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The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball

The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball

List Price: $27.95
Your Price: $18.45
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A cautionary tale of misused talents.....
Review: Besides being well over six feet tall, Jack Molinas stood above the basketball competition he faced in other ways. His I.Q. was a whopping 175 and he used his native itelligence and skills on the court to fix college games for Columbia during the 50's. Later on, he was suspended from the N.B.A in his rookie season for working the same scams there. The culmination came with the basketball scandals of the early 60's and his arrest and subsequent five-year prison sentence. After leaving the 'big house' he turned his talents to upholding the law by becoming a renowned lawyer. He had spent his life manipulating and lying to people so it seemed a natural fit that he eventually moved to California with a girl friend and became a porn producer. Ultimately, his mob ties from his fix days and shady connections caught up with him however. Apparently, he had welshed on sports bets to bookies connected with La Cosa Nostra. Obviously, a very dumb thing to do for someone gifted with his level of intelligence. He was shot by unknown assailents in his home in 1974. Clearly, out of all the people he cheated in his life, the author of this book makes very clear that the person he ultimately short-changed the most was himself.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Factually Inaccurate
Review: Caveat Emptor: This book is based in large part on interviews conducted by the late New York Post sports columnist Milton Gross, my father. They were used without the permission of his heirs, and were never checked against the audiotapes on which they were based which are in my possession and have been for almost thirty years. But what's worse is that the book is factually innacurate and the author did not even attempt to confirm what he printed. Instead of thanking the person whose work he based his book on, Rosen prints untruths about him. One example: on the last page of the book, Rosen has Milton Gross skipping Molinas' funeral and instead, attempting to cash in on his death. Milton Gross had been dead for over two years when Molinas died. He would have had to make that call from his grave.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: required reading for student hoopsters
Review: In a historical sense, this book is a continuation of a story Charley Rosen wrote about in "Scandals of 51". The life story of Jack Molinas, a central figure in the college basketball scandals, reads alternately like a novel and a reporter's notebook, and keeps you glued wondering what will happen next. Charley Rosen includes all the names involved, directly and peripherally, including the denials. There are surprises at every turn, whether its Jack Molinas childhood, his time in prison, or his business dealings. It makes you realize how easy it would be to have history repeat itself. An interst in basketball is not crucial. If you are interested in true crime, or just a fascinating true story, you will enjoy this book and learn some history in the process.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A terrific read.
Review: Once I started this book, I could not put it down. Jack was a person with a great deal of athletic and intellectual talent. However, I thought he blurred the line between life and the game of basketball.

I was never interested in sports when I was growing up, but this book has certainly sparked my interest. It was a mind opening experience.

How did I come to read this book, considering my lack of interest in sports? I heard it reviewed on Nat'l. Public Radio. When I heard the name Jack Molinas, I remembered an athletically inclined boy that attended PS 33 and PS 79 with me. My memories of him in school were good so I think of his life as he felt compelled to live it as a tragedy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A terrific read.
Review: Once I started this book, I could not put it down. Jack was a person with a great deal of athletic and intellectual talent. However, I thought he blurred the line between life and the game of basketball.

I was never interested in sports when I was growing up, but this book has certainly sparked my interest. It was a mind opening experience.

How did I come to read this book, considering my lack of interest in sports? I heard it reviewed on Nat'l. Public Radio. When I heard the name Jack Molinas, I remembered an athletically inclined boy that attended PS 33 and PS 79 with me. My memories of him in school were good so I think of his life as he felt compelled to live it as a tragedy.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: fiction disguised as fact
Review: This book is a work of fiction.The list of errorsis too great to warrant a non-fiction label.The author makes the case that Molinas is a habitual liar.So,why would Rosen print Molinas comments in interviews other sports writers had with him without corroboration.There is no doubt that Molinas was an unusual character with huge talents who preferred to break all the rules,making him a tragic figure.It is hard to enjoy this read,because there is no way to discern truth from fantasy.I think Molinas had the last laugh with his creative tales to writers.He figured they would accept his stories as the gospel...Bob Reiss

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: BORING
Review: This is probly the most boring book I have ever read. I have read alot of basketball books and by far this is one of the worst. It seemed interesting so I bought it. Then it started out all right but by page 100 I could not keep reading it I just lost interest. I would not reccomend this book.


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