1978–79 Boston College Basketball Point-shaving Scandal
The 1978–79 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal involved a scheme in which members of the American Mafia recruited and bribed multiple Boston College Eagles men's basketball players to ensure the team would either not win by the required margin (not cover the point spread) or win by the required margin (cover the point spread), thus allowing gamblers in the know to place wagers for or against that team and win. Scheme proposal The scheme was conceived by Rocco Perla and his brother Anthony in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1978. The Perla brothers were small-time gamblers who saw the upcoming 1978–79 Boston College Eagles basketball season as a perfect opportunity to earn a lot of money. Needing an inside man, the brothers wanted to recruit Rick Kuhn, a high school friend of Rocco who was entering his senior year at Boston College and was expected to be a key member of the 1978–79 Eagles team. The Perla brothers proposed a simple scheme: they, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Mafia
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these US-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy, or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (, "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original ''Mafia'' or ''Cosa Nostra'', the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished List of Italian-American neighborhoods, Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or "Italian Harlem"), the Lower East Si ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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James Burke (gangster)
James Burke (July 5, 1931 – April 13, 1996), also known as "Jimmy the Gent", was an American gangster and Lucchese crime family associate who is believed to have organized the 1978 Lufthansa heist, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time. He was believed to be responsible for the deaths of those involved in the months after the robbery. Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Burke was convicted in 1982, of conspiracy charges related to his involvement in the 1978–79 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. While in prison, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to another 20 years to life. He died of cancer at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, twelve years before he would have been eligible for parole. Burke inspired the character Jimmy "The Gent" Conway, one of the main characters of the 1990 film '' Goodfellas'', played by Robert De Niro. Early life At the age of two, Burke was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drug Trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption via a patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue. In pharmacology, a drug is a chemical substance, typically of known structure, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. A pharmaceutical drug, also called a medication or medicine, is a chemical substance used to treat, cure, prevent, or diagnose a disease or to promote well-being. Traditionally drugs were obtained through extraction from medicinal plants, but more recently also by organic synthesis. Pharmaceutical drugs may be used for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders. Classification Pharmaceutical drugs are often classified into drug classes—groups of related drugs that have sim ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Queens, New York
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn and by Nassau County, New York, Nassau County to its east, and shares maritime borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as with New Jersey. Queens is one of the most linguistics, linguistically and ethnically diverse places in the world. With a population of 2,405,464 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Queens is the second-most populous county in New York state, behind Kings County (Brooklyn), and is therefore also the second-most populous of the five New York City boroughs. If Queens were its own city, it would be the List of United States cities by population, fourth most-populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Queens is the fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Holy Cross Crusaders Men's Basketball
The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team represents the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts (about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston) in NCAA Division I competition. The team competes in the Patriot League and plays their home games in the Hart Center.Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball 2007–08 media guide . Accessed April 20, 2008. The program boasts such notable alumni as Boston Celtics legends Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn, and longtime Providence Friars men's basketball, Providence College basketball coach Joe Mullaney (basketball), Joe Mullaney. Under coach Doggie Julian, the Crusaders won a national championship in 1947 NCAA basketball tournament, 1947. It is the only school from Massachusetts to win an NCAA Division I me ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fordham Rams
The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in the Patriot League of NCAA Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision. The University also supports a number of club sports, and a significant intramural sports program. The University's athletic booster clubs include the ''Sixth Man Club'' for basketball and the ''Afterguard'' for sailing. Fordham and the Ivy League Fordham University sports, though not part of the Ivy League, has nevertheless been credited with inspiring the term by comparison. The first usage of "Ivy" in reference to a group of colleges is from sportswriter Stanley Woodward (1895–1965). In an article that appeared in the ''New York Tribune'' on October 14, 1933, Woodward, referencing football, wrote William Morris writes that Stanley Woodward actually took the t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New York (state)
