George Beck’s Confused
An Auburn-Arkansas basketball game on Jan. 25, 2012 was compromised, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Montgomery, Ala.
Former Auburn point guard Varez Ward was arrested Monday and indicted on two counts related to point shaving.
U.S. Attorney George Beck Jr. told The Associated Press that Ward allegedly tried to fix the 2012 SEC game at Arkansas. Auburn was a 9-point road underdog and lost, 56-53, covering the spread, but prosecutors claim Ward’s objective was just to make sure the Tigers lost.
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Todd’s Take: Do I have all the details surrounding Ward’s involvement in this point shaving case? Nope but what I do know is the part of the story where they reference Auburn losing outright as a 9 pt dog as evidence of his involvement has me confused. I’ve studied point shaving in the past and never once heard of people betting a -500 ML in those instances. I worry that George Beck doesn’t understand exactly how the whole situation was executed by reading his comments. Ward’s poor play actually supports match fixing to protect the under rather than ensuring Auburn, a dog in both games, found a way to not cover but what do I know. There will be more that comes out on this story as the FBI digs deeper but color me skeptical given some of the circumstances being shared up to this point.
