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NASCAR founder's iron fist puts kibosh on organized gambling

Organized gambling in NASCAR? Jimmy Hoffa almost got his way back in the day, writes Ryan McGee. That is, until NASCAR boss Bill France Sr. laid down the law: "I will fight it to the end!"

Updated: August 9, 2007, 12:22 PM ET
By Ryan McGee | Special to ESPN.com

Mention the name of former NBA referee Tim Donaghy to any league executives, no matter what their sport, and the reaction will be something akin to spraying them with skunk perfume. The idea of outside muscle pulling an inside job is every sport's worst nightmare, especially when the phrase "connected to the mob" shows up.

From the 1919 World Series to point-shaving in college hoops to Italian soccer, nearly every sport has fallen victim to a gambling scandal at one time ...

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CHEAT WAVE '07

Over the next two days, ESPN.com examines the recent wave of sports cheating and assesses the damage done to our trust in the games we watch. Cheat Wave

DAY 2

Perspectives

• Drehs: Answer to cheating lies within
• Future cheats: Stem cells and gene dopers
• Helyar: When owners cheat owners
• Fish: Jose Canseco's online pharmacy primer
• Merrill: Playing unfair at the fair
• Vote: Are the rules of golf golden?

DAY 1

Introduction

• Drehs: Cheating raises serious questions for sports
• Forde: We love 'em and can't leave 'em
• Timeline: Hot Spots Through the Years

Your Voice

• Vote: Are you a habitual cheater?
• Vote: What does cheating mean to you?

Baseball

• Crasnick: Call it cheating, or call it gamesmanship
• Neyer: Baseball's top 10 cheaters of all time
• Thompson: Shoeless Joe's redemption
• SportsNation: What separates cheating from strategy?
• How do you cork a bat? ESPN Video
• Dale Murphy chat wrap

Football

• Chadiha: Players look to gain an edge almost any way they can
• Notorious image sticks with Raiders
• Cheating anecdotes: College football
• SportsNation: Cheating or gamesmanship?

Basketball

• Thorpe: It's survival of the fittest in the NBA
• Cheat Wave: Pushing the Envelope ESPN Video
• Cheat Wave: Pushing the Envelope 2 ESPN Video
• David Thorpe chat wrap
• Cheating anecdotes: College basketball
• Thompson: Point-shavers, a half-century later

NASCAR

• Newton: Cheating might be a dirty word, but so is losing
• Blount: Cheating in NASCAR? You be the judge
• Newton: Evernham forces NASCAR's hand
• McGee: Bill France Sr. vs. the mob

Hockey

• Burnside: The NHL's cheat sheet
• Burnside: Competition committee is league's best line of defense

Page 2

• Zumsteg: "Cheater's Guide to Baseball"

Tennis

• Garber: Players police themselves in tennis
• Inside the ATP Gambling Scandal ESPN Video

Golf

• Harig: Golf's honor code limits 'cheating' incidents
• Sobel: Ten famous rules invocations in golf history

Boxing

• Thompson: Jake LaMotta's choice

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