Playing for the Mob

[claver2010]

Assume all know but on ESPN from 9-10:30 tonight a 30 for 30 on the point shaving scandal

[commavegarage]

Admittedly a nerd and haven't seen goodfellas so this was my first true exposure to it.

My take away is: Eff Sweeney, I don't buy his bullshit for a second. And good for BC for not giving him the time of day.

[eaglesfan06]

Admittedly a nerd and haven't seen goodfellas so this was my first true exposure to it.

My take away is: Eff Sweeney, I don't buy his bullshit for a second. And good for BC for not giving him the time of day.

Yeah, I thought that was funny. He thought he was entitled to some kind of penance or something and the school should forgive him even though he hasn't admitted he did anything wrong.

[BCSUPERFAN22]

Thought this was well done. Haven't seen Goodfellas either but found this really interesting. BC came out fine in all of this.

One thing I'll say, hope they bring back those cursive uniforms they wore back then (think they did during Dudley era),would look cool on a gold 3rd jersey or something.

[ATLeagle]

Watch Goodfellas. Don't watch this film. It was boring.

I don't feel sorry for Sweeney and don't buy his story.

[Cadillac90]

Watch Goodfellas. Don't watch this film. It was boring.

I don't feel sorry for Sweeney and don't buy his story.

The movie has a brief clip of them in a bar making reference to fixing some games in Boston but that's about it. The book goes into a little more detail of what went down.

[claver2010]

Agreed on the watch goodfellas rec

His wife came across pretty poorly. First of all she was in Spain while much of the fixing was going down, what is she really providing beyond what other spouses could provide? Have read / heard her in various mediums and she's downright harrassing Monan (who's what in his 80s?) & Leahy.

The school doesn't owe them anything.

Also did it say if his name was removed from the eagle of the year display they have in Conte? Next time I'm there I'm going to check it out.

[talon]

Wait, there are people who haven't seen Goodfellas?

[eaglesfan06]

Watch Goodfellas. Don't watch this film. It was boring.

I don't feel sorry for Sweeney and don't buy his story.

Personally, I thought this film was pretty damn good.

Like the story or not. Believe the idiots or not.

I thought it was entertaining. But I understand that like most things that are made for TV, it was a little sensationalized. But for the most part I enjoyed it.

[MilitantEagle]

I was entertained, but not sure how much I would have cared if it was about some other school. I was most interested in seeing how many fans were in attendance when they played a game at the Garden against Holy Cross. Looked like a packed house. Today, the place would be about 20% capacity.

[Bryn Mawr Eagle]

Question: Given his own dirty laundry, why would a guy like Bruce Pearl appear in a film like this? If I'm his agent, I'd tell him to stay the hell away from appearing in any TV movie about the mob, gambling and violating NCAA rules. Some people coming to this story for the first time are going to watch that and mistakenly think he was somehow tangentially involved. Bad PR move, IMHO.

[ATLeagle]

Question: Given his own dirty laundry, why would a guy like Bruce Pearl appear in a film like this? If I'm his agent, I'd tell him to stay the hell away from appearing in any TV movie about the mob, gambling and violating NCAA rules. Some people coming to this story for the first time are going to watch that and mistakenly think he was somehow tangentially involved. Bad PR move, IMHO.

This was filmed when Hill was still alive, so I assume Pearl was still an ESPN employee at the time. He was probably paid to appear.

[DavidGordonsFoot]

Wait, there are people who haven't seen Goodfellas?

this

Don't watch Goodfellas for the BC angle. Watch Goodfellas because it's Goodfellas.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

Wait, there are people who haven't seen Goodfellas?

this

Don't watch Goodfellas for the BC angle. Watch Goodfellas because it's Goodfellas.

hansen.

the bc portion of goodfellas in an offhanded comment that can barely be heard.

also, to hansen further - do not watch the television version for your first time viewing the movie. the television version of goodfella is like taking a foodie to the olive garden (i.e. - it only works for fat pussies that are afraid of women)

[Dick Rosenthal]

The BC angle in Goodfellas lasts for one second and is completely overshadowed by Maury getting a shiv through the back of his skull one second after he mentions it in passing. And he doesn't even mention BC, he simply refers to point shaving in Boston. With that said, Goodfellas is in the Top 10 all time films and anyone who hasn't seen it at this point is probably a gimp chained up in someone's basement.

