Grip on Sports: When the FBI is involved with sports, don’t expect happy news
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Sports should be a haven from crime and politics. Should being the operative term here. It’s not that way anymore. Hasn’t been, really, for a long time. Read on.
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• In 1965, I begin working in the newspaper business.
I would stand on a chair each Tuesday afternoon and stuff the Los Angeles Times’ Home Magazine into the paper’s comics 2,500 times. My dad paid me $2.50 for the work.
In all the years since, all spent in some connection with newspapers, I don’t remember a day like yesterday. A day in which stories from the news section intertwined in a greater degree with those from the sports section. Never seen it to this degree, ever.
There is the ongoing story of President Donald Trump, the NFL and the taking of knees during the National Anthem. That story isn’t going away, but yesterday morning it was shunted to the background a bit.
That’s because an FBI case took precedence. The FBI and college basketball. Now isn’t that a strange pair?
It has probably been since the New York point shaving in the early 1950s that an investigation into college hoops took over the nation’s sporting consciousness so completely.
Maybe Baylor’s murder conspiracy in the early 2000s dominated the headlines to the same degree. That’s about all I can recall. Certainly, none of the numerous point-shaving scandals that have occurred, like clockwork every 10 years or so, seemed so sudden or shocking as yesterday’s announcement in New York.
It seems FBI agents had been working undercover for years, targeting college assistants, Adidas employees, summer hoops coaches, sports agents, investment counselors and players.
Players and their families allegedly received money. So did assistant coaches. The apparel company was involved. So were agents and the investment folks. The reasons were different, but charges, which included the terms “wire fraud” and “soliciting bribes,” were filed in New York.
Four assistant coaches, two from Pac-12 schools (Tony Bland at USC and Emanuel “Book” Richardson from Arizona) were arrested. Others, including an Adidas executive involved in marketing, were arrested as well. Some other college basketball programs were implicated but their names not used – even though it was pretty simple to connect the dots.
The schemes seemed to be simple. Using the assistant coaches as intermediaries, money was funneled from the apparel company and agents to the high school players and their families. The assistants kept a cut.
The idea was the player would attend an Adidas-sponsored school – upping the brand’s profile and ensuring more sales, hence the marketing aspect – and then would be encouraged to eventually sign with the agent when the NBA was in his future.
Everyone wins. Except it’s all illegal and – probably less important to those involved facing prison terms – a grievous breach of NCAA rules.
If this were the end of it, then the impact wouldn’t have been as great as it was. But it isn’t. Not by a long shot.
Before Tuesday’s Manhattan press conference was over, the government officials confirmed the arrests were just part of an ongoing investigation, into what they called the “pay-to-play culture” of college basketball.
“For these men, bribing coaches was a business investment,” Joon H. Kim, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters while announcing the charges. “They knew corrupt coaches, in return for bribes, would pressure the players to use their services. They also knew that if and when those young players turned pro, that would mean big bucks for them.”
The FBI is clear. It is continuing the investigation.
“It is better for you to be calling us than for us to be calling you,” Kim said. A phone number was released.
It’s easy to imagine some calls were either made afterward or some folks at least contemplated making a call.
And there were probably some interesting conversations throughout college basketball yesterday, with head coaches, who were not, according to those involved in the illegal activity, targeted for bribes because they made too much money, asking their assistants about their actions.
Or there could have been cover-up conversations, which history has taught us is always a mistake.
But no one involved here probably studied a lot of history. Or they would have known when the FBI gets involved with college sports, the hammer is going to fall. And nail a few people.
UPDATE: Louisville has reportedly fired basketball coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Zurich.
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WSU: There haven’t been too many more anticipated USC football games for Washington State in history, though Theo Lawson does go through the top five this morning. … Theo also has his Pac-12 power rankings as well as a bunch of interviews from after practice. Those can be found on our WSU football page. … The S-R’s Paul Turner gets you ready for the Thanksgiving dinner conversation with indirect help from coach Mike Leach. … USC has been bitten badly by the injury bug as it prepares for Friday’s game.
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, there is coverage of the FBI investigation above but we also have a few more stories to link here, including stories on the effects yesterday’s announcement had at USC and in Tucson, where Arizona basketball is the No. 1 sport. … Back to football (and school), Washington’s offense is efficient, and losing one wide receiver shouldn’t stop that. Saturday’s opponent, Oregon State is taking a step back. … Much-penalized Oregon will meet California this weekend and it will be reunion of sorts. … Stanford may not have a Heisman winner this year, but coach David Shaw had a Heisman-level response to questions about the anthem protests. Stanford and Arizona State will wear ribbons Saturday. … More off-field news: Colorado’s Title IX investigation has been closed. … Colorado has dismissed a player. … UCLA needed a receiver to step up. Jordan Lasley did. … Will there be a quarterback controversy at Arizona?
Gonzaga: Athletic director Mike Roth told Jim Meehan yesterday he doesn’t believe the FBI investigation will touch GU in any way.
EWU: Though it was lost a bit in the hubbub of Eastern’s second-half offensive explosion against Montana, the defense played great after halftime. Jim Allen has a story about the effort. … Around the Big Sky, Montana will try to bounce back against Portland State.
Chiefs: Jared Anderson-Dolan signed an entry-level contract with the L.A. Kings.
Preps: It was another busy night in prep sports, with roundups available from volleyball, slowpitch softball, boys’ soccer and girls’ soccer.
Mariners: A couple of former A’s helped the M’s get past Oakland 6-3 last night. … Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake are done this season. See you in the spring.
Seahawks: Just about all the news comes from off the field. But there is this. Kenny Easley’s number 45 is going to be retired by the Hawks before the game against the Colts. … OK, anthem stuff. Larry Stone has a column in the Times today. And Michael Bennett, who wants to talk with the President, and Doug Baldwin spoke.
Sounders: Fredy Montero is back in Seattle this weekend. … The Timbers are seeing some players reach their potential.
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• If you listen to the Mariners’ game at Oakland today, keep the radio on. I’ll be joining Dennis Patchin after the postgame show for a little while. We go until 6 p.m. on 700 ESPN. You can listen here if you want. Until later …