Stories that are just too HOT to publish

Why didn't you report it?

 

Don't feel comfortable with that, at least not right now when I still work for this paper. Maybe I'll tell it as an old war story sometime

 

Well, it was worth a shot. Too bad nobody will air it out.

 

Yeah, I don't agree with it because I can't ever get the scoop on coaching searches, but that's their policy. In this instance, it might not have been for the public good, it just would have been highly embarrassing for everybody. This was also one of those stories that if you run with it, you need to put your lawyers on notice, so I understand in this case why they would prefer the allegations have named sources behind them.

 

Was kind of expecting a little more from this thread.

 

I did at the major boxing site, Boxinginsider.com. But the rest of the big boxing sites and the sports sites ignored it. And the story faded away. Jones ended up making a donation to a kids charity in Indiana but no fines or suspensions.

 

I had a few fans of a small-town high school in our area who had some hearsay evidence that their football coach -- who had just left their school for another job -- took a substantial amount of money to throw a playoff game. What gave their story some credence was the fact that I covered the game in question and there were in fact some very, ah, questionable coaching decisions regarding play-calling and personnel during the course of the game. They were defending state champions, with a 26-game winning streak, and they were shut out in a game they lost by four touchdowns. Ultimately, there was never any hard evidence found -- i.e. no one willing to go on the record -- and the story never saw the light of day.

Looking back on it, I think it was more a case of sour grapes and wishful thinking than anything truly shady. That coach is still in the business and nothing else of the sort has ever been hinted toward him in the years since.

 

Did the coach play at BC?

 

I think fixing in ALL sports is a much bigger problem than any of us realize. Even in tennis. I have heard professional players say off the record how you would be shocked if you knew some of the biggest matches of the decade were fixed. Officials say match fixing only happens in the lower ranks of pro tennis called the Futures and Challengers and never in the ATP or WTA but I guess that's just lip service when present and former ATP players say otherwise, off the record, of course. Boxing is an obvious fix, where the big franchise money fighters like Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez are obvious hoax fighters who are rigged to win so as to maintain their long term TV network contracts. Floyd Mayweather is the biggest fraud in boxing history and it's really obvious if you watch his "fights" with a critical eye and not a naive one. Also if you listen to his hollow confidence, scripted BS founded upon the self assurredness that he knows the establishment has his back. "God won't let me lose." "I don't love boxing like I used to because Boxing isn't real anymore." Mayweather actually said these things.

 

What's to gain by throwing a high school football game? There is no gambling on high school sports that I'm aware of. What possible incentive or source of an incentive could this coach have for allegedly throwing this game?

 

Supposedly, the money came from big-time drug dealers in the opposing team's town. And, while it could be urban legend, I have heard stories of under-the-radar books in certain states where high school football intersects with a laissez-faire attitude toward gambling that will take action on big prep games.

 

Am I supposed to know what a super champion is? Is Roy Jones Jr. a super champion?

I’m so confused.