The Scandals of '51: How the Gamblers Almost Killed College Basketball

this was a great read i almost lived through that era as im 65... used to go to old garden..and bet on doubleheaders.... always thought and knew mindy rudolph was on the take..... reccomend highly je

i must tip my proverbial hat to rosen for his comical attempt to personify some of these characters. the dialog spits out in the most vile of all stereotypes. had hip-hop existed in the time frame, i'm sure rosen would've had a few laughable rhymes. all in all though the read is worthy of your time. it rolls out so fast that one is finished before one approaches "waste of time" status. had this pile of words lingered on for much longer, it would qualify as fertilizer. the scene with the pathetic father eating crackers and tomato soup was gut-bustingly good. the descriptions of jerking off are priceless, perhaps suggesting that rosen is indeed himself a chronic wanker. solid, heady material....no doubt.

This book will keep your interest because the subject matteris fascinating. Rosen's writing style is direct -which is anotherplus. His portrayals of people and their intrwoven stories are well done. The flaws in the book are such dramatic events such as these could be described in greater detail-detail that could have been gripping. He kind of glosses over some of the actual events opting for recounts. Also, it seems some of the basketbal vernacular sounds like 1998 instead of 1951. This is a minor criticism- and for all I know may be off base as I wasn't around in 1951. In short, I recommend this as a nice, light read. It could have been a little better, but any basketball fan should enjoy reading Barney Polan's Game