In Development
Fixed
Synopsis
In 1978, notorious mobster Henry Hill and a gang of "GoodFellas" set out to fix Boston College basketball.
Big-time mobsters. All-American athletes. High-powered lawyers. This is the cast of characters arrayed in David Porter's action-packed account of the 1978-1979 Boston College point-shaving scandal. Porter, a veteran sportswriter and columnist, traces the scandal from its inception in the summer of 1978 through the trials of the players and mobsters in 1981. Dramatically engaging and psychologically astute, Porter tracks how the scam affected the players mentally on and off the court, and paints a true-to-life portrait of ex-mobster-turned-star government witness Henry Hill (Wiseguy, GoodFellas), the most famous gangster since Al Capone. Of interest is the saga of Jim Sweeney, an Academic All-American and a Naismith award winner who the gangsters describe as "the perfect front" for their scheme to shave points and bet on the fixed games. Particularly strong is Porter's blow-by-blow account of the Boston College season, the free throws missed, the passes fumbled, and the terror of being in the grip of a mob scheme spiraling out of control. College basketball fans and readers of crime books -- this is Hoosiers meets The Godfather -- will find much to revel in here.
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