Restore, Futon Report server! Papa needs you!!
posted by mattsussman at 07:28 P.M. EST on Fri Mar 30, 2007 #
That explains it. I checked your site, Matt, before posting here. Your site was up, but you didn't have anything yet about this story. Now you do.
"On the afternoon, not only does the server take an unscheduled powernap, but Toledo sports just summoned enough potential nuclear energy to become Ground Zero for sports’ next A-Bomb. Over at the UT message board, well, a lot of loyal Rocket fans are (rightfully so) losing their lunch. It’s no less nauseous for us UT basketball fans, either."
A lot of comments exist on that UT message board. Here are some excerpts with other people's comments beginning with an asterisk :
==========
* This makes me almost physically ill.
* If proven true, these allegations are destructive to the entire athletic departmen. Even if not proven, they cast doubt on the integrity of every athlete there.
* Well... we never could quite figure out why Scooter was still hanging around, now it appears quite obvious. Sad that no one (as far as we know at this point), ratted him out. This is going to be a huge black eye for Toledo, my gut is telling me this is only the tip of a very big iceberg.
* I also feel ill and just terrible about this. An institution and team as fine as Toledo does not need or deserve this. Take comfort in the fact that it involves an individual or individuals and NOT the institution. Those individuals should be swiftly and severely dealt with if and when guilt is determined by the law. I'm sure that your administration is preparing its defense, and I hope any sanctions against Toledo are minimal. Your team, coach, administration, and athletics department are exemplary and a credit to the MAC, and I hope that the NCAA considers all this when the dust settles. Let's all keep our fingers crossed. My thoughts and best wishes are with you all.
* Charges like this call EVERYTHING into question. The possible repercussions are immense: The personal integrity of every player and coach is going to be called into question. While long-term, we may "be fine", this is devastating news to an athletic departmen that has busted its collective hump to do things right and improve competitively. There's no way anyone is going to just shrug this off.
* My guess is that the NCAA will be heavily involved and UT could end up on probation because of lack of institutional control. Remember what happened to Boston College a few years ago?
* The worst part is the NCAA will be alot tougher on Toledo than they ever were on Arizona State, Boston College, or Northwestern where the most recent incidents occured. Jerry Tarkanian once said that the NCAA was so mad at Kentucky they decided to put Cleveland State on probation for three years. If they get a chance to be heavy handed I would expect them to.
* Is anyone esle out there going through plays in there head wondering if they were "fixed?"
* I also agree that Amstutz and O'Brien are getting a royal chewing all afternoon by Jacobs. this damages the reputation of the institution and unless swift and decisive action is taken, this is not going to be worse. I doubt the coaches and administrators will get tossed unless they were involved somehow. throwing them out makes it look like there was involvement at a level beyond the players.
* I don't know what to say at this point. This whole situation gets me either pissed off or depressed. The one thing that pisses me off the most is that there were guys out there who had no part of this and were busting their butts and they were secretly being cheated by some a-holes on the team.
* The FBI investigation began in 2003. This means other acts must have preceeded 2003 unless the FBI was on top of this illegal gambling scheme the moment it happened, which is unlikely. Will this taint the 2004 MAC championship team? Will we forfeit our crown?
* Now, if these [other UT] players did not participate in this, how heavy will the sactions, if any, would be? On the other hand, because they knew about this, are they linked to this because they didn't blow the whistle? Now, if the university acts quickly, like Northwestern did, what is the track record for mid majors in situations like this?
* Over on the NIU board someone mentioned recruits in this issue. Now will some of our new recruits run for the hills???? Yikes!
* With football having 22 players on the field it is hard for me to believe that only one-two players could singlehandedly and consistently influence the outcome of a game (unless it involved very key players). I would think it would take a handful to do so.
