Im looking at him play against Clyde Frazier and right then and there, I thought it was a realistic dream for me to make it to the NBA. (Rick Kuhn, Photo Credit: bostonglobe.com). The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. They left, and that was that. talked to the Nets, their head coach Kevin Loughery called him in and said, You know why I have to let you go, said Alswanger. During his court hearing, the judge sentenced him to a six-month sentence in the Meriden Juvenile Detention Facility. The reasons for their failure may have been inherent to the whole project. The story: Three Boston College players leading scorer Ernie Cobb, forward Richard Kuhn and Sweeney, the team's point guard were fingered by Hill for participating in the point-shaving scheme. I was so thankful, and was willing to work as hard as I possibly could, both in my studies, and in basketball, to be able to get the most I could out of the experience.. Ernest Cobb in the US: 76 records available . I didnt think anything of it. In "Playing for the Mob'' which features commentary from Sweeney, Hill, Ernie Cobb, the leading scorer on that Boston College team, and others he tells what happened 36 years ago. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. The vast expanses of grass fields allowed him to run free and clear his mind. The combination thereof led to the downfall of a previously untouchable New York crime boss responsible for multiple murders and the largest cash heist in U.S. history, via cronies in Pittsburgh who ran a point-shaving scheme that paid a few players to keep scores within the spread at Boston College during the 1978-79 college basketball season. When he first stepped on the hallowed parquet floor at the legendary Boston Garden, where B.C. I told him, you cant just be great on offense, you gotta play great defense as well.. As for his role in what happened, Sweeney says hes never run from the truth. A wake will be held for Dr. Cobb-Stevens on Monday, July 16, from 4-7 p.m. at the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 475 Main . He loved the foliage, the fresh air and scenery. Part 2 can be found here. At trial in 1981, the government's case consisted primarily of the testimony . I just had to be alone, Cobb told the reporters afterwards. For me, it worked.. Other notable players selected in that draft included Sidney Moncrief, Bill Laimbeer, Bill Cartwright, Mark Eaton and Jim Paxson. erath county rant and rave; springfield, mo jail inmates; essex county hospital center jobs; blanching vs non blanching erythema; star trek next generation cast salaries They couldnt stop him. After a full recruiting cycle, which schools got it right - and wrong - four years ago In practice, he was the lunatic who his teammates sucked their teeth and rolled their eyes at when he told the coaches that they needed to run more sprints after an exhausting practice. 14, left in first row), and Jim Sweeney (No. hoops that blazed a trail, Mills continued. Acompanhe-nos: bonsall oaks development Facebook. I was shining at the camp. He says basketball was Ernie's "vocation and avocation. I opened up the door and it was these guys from the F.B.I., said Cobb. The story read, in part, as follows: Ernie Cobb tossed in 1,760 points in a stellar basketball career at Boston College and only two other Eagles scored more. After the four-week trial in 1981, Jimmy Burke was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Paul Mazzei and Tony Perla were sentenced to ten. I wanted my name cleared and it took a long time.. I excelled. On Friday morning, March 23rd, the jury came back with a unanimous innocent verdict for Ernie Cobb, exonerating him of all charges. Ernest Constantine Cobb, passed away peacefully on Feb. 27th, after a long and full life. Learn more and register. There was no getting around that. In a point-shaving scandal that sticks in the memories of many, three Boston College players became embroiled in a betting scheme conceived by gamblers Henry Hill, Rocco and Tony Perla, and Paul Mazzei. Ron Tompkins is a former major league pitcher who played for the Kansas . It really was over 10 years that Ive been trying to do this, so I dont know that I can just turn the page on it and go on to something else. So Id go up there all the time and get me one. I was excited about school and learning. Obviously, I couldve done things differently, Sweeney said. standards like the rest of the students, most who came from wealthy and very strong academic backgrounds. Select the players you wish to trade from the rosters below. The other two kids made whatever choices they made, but