Fixed: How Goodfellas Bought Boston College Basketball

A little gambling on college sports is basically harmless, right? This book will change your mind. I'm sure none of the players in Porter's book feel "unharmed" by the fallout of Boston College's point shaving scandal. Young careers, reputations, and lives were ruined, and that is tragic. There's great tension from the beginning, even if you know the historical outcome of the games and trials. Plus, if you enjoyed Goodfellas, you'll love meeting Henry Hill again, even if he's not the glamorized Ray Liotta version!

I read the book a while ago and, having lived in a college town all my adult life, I want this book recommend highly. The story is important because big-time college athletics has had its share of scandals but nothing seems to change. Adding the Mafia connection, drugs, criminal trials - its a huge indictment of big money sports in academia. Porter does an excellent job of bringing it all together - the trials and the follow-up interviews with each of the indicted players are especially well-written. I look forward to more good writing from David Porter. Dr. Rosalie Pedalino Porter

Tremendous read -- the characters come alive, the full range of personal fallibility: gullible to greedy, stoic to berserk. An amazing examination of the verious motivations of human behavior, and the way character is tested by pressure, by competition, by fear and by the temptation of money. Involvement of celebrity gangsters lends both intrigue and absurdity,as the stakes were simultaneously huge for the players but penny-ante for the kingpins.... Great book to read. You will watch March Madness with new eyes.Recommended to basketball, crime, and suspense fans.

The characters in this book--gangsters, degenerate gamblers, the Feds, greedy athletes--are so unbelievable that at times that you forget that they are real and that the story is TRUE! The fix is in and (author) Porter does a great job of telling the story from beginning to end. Made me wonder how many college games I've watched over the years when the final score was something other than what it should have been. Any way, this is a good story well researched and well written. The book is an excellent gift for any hoops fan or fan of true crime.

Without buttressing its merit with Mafia hype or superfluous detail, Fixed seamlessly weaves together the distressing tales of a real-life cast of characters guided by greed. Porter obviously researched his subject thoroughly, and his unbiased presentation of facts and ability to anticipate and clarify potential questions and inconsistencies compelled this reader to eagerly turn the pages without questioning the credibility of this remarkably captivating account. I highly recommend it.