 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(October 2021) |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Career information | |
| High school | Lawrenceville School |
| College | Boston College |
| Career history | |
| Sweden | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (1980) | |
James Sweeney was a 1980 recipient of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the United States' top collegiate basketball player under 6'0" tall.
He was the captain of the Boston College Eagles. He was nominated by Boston College (BC) as a Rhodes Scholar candidate. Raised in Trenton, New Jersey, he attended the Lawrenceville School [1] before receiving an athletic scholarship to Boston College.
Sweeney testified as a witness in the 1978–79 Boston College basketball point shaving scandal in which members of organized crime schemed to control the outcomes of several games. [2] Sweeney was neither charged nor offered immunity in exchange for his testimony. The Tampa Bay Times featured Sweeney as one of the "Top 10 most intriguing people of Tampa Bay in 2014", [3] for their fellow resident having displayed "little fear of the mob and no bitterness about getting caught up in a wise-guy point-shaving scheme."
Following his 1980 graduation from BC, Sweeney played basketball briefly in Sweden.
Sweeney spent the years after his time in Sweden as a manufacturer's rep in the computer industry. While still in his forties, Sweeney and his wife closed their computer firm to launch New Vision Entertainment, a Florida-based company focused on the development and promotion of entertainment properties that positively impact culture.
Creating a trademarked sports personality named MIKE (for "microphone"), Sweeney launched a series of MIKE Sports Comic Books, [4] and regularly blogs under the same pen name. Sweeney's creative sports writing and reflections on his Boston College basketball past were covered in Forbes magazine. [5]
Sweeney continued to play basketball domestically and abroad through the masters basketball circuit.
Jim Sweeney continues to compete in U.S. and international masters basketball tournaments and serves as head of USA for FIMBA, the international masters basketball organization based out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has been featured as an active, global masters athlete in the January 14, 2018 on-line issue of Parade magazine. [6]
In 2020, Jim chronicled the history of masters basketball and his experiences competing in over 100 tournaments with an Amazon book release of Old School Hoops: Stories of an Aging Baller. [7]
Sweeney married fellow BC classmate Maura (Haggerty) Sweeney in 1981, and together they have one daughter. The couple resides in Clearwater, Florida.[ citation needed ]
Boston College High School is an all-male, Jesuit, Catholic college preparatory secondary school for grades 7-12 in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located on Columbia Point in Dorchester.
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to change the final score of a game without changing who wins. This is typically done by players colluding with gamblers to prevent a team from covering a published point spread, where gamblers bet on the margin of victory. Unlike other forms of sports betting, spread betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one or more players of the team favored to win the game. In exchange for a bribe, the player or players agree to ensure that their team will not "cover the point spread". The gambler then wagers against the bribed team. Alternatively, players on the team picked to lose may be bribed to lose by more points than the indicated point spread, and gamblers will wager on their opponents, the favorites, to cover the spread. Also, an official (referee) of the game may be bribed, or even bet on his own behalf, so that one or more "close calls" will be called in favor of the "underdog" rather than the team favored to win. The practice of shaving points is illegal in some countries and stiff penalties are imposed for those caught and convicted.
Richard John Vitale, also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster for ESPN. He is known for catchphrases such as "This is awesome, baby!" and "diaper dandy", as well as his enthusiastic and colorful remarks during games. He has also written nine books, and appeared in several films.
James Burke, 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 is believed responsible for the deaths of those involved in the months following the robbery.
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Nat Holman was an American professional basketball player and college coach. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is the only coach to lead his team to NCAA and National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championships in the same season.
Ralph Milton Beard Jr. was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He won two NCAA national basketball championships at the University of Kentucky and played two years in the National Basketball Association prior to being barred for life for his participation in the 1951 point shaving scandal.
James Francis Lynam is an American former college and professional basketball coach. He coached at the college level for Fairfield University from 1968 to 1970, American University from 1973 to 1978, and St. Joseph's University from 1978 to 1981. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), Lynam coached the San Diego Clippers/Los Angeles Clippers from 1983 to 1985, the Philadelphia 76ers from 1987 to 1992, and the Washington Bullets from 1995 to 1997. Lynam compiled a 158–118 record at the college level, and 328–392 in the NBA. He was also Philadelphia's general manager from 1992 to 1994.
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Eugene "Squeaky" Melchiorre was an American professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets and was the first overall pick in the 1951 NBA Draft. Melchiorre never played an NBA game due to his lifetime ban from the league for point shaving when he was a college player.
The 1978–79 Boston College basketball point shaving scandal involved a scheme in which members of the American Mafia recruited and bribed several Boston College Eagles men's basketball players to ensure the team would not win by the required margin, allowing the gamblers in the know to place wagers against that team and win.
The CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1950–51 was a college basketball point-shaving gambling scandal that involved seven schools in all, with four in Greater New York, two in the Midwest, and one in the South. However, most of the key players in the scandal were players of the 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team.
William Edwin Spivey was an American basketball player. A 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) center, he played college basketball for the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Kentucky Wildcats from 1949 to 1951. After his high school career, Spivey was recruited by the University of Kentucky. During his time with the Wildcats, he led the team to the 1951 NCAA Tournament championship, and was voted Most Outstanding Player of the event. When a point shaving scandal was revealed that year, Spivey was accused of being involved, which he denied. He left the Wildcats in December 1951, and the university banned him from the squad in March 1952.
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Dale Barnstable was an American basketball player from Antioch, Illinois who was banned for life from the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1951 for point shaving. He had an outstanding college career at the University of Kentucky before his career came to an abrupt end.
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The 1978–79 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team represented Boston College during the 1978–79 NCAA men's basketball season.
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