look what was done to Ernie. First Name. I feel like if I can change one life, like he changed mine, man, it makes everything Ive been through worthwhile.. We were looking good as a team and my goal was to be the best player I could possibly be. Alswanger took Cobb to Madison Square Garden once to see the Knicks play against Calvin Murphy, the scoring dynamo who was considered the best player to ever come out of Connecticut. Utah Jazz, 6th round (1st pick, 109th overall), 1979 NBA Draft, More Ernie Cobb pages at Sports Reference, More Ernie Cobb Basketball Reference pages. They showed me these pictures of these mafia guys and were asking me, Do you know him? Cobb didn't get those years back, but neither did he seek redemption for his past. After he interviewed him, he fell in love with him and told me, Hes innocent. I was tremendously focused because I knew that I was going places., In my neighborhood, people didnt go to college, said Cobb. I really wanted to get to the bottom of it from a personal curiosity [standpoint], and then also knowing that this had to be a great story.. I have suffered. At 11:05 a.m., United States District Judge Leonard Wexler completed his instructions to the jury in the Federal Court Building in Brooklyn as Ernie Cobb awaited his . And look what he did to the lives of those kids. You understand? She also recalled Kuhn saying that Cobb was too into his own game to cooperate with the betting thing, but the New York gangsters were adamant about getting him involved. This is Part II of The Shadow League's feature story on former Boston College basketball player Ernie Cobb. At one point Hill curses, apologizes sheepishly to the camera, and then falls right back into his expletive-laden speech. These Boston College basketball players were way better than being involved with "Goodfella" Henry Hill and his underworld associates. He says he believes his experience could serve as a test case for others, to help prevent anything like it from happening in the future. You realize that you cant play if you dont do this. At that point, I was looking forward to a trial, said Cobb. Hill also named former BC athletes Ernie Cobb and James Sweeney as participants in the scandal. I wanted to play ball, and in order to do that I had to maintain a C average. A talkative informant. I was a senior in high school when Ernie Cobb was a senior at Boston College and Id heard that he was a very good player, said Lemuel Mills, a Boston area hoops aficionado, coach, community mentor and historian. He ate, drank, and slept basketball. The only problem was that he didnt have enough money to afford one. Also wondered what became of Ernie Cobb. To believe that any of 2023's neo-contenders can become bonafide champs over the next few months is to believe that a once-in-a-quarter-century occurrence is about to transpire. When the story first broke, it said that Michael Bowie and I were the ones implicated, said Cobb. Profile. Ex-basketball star Ernie Cobb was acquitted Friday of taking part in a point-shaving scandal that rocked Boston College in 1978-1979, and tearfully asked for a fair shot to resurrect his chances . After Cobb was not charged, he thought he was finally past the sordid affair. Join our linker program. As a freshman, he played sparingly and averaged 4.5 points per game while the Eagles finished with a disappointing 9-17 overall record. After perhaps his greatest moment during the preseason, when he had that outstanding game against the Celtics right before the regular season tipped off, Cobb was relaxing in his hotel room when he heard a knock at the door. The Boston Globe's Bob Hohler documented Kuhn's role in the scandal and his luring of Sweeney and fellow captain Ernie Cobb in a March 2014 profile: . Uh-oh, overstock: Wayfair put their surplus on sale for up to 50% off. August 31, But well come back to that later. Loughery told me that I had the ability to play in the NBA. The Ernie Cobb-as-point-fixer story is ancient, but I'm still that guy who supposedly got away with something." Tell me what you did and what you didnt do. And as black kids who loved ball in Boston, he represented something for us, giving the younger generation something to aspire toin terms of their basketball skillsbecause he was putting in some serious work.. Confirm that your trade proposal is valid according to the NBA collective bargaining agreement. Data Provided By Bowies reputation was immediately sullied and he subsequently lost his job playing pro ball in Europe when the story broke. Proactive and highly responsive counselor to students, parents, faculty, community and