a score down.' College is the poorest four years of your life."
Don't doubt that every school is susceptible to point shaving. The scenarios are too easy.
Gambling is rampant on college campuses. If it's fair to estimate that a minimum 10 percent of college males have gambling debts, that's two players per college basketball team.
Are all schools susceptible? You bet they are. Of the 330 Division I college basketball teams, only 20 have the faintest possibility of winning it all. So if you are one of the other 310, why not make a little money by controlling the spread? Everyone else is making money. Coaches are getting paid for the shoes the players are wearing; the university is making money hand over fist on the players' performance.
"The money has just gotten so big," said David Price, associate commissioner of the Pac-10.
Even if you're a player on one of the 20 contenders, you're not changing the outcomes of games, you're just covering the spread. Every school is in jeopardy of point shaving. Every school is one money offer, one gambling debt away from another scandal. It's happening in prestigious academic schools, Northwestern, church schools, Boston College, major conference schools, Arizona State and small conference schools such as Cal-State Fullerton.
The only people with their heads in the sand are the fans. The players are aware of the vulnerability of their programs. In 1994, in a completely unrelated situation at Northwestern, leading rusher Dennis Lundy fumbled at the goal line in the third quarter vs. Iowa. Aware that Lundy had a gambling debt, his teammate Rodney Ray confronted Lundy after the game, accusing him of intentionally fumbling to cover his debts.
When Dick Schultz, former executive director of the NCAA, puts it this bluntly you know we have a crisis. "It is going to be hard to ever stop. I am pleasantly surprised there haven't been more."
David Locke hosts Jazztalk on 1320 K-Fan weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m.