* I don't think the FBI would've been monitoring this situation so highly if they knew only one player, Scooter, was involved. It's likely quite a slew of players that were involved and possibly across sports as they mentioned for it to take a few years to be finally made public. The key to whether any sanctions will be placed on the program(s) is whether any of the coaching staff even had the slightest of knowledge and as a result were negligent about it and brushed off any hints of point shaving. Good luck to you Rocket fans here from a concerned BG fan :( This would be black eye not only for the University, but for the Toledo community as a whole as well as I am a proud Toledoan too.
* This incident is not a statement about the city of Toledo, the university or even the athletic department. It is a direct reflection of the character (or lack thereof) of players involved. The true measure of the university and the UT athletic department will be in its response to the humiliating actions of these student athletes. As fans, I think we owe it to the innocent players to not prejudge or question individual plays or game outcomes until the full scale of this is uncovered. Doing so is as pointless as it is destructive and it will only make us feel worse.
* To impact a football game directly you have to have certain positions in on it. QB, placekicker, wide receiver,running back, perhaps a linemen. Defensive back. I'm not saying all these positions were involved, but you have to have players that can impact the scoreboad in both directions to pull this off.
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In a March 30, 2007 thread on another message board :
* I don't believe that fixing games is a widespread problem. But I do know one thing. The Toledo-UConn Motor City Bowl game was fixed in Dec. 2004. And Gradkowski was in on it.
==========
Back to the UT message board thread for a second :
* Wasn't there a post a while back on the main MAC board that referenced an article pointing out strange betting patterns for Toledo games?
Someone responded by pointing to this thread from November 2005, which contained the following line of discussion :
* I just got back from Vegas. Me and a couple guys spent 15 straight hours in the Mirage sportsbook ... One of my favorite plays of the day was Central Michigan. I have been betting this team ever since the PSU game. They have some athletes on their team. Anyway, it is the only game missing from the board. I go and ask the guys and they tell me they never post Toledo games. I ask why and they wouldnt give me an answer.
* There was an article on this subject. I will try to find it for you, but it boils down to some funny betting patterns on MAC games.
* I've seen that ACE-ACE for one has often had strong "opinions" on MAC games - football and baskets. Saw the following on another board today... "My boys out in Vegas are telling me to be extremely careful when betting on MAC games. Offshore bookmakers from both Antigua and Costa Rica told this handicapper this week they have their caution flags up on any big bet placed on games involving teams from the Mid-American Conference, noting unusual betting patterns on certain games. Magnum said bookmakers were looking at several schools and the officiating crews that handle their games. While bookmakers had been watching MAC teams for the past four weeks, they did not begin their investigation of these unusual betting patterns until after the Toledo-Temple game in the third week of the season.
* Personally i doubt any fix, that Toledo/Temple game was all over the board and for good reason!
* As far as the MAC games, sounds more like bookies crying the blues than college games being fixed. The bettors are sharper than the bookies concerning MAC games.
==========
Then in that November 2005 thread, a poster pointed to an article at SCI???
---- article start ----
BOOKMAKERS HANG DARK CLOUD OVER MAC GAMES, ESPECIALLY TOLEDO
While bookmakers have no evidence of wrong doing they are still focusing a tremendous amount of attention to what they say are strange betting patterns in the Mid-American Conference, especially those involving Toledo.
Bookmakers say there has been a tremendous amount of line manipulation in the MAC this season and they point to two Saturday games as examples of that. Toledo opened a -10 road favorite at Central Michigan and has been bet down to -7˝. In a second game they are watching, Western Michigan opened a -4 home favorite over Kent State and has been bet out to -7.
Pointspread shifts such as this are not uncommon but bookmakers say it is happening too often on MAC games and they have the evidence to prove it, as they have been hit hard by “middle” bettors. For those not familiar with the term, a “middle” bettor is one who bets both sides in the same game, laying different prices and then hoping the game falls between that which he gave and that which he took. When that happens he collects both bets.
For instance, if the Toledo-Central Michigan final score falls on an 8 or 9-point difference middle bettors will win on both sides. If the Kent State-Western Michigan falls on a 5 or a 6, they will also collect both bets.
Bookmakers have already been stung twice this season with Toledo—first in the Rockets game at Temple on September 17 and again on their game at Ball State two weeks ago.
In the Temple game, Toledo opened a 30-point favorite and was bet down to -24˝. The final score was 42-17, which meant the Rockets won by 25 and the game fell in the middle. This game costs bookmakers tens of thousands of dollars.
In the Ball State game, Toledo opened -19˝ and was bet out to -23˝. The Rockets won that on by 20 points, 34-14, again putting the game in the middle and cost bookmakers another small fortune.
Bookmakers say the odds of one team producing two middle winners during a single season are astronomical and the heavy two-way action on both games was traced to a small group of individuals, all of whom knew one another.
"We may look stupid, but we're not," said one bookmaker from Antigua, "And we will get to the bottom of this."
The mechanics of middle betting tell the entire story, since a middle gives a player 20-1 for his money in a world where most bets return even money on a winning wager. Here is how the middle works, using the Temple-Toledo game as an example.
* Bettors would take Temple +30 and then bet in a manner that gave the appearance of continued action on the underdog. When they felt their actions had driven the number as far as it would go, they would step in and bet Toledo -24 ˝.
* The math is simple: If a person bet $110,000 to win $100,000 on Temple +30 and then made a similar bet on Toledo -24 ˝, he is risking just $10,000 to win $200,000 because it is impossible to lose both bets. If the game falls in the middle of the +30 and the -24 ˝, he collects $200,000, or gets 20-1 for his money.
Bookmakers have their own crew of investigators studying every aspect of any game with a suspicious betting pattern; from who officiated the games to how touchdowns were scored and if there were bogus penalties or turnovers at key points of the game.
We will keep you informed, but in the meantime, this is one handicapper who is staying away from MAC games. It is an understatement in the world of sports betting to say rather safe than sorry.
---- article end ----
The person posting the above article also included someone's comment to the article, unfortunately all in caps :
* ANYWHERE YOU HAVE HUGH AMOUNTS OF CASH AND GAMBLING INVOLVED YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE CHEATING. JUST THINK ABOUT THIS......... YOU ARE A 18 OR 19 YEAR OLD KID PLAYING FOOTBALL IN COLLEGE OR BASKETBALL FOR THAT MATTER AND SOMEONE APPROACHES YOU WITH A DEAL WHERE YOU CAN MAKE $10,000.00 CASH JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T WIN A GAME THIS WEEKEND BY MORE THAN 23 POINTS AND YOU ARE A 24 POINT FAVORITE, WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS BROKE KID IS GOING TO DO???????? HE IS GOING TO WIN THE GAME AND MAKE DAMN SURE HE DOES NOT WIN BY MORE THAN 23 POINTS.
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From the March 30, 2007 news story :
"FBI agents began the investigation into the betting operation in 2003."
It's probably a safe bet that a three-year FBI probe will uncover more than Scooter and some guy named Gary.
posted by jr at 03:58 A.M. EST on Sat Mar 31, 2007 #
Excerpts from a March 31, 2007 Detroit Free Press story :
---- start ----
To win sports bets, a Macomb County gambler wined and dined University of Toledo athletes at Detroit restaurants, took them gambling at Greektown Casino and gave them cash, groceries and cell phones, federal agents say.
Gary Manni, reached by phone Friday at King Cole Foods, a grocery store in Detroit, acknowledged that he's the Gary in the complaint but denied bribing McDougle or anyone else to shave points. Manni said he's a professional gambler but added, "I didn't bribe nobody," then hung up the phone.
His lawyer, Neil Fink of Birmingham, declined to comment. Manni has not been charged in the case and said the FBI hasn't contacted him.
There was no indication in the complaint that players purposely lost any games, but that they controlled the final scores to enable Gary to win his bets against the point spreads. One player was offered $10,000 to sit out a football game, the complaint said.
One of the games McDougle allegedly helped fix was the 2005 GMAC Bowl against the University of Texas-El Paso, which Toledo won, 45-13, the complaint said. McDougle allegedly asked Gary to bet $2,000 for him on the game. McDougle didn't play because he was recovering from major knee surgery.