[Endless Mike]

Wait, there are people who haven't seen Goodfellas?

My thoughts exactly.

Christ, it's on TNT every Saturday after Tombstone and Red Dawn.

[ATLeagle]

The BC angle in Goodfellas lasts for one second and is completely overshadowed by Maury getting a shiv through the back of his skull one second after he mentions it in passing. And he doesn't even mention BC, he simply refers to point shaving in Boston. With that said, Goodfellas is in the Top 10 all time films and anyone who hasn't seen it at this point is probably a gimp chained up in someone's basement.

Dick:

I recall from maybe the EI days or even back at EA, didn't you have a connection to Sweeney and/or his wife and you didn't like them?

[Dick Rosenthal]

Not a close connection. I met him once or twice through Lawrenceville people. I'll preface the following by saying that even meeting him in passing it is clear that he is real smart guy. He understood his business and what he wanted to do with it and it appears that he successfully executed on that plan. With that said, he was also too slick by a half. You ever meet someone and think the whole time that they are trying to sell you something and you can't figure out the angle or what they are trying to sell you, but you know they are trying to get something? That was the vibe. It probably didn't help that I have a family member who was a classmate of his and thought he was a social politician (just so we can get all our biases out there).

With respect to the conflicting accounts between him and Kuhn I'll say the following. Kuhn's story make a hell of a lot more sense from a logic and reason standpoint. Aside from that, Kuhn wasn't/isn't very bright and I have a hard time believing he would make up shit about Sweeney--what was the benefit? Kuhn was already going down in flames. Sweeney, on the other hand had every reason to lie and lie repeatedly. And the crap about him refusing immunity is so much fluff. I have no doubt that Lawrenceville Jimmy had extremely competent counsel representing him and knew all the angles as he and his team picked their way through the process. Also, the Prosecutors weren't really interested in the BC players--Kuhn went down because he was dumb and an unattractive witness and he was the necessary tie-in needed to sweep up the Pittsburgh crew who then allowed them to get Hill and Burke (who was the guy they really wanted). To some degree, the Prosecutors were incentivized to not look too critically at Sweeney, as they needed a nice white boy from the suburbs to be appropriately terrified about being swept up in the thing to push their narrative.

In any case, everyone involved was a scumbag and they all belonged in jail (and it is a wonderful thing that Jimmy the Gent died there). I just think Sweeney should have been in a cell with them, but I am certainly not losing any sleep over the fact that he talked his way out of it.

[commavegarage]

I think he knew exactly what he was getting into then saw a way out and took it once he realized there would be repercussions for his actions.

not losing sleep he didn't serve time but glad bc doesn't acknowledge him.

[MrAwesomeII]

I dont understand Jim & Maura Sweeney's problem with BC. What are they supposed to do for him?? Call him out of the crowd and celebrate him between quarters at a football game or something?? Despite his attempts to downplay his role, he was unquestionably a participant. Leaving everything else out of it, the purposeful foul out against Holy Cross is downright crooked and reason enough for the athletic department to keep a distance.

And how about Henry Hill? What a pos he was!! "They played a tape of Jimmy and Paulie talking about killing me, so I turned against them." Hahaha, ok guy. Looks like he watched enough TV to know how the FBI got Sammy Gravano to turn on Gotti, and it was also an episode of the Sopranos.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

henry hill was a drunk and an addict and about 90% full of shit. he was greatly glamorized in goodfellas and started to believe the hollywoodization of his life.

case in point - he fucked up so many times in witness protection that the goverment finally just let him go; yet no one went after him once he was just a "citizen" in nebraska... no one cared

[talon]

Wait, there are people who haven't seen Goodfellas?

