1951 - Anti-gambling
In April 1951, a gambling scandal hit Lexington as numerous betting parlors and gaming locations were shut down by the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement. The Woodland Christian Church Board officially passed a resolution commending the efforts of local law enforcement to “stamp out the crime of gambling and other lawless acts against society.” Woodland Pastor Hayes Farish was quite outspoken on this issue and other social ills in his weekly column in Echoes, his letters to the editors of local newspapers, denominational publications, and in personal letters to local officials.
Other forms of illegal gambling were active nationally. These were the heydays of nearby Newport, Kentucky with its mob ties, numerous brothels, and gambling houses like the Beverly Hills Supper Club. In New York, a point-shaving scandal ensnared 33 college basketball players and defamed the historic Madison Square Gardens.
On Oct. 20 New York District Attorney Frank Hogan arrested Kentucky basketball players Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, and Dale Barnstable for accepting $500 bribes to shave points in an NIT game against Loyola of Chicago. Groza and Beard had been on two NCAA championship teams and Beard also had been on one NIT winner. Beard and Groza had also been on the 1948 Olympic basketball gold medal team.
New York Judge Saul Streit awarded suspended sentences to Groza, Beard, and Barnstable, placed them on indefinite probation, and barred them from all sports for three years. NBA commissioner Maurice Podoloff also suspended the trio.
Bill Spivey, Kentucky's All-American center and leading player on the NCAA champions of 1951, was barred from athletic play at the university in 1952. The action was surprising since Spivey was never implicated in point-shaving, and Spivey was never convicted, but there were accusations made against Spivey by his teammates.
Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp had claimed his team was untouchable: "They couldn't reach my boys with a ten-foot pole," he said. But he was wrong. The NCAA suspended the Kentucky basketball program for the 1952-53 season.
Hayes Farish’s June 1952 Echoes column titled “Who’s to Blame?” was entered into the Congressional Record by Pennsylvania Congressman Howard L. Sitler Jr.
Other forms of illegal gambling were active nationally. These were the heydays of nearby Newport, Kentucky with its mob ties, numerous brothels, and gambling houses like the Beverly Hills Supper Club. In New York, a point-shaving scandal ensnared 33 college basketball players and defamed the historic Madison Square Gardens.
On Oct. 20 New York District Attorney Frank Hogan arrested Kentucky basketball players Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, and Dale Barnstable for accepting $500 bribes to shave points in an NIT game against Loyola of Chicago. Groza and Beard had been on two NCAA championship teams and Beard also had been on one NIT winner. Beard and Groza had also been on the 1948 Olympic basketball gold medal team.
New York Judge Saul Streit awarded suspended sentences to Groza, Beard, and Barnstable, placed them on indefinite probation, and barred them from all sports for three years. NBA commissioner Maurice Podoloff also suspended the trio.
Bill Spivey, Kentucky's All-American center and leading player on the NCAA champions of 1951, was barred from athletic play at the university in 1952. The action was surprising since Spivey was never implicated in point-shaving, and Spivey was never convicted, but there were accusations made against Spivey by his teammates.
Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp had claimed his team was untouchable: "They couldn't reach my boys with a ten-foot pole," he said. But he was wrong. The NCAA suspended the Kentucky basketball program for the 1952-53 season.
Hayes Farish’s June 1952 Echoes column titled “Who’s to Blame?” was entered into the Congressional Record by Pennsylvania Congressman Howard L. Sitler Jr.
- Trader, 84-85
- Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops https://www.espn.com/classic/s/basketball_scandals_explosion.html