On Nov. 5, 2005, the FBI intercepted a call in which Gary told someone who was then a Toledo basketball player that McDougle "had taken care of" certain players on the football team who would be helping Gary to influence that day's game, the affidavit stated.
The next month, the FBI intercepted another call in which McDougle told Gary that he would contact other football players to see whether he and Gary would make some money on the GMAC Bowl against Texas-El Paso, Max said.
In another call that month, McDougle asked Gary to place a $2,000 bet for him on the game, Max wrote. During the call, Gary allegedly told McDougle that another player would be helping out.
During an interview with the FBI on Dec. 14, 2005, McDougle admitted knowing Gary and that Gary regularly gambled on Toledo football and basketball games, the agent said.
McDougle said he also was aware that Gary had offered other teammates up to $10,000 to sit out games. McDougle admitted introducing Gary to other players so Gary could recruit them for the scheme, the affidavit said.
On Thursday, a former Arizona State student pleaded guilty in Phoenix to federal charges that he conspired to bribe two Arizona State basketball players to miss shots so that he and three other gamblers could beat the projected point spreads on four games in 1994. He faces the same penalty as McDougle.
The allegations came as no surprise to Justin Wolfers, a University of Pennsylvania economist, who published a research paper last year that concluded point shaving was a factor in about 500 of the 40,000 NCAA basketball games played from 1989 to 2006.
He said it usually occurs with strongly favored teams whose players, though unwilling to throw a game, might be willing to accept bribes to limit the number of points they score to help gamblers win on the point spread. He said the spread could be controlled by one or two players on a basketball team and by the quarterback, running backs or coach on a football team.
---- end ----
posted by jr at 04:15 A.M. EST on Sat Mar 31, 2007 #
Actually, I think the FBI investigation began in 2005. The complaint alleges the scheme stretched from fall 2003 through winter 2006.
Caption underneath photo in March 31, 2007 Detroit News story :
"Toledo's Scooter McDougle is pursued by Frank Wiwo of Miami (Ohio) in the 2004 MAC championship game. Later, the FBI joined the pursuit."
posted by jr at 04:42 A.M. EST on Sat Mar 31, 2007 #
That SCI article is way too telling.
Excuse me while I put my head further in the sand until Monday. Don't wanna worry about it this weekend.
posted by mattsussman at 05:30 P.M. EST on Sat Mar 31, 2007 #
Does anybody have a link to that SCI article? I'd like to pass it around to some of the other message boards I'm on.
This is all just too surreal. I don't even know where to begin.
posted by TheTalentedMrC at 07:57 A.M. EST on Sun Apr 01, 2007 #
I don't know where the original SCI article started. What I found via the UT message board was this Nov 2005 comment that appeared in a thread titled We don't post Toledo games that was posted to a forum at TheRx.com, which is titled as a site for "Offshore Sports Betting & Gambling."
That Nov 2005 comment started with: "Article posted by Quick Nick over at SCI."
I don't know who or what Quick Nick and SCI are.
posted by jr at 12:52 P.M. EST on Sun Apr 01, 2007 #
I am shocked, sickened, disgusted, and embarrassed by this. And, unlike some local sports writers for major daily papers, I think this will hang over the University of Toledo for a long, long time.
posted by historymike at 09:50 A.M. EST on Mon Apr 02, 2007 #
The Blade has the affidavit availible on their website. Just reading it makes me ill.
UT has a press conference today at 2pm, Stutz, Joplin, and O'Brien are supposed to be there. This ought to get interesting.
posted by TheTalentedMrC at 11:56 A.M. EST on Mon Apr 02, 2007 #
April 4, 2007 Blade story :
"Sources inside the sports gambling culture have acknowledged that certain "irregularities" and "red flags" were observed, and that Mid-American Conference games in general and UT games specifically drew an inordinate amount of attention."
posted by jr at 05:57 A.M. EST on Wed Apr 04, 2007 #
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