My thoughts exactly.

Christ, it's on TNT every Saturday after Tombstone and Red Dawn.

As mentioned earlier, I would not watch the TNT version.

http://www.amazon.com/Goodfellas-Robert ... 0016YBFZ8/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/goodf ... d275463151

https://play.google.com/store/movies/de ... AJUzPIIvGs

[Bryn Mawr Eagle]

I found Ray Liotta's narration weird too, only because he does so much narration (as the Henry Hill character) in Goodfellas, and last night they used so many Goodfellas clips that sometimes I found myself having to remember he was now merely a narrator, and not voicing Hill, in this piece.

[talon]

Leaving everything else out of it, the purposeful foul out against Holy Cross is downright crooked and reason enough for the athletic department to keep a distance.

That was a headscratcher for me. In order to avoid losing a game on purpose, he fouled out of a game on purpose. That's not an alibi; it's a confession.

[Dick Rosenthal]

As I said, Kuhn's story is much more believeable and logical. You know who was also a fucking scumbag? Ed McDonald, the Prosecutor. He is a publicity whore of the highest magnitude--right down to penning a tribute to Henry Hill in the NY Post after he died. Eddie sure does like the limelight, which he only could have had if he nailed Jimmy the Gent to the wall and it was certainly a lot easier to nail Jimmy the Gent to the wall when he had a nice, squeaky clean Rhodes Scholar candidate on the witness stand. He might be a bit of a racist too, because I for life of me can't figure out how your charge Ernie Cobb and not Lawrenceville Jimmy.

Everyone in this story sucks on some level.

[angrychicken]

henry hill was a drunk and an addict and about 90% full of shit. he was greatly glamorized in goodfellas and started to believe the hollywoodization of his life.

case in point - he fucked up so many times in witness protection that the goverment finally just let him go; yet no one went after him once he was just a "citizen" in nebraska... no one cared

Henry Hill was only interesting when he was drunk or high. Even then, his made up stories got old pretty quickly.

[twballgame9]

As I said, Kuhn's story is much more believeable and logical. You know who was also a fucking scumbag? Ed McDonald, the Prosecutor. He is a publicity whore of the highest magnitude--right down to penning a tribute to Henry Hill in the NY Post after he died. Eddie sure does like the limelight, which he only could have had if he nailed Jimmy the Gent to the wall and it was certainly a lot easier to nail Jimmy the Gent to the wall when he had a nice, squeaky clean Rhodes Scholar candidate on the witness stand. He might be a bit of a racist too, because I for life of me can't figure out how your charge Ernie Cobb and not Lawrenceville Jimmy.

Everyone in this story sucks on some level.

I didn't realize that he played himself in the movie.

[Dick Rosenthal]

Yep. Got his SAG card and got paid. He also has been living on the rubber chicken circuit ever since Pillegi penned Wiseguy. The asshole is at Dechert now, which is a good reason never to use Dechert. He is basically Bo Deedle with a law degree.

[Bryn Mawr Eagle]

He might be a bit of a racist too, because I for life of me can't figure out how your charge Ernie Cobb and not Lawrenceville Jimmy.

Glad I was not the only one who thought this. And the only guy I felt sympathy for was Bowie. I don't know the guy from Adam, but to have that news article out there initially implicating him when he had nothing to do with this thing must have been heartbreaking for him and his family.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

henry hill was a drunk and an addict and about 90% full of shit. he was greatly glamorized in goodfellas and started to believe the hollywoodization of his life.

case in point - he fucked up so many times in witness protection that the goverment finally just let him go; yet no one went after him once he was just a "citizen" in nebraska... no one cared

Henry Hill was only interesting when he was drunk or high. Even then, his made up stories got old pretty quickly.

hard to gauge who's stories are more believable... hill or nosalad