New York, also called New York State, is a U.S. state, state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. New York is the List of U.S. states and territories by population, fourth-most populous state in the United States, with nearly 20 million residents, and the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 27th-largest state by area, with a total area of . New York has Geography of New York (state), a varied geography. The southeastern part of the state, known as Downstate New York, Downstate, encompasses New York City, the List of U.S. cities by population, most populous city in the United States; Long Island, with approximately 40% of the state's population, the nation's most populous island; and the cities, suburbs, and wealthy enclaves of the lower Hudson Valley. These areas are the center of the expansive New ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Connecticut Huskies Men's Basketball
The UConn Huskies men's basketball program is the NCAA Division I men's college basketball team of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. They currently play in the Big East Conference and are coached by Dan Hurley. With six national championships and 45 conference titles, the program is considered one of the blue bloods of college basketball. UConn has won six NCAA tournament championships (1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023 and 2024), which puts the program in a tie for third most all time and is the most of any program since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. The Huskies have won eight Big East tournament championships (tied for most all time) and 11 Big East regular season championships (most all time). UConn has 37 NCAA tournament appearances (tied for 11th most all time) and has played in seven NCAA Final Fours (tied for 10th most all time), 13 NCAA Elite Eights (11th most all time) and 19 NCAA Sweet Sixteens (tied for 11th most all time). UConn won the Nat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UCLA Bruins Men's Basketball
The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in the sport of men's basketball as a member of the Big Ten Conference. Established in 1919, the program has won a record 11 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, NCAA titles. Coach John Wooden led the Bruins to 10 national titles in 12 seasons, from 1964 to 1975, including seven straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record four times (1964, 1967, 1972, and 1973). Coach Jim Harrick led the team to another NCAA title in 1995. Former coach Ben Howland led UCLA to three consecutive Final Four appearances from 2006 to 2008. As a member of the AAWU, Pacific-8 and then Pacific-10, UCLA set an NCAA Division I record with 13 consecutive regular season conference titles between 1967 and 1979 which stood until tied by Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball, Kansas in 2017. In 2024, UCLA departed the Pac-12 Conference and joined the Big Ten Conference on August 2, 2024. NCAA reco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harvard Crimson Men's Basketball
The Harvard Crimson men's basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Harvard University. The team currently competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and plays home games at the Lavietes Pavilion in Boston, Massachusetts. The Crimson are currently coached by Tommy Amaker. History Tommy Amaker era On April 11, 2007, Tommy Amaker was named men's basketball coach at Harvard University. On January 7, 2009, Amaker's Harvard squad defeated then- ranked Boston College (#17 AP Poll/#24 Coaches' Poll) for the first win over a ranked team in the program's history. The following season, after Amaker coached Harvard to its most successful season ever behind the play of Jeremy Lin, the 2009–10 team was invited to participate in the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The team was defeated in the first round by Appalachian State. Amaker led the 2010-11 team to a share of the 2010–11 Ivy League men's bas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Providence Friars Men's Basketball
The Providence Friars men's basketball team represents Providence College in NCAA Division I competition. They were a founding member of the original Big East Conference from 1979 until 2013, and are now a member of the current Big East Conference. They play their home games at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island. The Friars have made two Final Four appearances in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, in 1973 and 1987. Four former players or coaches Dave Gavitt, John Thompson, Rick Pitino, and Lenny Wilkensare enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition, two-time NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament champion, current Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, helped lead the Friars (as a player) to the Final Four in 1987. History Early years: 1921-1955 Providence Friars basketball can be traced back to 1921, when the four-year-old school fielded its first basketball team on an informal basis. Thi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia. The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area has a population of 4.9 million as of 2023, making it the largest metropolitan area in New England and the Metropolitan statistical area, eleventh-largest in the United States. Boston was founded on Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by English Puritans, Puritan settlers, who named the city after the market town of Boston, Lincolnshire in England. During the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, Boston was home to several seminal events, incl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |