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BOA : Audio

10.20.14

Brian Tuohy

(2 Hours, 18 Minutes)


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In a special 'bonus' edition of BoA:Audio, Season 8, we welcome author Brian Tuohy for a discussion on his research into sports conspiracies and scandals. Over the course of this in-depth conversation, we delve into the shadowy but massive world of sports industry and how the media, organized crime, and the leagues themselves may have a hand in swaying how games are played.

We talk about the billions of dollars that sports leagues get for TV rights, the recent Ray Rice NFL scandal, the lack of oversight from sports media, sports leagues' security teams, potential game fixing by gamblers and leagues, PEDs, the 1985 NBA Draft conspiracy, the Super Bowl III conspiracy, the new stadium racket, the NCAA, the XFL, Spygate, the World Cup, and tons more.

Altogether, a fast-paced and very fun edition of BoA:Audio that peels back the glossy artifice of professional sports to reveal the behind-the-scene manipulations

Highlights: Per usual, we start things out with the bio / background on Brian Tuohy and find out how he got ended up researching sports conspiracies. We then have Brian detail how massive the multibillion dollar sports industry in America is and how sports have evolved from televised athletic contests to more of a reality television production enterprise. This leads to some brief talk escalating TV rights fee for sports and whether that bubble will eventually burst.

Diving into specifics, we talk about the Ray Rice controversy which became a national news story over the last few months and we get Brian's thoughts on how it all unfolded as well as the complicit nature of sports media which serves to promote the games and not investigate anything controversial. This circles back to the idea of fandom, how fans don't actually benefit from a team's success except on a psychological level, despite investing an incredible amount of time and money into the team. This segues into discussion on 'independent' sports media like TMZ and Deadspin.

Next we pull back the curtain and discuss how there exists an elaborate network of former government agents that act as security for sports leagues and, independent of law enforcement, investigate potential legal 'problems' which may arise for various teams. Brian shares some amazing stories of the shocking power exercised by sports security forces over legitimate law enforcement agencies.

Following that, the conversation turns to game fixing and we start by finding about the enormous nature of sports gambling, how it has a deep but unspoken influence, and why sports leagues in America fight to make sure that gambling on sports doesn't become widely legalized. Turning to the actual fixing of games via organized crime and gamblers, we learn how they manage to influence players to 'help' as well as how it is even possible for an athlete to fix a game and influence the outcome.

We then look at another player in the world of game fixing: the leagues, themselves, and how game officials, at the behest of their employers, may play a role in swaying how a game is played. This turns into talk about why a league would want to fix games, when such an instance may happen, and how fixed games rarely, if ever, get exposed to the general public. We then find out why there are few, if any, whistleblowers that reveal manipulation of games.

The conversation then turns towards performance enhancing drugs and how there is a remarkable disparity between how using PEDs is seen in the various sports leagues (i.e. it is scandalous in baseball, but barely ever mentioned in basketball). Then we reflect on how athletes have always been using drugs and trying to stay ahead of any official testing. Then we talk about how sports leagues may craft storylines over the course of a season in order to maximize interest in teams and games.

Turning towards sports conspiracies, we have Brian detail the longstanding theory that the NBA orchestrated the 1985 NBA draft to make sure that the New York Knicks got the first pick. We also break the 4th wall and talk about conspiracy theory, in general, the hypocrisy of skeptics, and how the cabal of team owners working together to generate profit is essentially a conspiracy theory on its own. We then return to the concept of fixing games and talk about suspicious situations where beloved players get key moments at surprisingly opportune times.

Looking at another sports conspiracy, Brian recounts the theory that SuperBowl III was fixed so that the NY Jets won in order to help make the AFL-NFL merger go more smoothly and how this turn of events may have actually saved the SuperBowl. We also muse about the SuperBowl used to be terrible but somehow got better in the last decade or so and Brian details how the idea of league parity may be used to act as cover for orchestrated outcomes in games. After that, we talk about the XFL and how the media seemingly tried to kill it right from the start.

The proliferation of new stadiums, which don't really help cities and are largely funded by tax payers, is the next area of nefarious sports shenanigans that we examine. Our next target is the NCAA and we talk about how they seem to be getting even more powerful despite having some seriously suspicious business practices and resembling professional sports leagues. Brian also talks about whether college sports can be fixed as well as the issue of whether or not players should be paid.

Heading towards the close, we get Brian's take on the Spygate scandal and if it was really worse than the public was ever told. Regarding censorship of stories, Brian shares a tale of having ESPN squash an article about an investigation into game fixing by MLB. Closing out the live portion of the show, we find out what Brian is working on now and where folks can read more of his work. We also find out about his book Disaster Government which looks at the official government contingency plans for disaster situations.

In our post-show chat, we find out more Brian's interaction with the mainstream sports media and how they is a deep reticence to promote his work because it challenges the status quo of their reporting. Brian also marvels at how questions about the fixing of games are almost never raised by the media, despite how glaring some instances may be, as well as how leagues fine players and coaches if they question the validity of officiating. We also touch on World Cup controversies and tales of African countries selling wins in exchange for massive amounts of money.




Brian Tuohy Bio

Recognized as America's leading expert on game fixing in sports, Brian Tuohy is the author of two books on the subject -- The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR and Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing, and the FBI.

Tuohy continues to be an in-demand radio guest, appearing on over 150 radio programs across the United States and Canada, including the nationally syndicated programs Coast to Coast AM, the Steve Czaban Show, Fox Sports' Chris Myers Interviews, JT The Brick, The Brian Kenny Show on NBC Sports Radio, and the Alex Jones Show.

Tuohy is also the author of Disaster Government: National Emergencies, Continuity of Government, and You. Based on over three years of research into the federal government's once Top Secret files, the book reveals the shocking truths about "national emergencies," presidential executive orders, martial law, underground bases, the "shadow government," and more.

Some of Tuohy's other writing can be found in Sports Illustrated, at Vice Sports, and at Sports On Earth as well as his own popular website thefixisin.net.


Next Episode:

BoA:Audio, Season 8 finale week ...

Tuesday, 10/28/14 - Adam Davies - Worldwide Exclusive Interview -
Adam reveals all about the secret Bryan Sykes expedition to America in search of Bigfoot

Thursday, 10/30/14 - David Paulides - Missing 411


BoA : Audio, Season 8 archive