district needs. Some of it happened almost by accident, and some of it happened after years of determined work. If you got your own apartment after high school, that was considered a success. He was adamant that he would take the stand in his own defense, despite his lawyers pleas not to do so. Its one of several seeming contradictions the gangster-turned-informant offers during the film, right along with this doozy early on: I didnt threaten him or nothin, Hill says in the film, I just said, Its hard to play basketball with a broken arm.. He was naive at the time, believing that his exoneration would pave the way for apologies and acknowledgments of his innocence: from the NBA, the federal government and Boston College. Tools and Resources Used by Real General Managers. Playing for the Mob makes good use of Scorseses classic, splicing in Goodfellas clips between interviews and using Liotta as the films narrator. Rocco Perla was sentenced to four and Kuhn was released after 28 months. Do you have a sports website? Ernie Cobb weighed 180 lbs (81 kg) when playing. For all I know, he told them I was in, that it would cost an extra $2,500 per game and he was trying to hustle the gangsters while pocketing the extra money. By his sophomore year, he was a starter on the varsity and an All-League selection. The distinguished paper later retracted the story. would play a few games each year, Cobb was awash with emotions. Hes a good person. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. Location unknown)Boston College's Ernie Cobb pulls down a rebound off his own shot against Holy Cross's Leo Kane during a men's college basketball. The Shadow League is a narrative company. Drafted #109 in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Jazz. They were so many activities and all this food. Over one hundred schools tried to recruit the 5-foot-11 marksman, including UCLA and Kentucky. At 11:05 a.m., United States District Judge Leonard Wexler completed his instructions to the jury in the Federal Court Building in Brooklyn as Ernie Cobb awaited his judgment. With his pro career and NBA dream in limbo for over four years since news of Boston Colleges point-shaving scandal was first splashed across the front pages of newspapers and magazines, he simply desired to have his life back. . Sign up to receive The Shadow League Newsletter in your inbox. During the 1978-78 basketball season, Boston College was the latest team scandalized by a point shaving scheme involving the New York mob. He said, Ernies the only kid who listened, did everything he was supposed to do and never tried to run away. Hometown: , College: Boston College. The game had saved his life, delivered him from peril, from a path leading nowhere, from dysfunction and illiteracy, to an elite college education and a shot at the NBA and a better future. One of his early passions was racing remote-controlled cars. In the 1998/99 season he lead the Girls to the top. He insisted on taking a polygraph test, against his attorneys advice, which he passed. Canvas; Clever; Edgenuity; Email / Office 365 / One Drive; Enroll Online; Gaggle (CTE) GCU Learning Lounge; Gradpoint; HMH Reading Inventory; Illuminate Student Log in Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. I knew that I could play basketball with anybody. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. To this day, both Sweeney and Cobb admit taking money but say they didn't really participate. Cobb just wanted to live his life and do what he did best: play ball. He wanted to tell his side of the story. ERNEST COBB OBITUARY. Boom_70, Aug 31, 2011 #5. mrblake New Member. As a junior, he averaged 37.6 points per game and was named All-State. Couldnt they see how grateful he was, that hed never cheat the thing that gave his life such meaning and purpose? Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Some 36 years later, there doesn't seem to be a lot of love lost between key characters Rick Kuhn, Ernie Cobb, and Jim Sweeney, the trio of Eagles allegedly paid to keep scores as close as they . All of Henry Hills and the Perla brothers information was coming from Rick Kuhn, and who knows what he was saying to them to cover his own skin., (Jim Sweeney, Photo Credit: tampabay.com), Kuhn and Sweeney got in over their heads, Cobb continued. Sign up to receive The Shadow League Newsletter in your inbox. When he told Alswanger about the indictment, his old high school coach spoke sternly with him, as he'd done sometwelveyears earlier when Cobb had just returned home fromthe juvenile detention facility. 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