Interference (68 page)
Authors: Dan E. Moldea
The
Los Angeles Times
had misspelled the names of Cassady and Lukas in its December 7, 1986, and January 3, 1988, editions, respectively. The
Washington Post
âwhich had the audacity to attack me in an August 26, 1990, editorial, specifically for the misspellingsâmisspelled the names of both Gutman and Lukas on October 14, 1982, and October 6, 1983, respectively.
4
The following is the exact text of my letter to Rebecca Sinkler:
Dear Editor:
In the September 3 review of my book,
Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football
, sportswriter Gerald Eskenazi made several deceptive and irresponsible charges against me. His conclusions were based upon five basic claims, which I would like to address one-by-one:
1.
Charge
: Eskenazi wrote that I did not know that Joe Hirsch was the racing columnist for the
Morning Telegraph
, now the
Racing Form
, a publication devoted to providing gamblers with wagering information.
Response
: This is not true. In the second paragraph of page 139 of my book, I quoted former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath as saying: “I met Joe [Hirsch] at his place of business, the race track. No, he doesn't book bets; at least, he's never booked any of my bets. Joe writes for the
Morning Telegraph
, which is read by known gamblers.”
2.
Charge
: Leading the reader to believe that I claimed that Super Bowl III in 1969 was fixed, Eskenazi wrote that I charged that there was something premeditated and “sinister” about a meeting in a Miami bar between Namath and Baltimore Colts placekicker Lou Michaels during the week before the game. He added that I failed to point out that the meeting “almost came to blows.”
Response
: This is not true. I wrote in the second paragraph on page 197: “[Lou] Michaels told me that the meeting at a Miami bar/restaurant was quite accidental and even confrontational.” Michaels's statement was corroborated during my interview with Jets' player Jim Hudson, who accompanied Namath to the bar. Further, I never claimed that the 1969 Super Bowl was fixed. To the contrary, I produced evidence on pages 194 and 198-199 discrediting the theory by Colts' player Bubba Smith that it was.
3.
Charge
: Eskenazi wrote that I “revived the discredited notion” that former Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom, who drowned in 1979, was murdered.
Response
: This is not true. In the fourth paragraph of page 360 of the book, I wrote: “The evidence appears to be clear that Rosenbloom died in a tragic accident and was not murdered.” If anything, I discredited the report, “U.S. Inquiry Asked in Rosenbloom Death,” which did help revive the case and was published on the sports pages of the
New York Times
on January 15, 1983.
4.
Charge
: Eskenazi claimed that my version of the alleged manipulation of the point spread in the 1958 NFL championship game between the Colts and the New York Giants was nothing more than mere “implication” on my part.
Response
: This is not true. In paragraphs five through seven on page 91 of my book, I quoted three knowledgeable sourcesâoddsmaker Bobby Martin, as well as bookmakers Ed Curd and Gene Nolanâwho described the betting and how it was accomplished.
5.
Charge
: Eskenazi wrote that I do not “state in the text that Steve Myhra was among the worst placekickers in the league.”
Response
: This is not true. In the third paragraph of page 90 of the book, I quoted the Colts head coach Weeb Ewbank, who told me, in part: “We did not have a great field goal kicker.” Also, in footnote #1 on page 444 of my book, which refers to the Ewbank quote, I wrote: “Baltimore, in 1958, had the second worst field goal percentage in the NFL, 35.7 percent, making five of fourteen attempts.”
In the credit line to Eskenazi's review of my book, he was simply identified as “a sportswriter for
The New York Times
, [who] is currently working with Carl Yastrzemski on his autobiography.” It is not noted that he also covers the NFL and specifically the New York Jets, upon whom he depends for professional access and sources. Of course, I do not object to being reviewed by a sportswriter; however, I do object to being reviewed by a beat writer with this apparent conflict of interest.
I would appreciate it if Eskenazi's reply to this letter be fact-checkedâjust as his review should have been.
5
Later, when the
New York Times
began receiving public criticism for refusing to publish my letter,
New York Times
in-house counsel George Freeman simply began denying that the newspaper had ever received itâdespite the existence of my Federal Express airbill, documentation of billing and payment on my American Express statements, and even Federal Express's official confirmation of delivery to the
Times
.
However, former National Book Critics Circle president and Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Miles of the
Los Angeles Times
, wrote in the August 1994 edition of the
NBCC Journal
: “After Moldea urged the NBCC [National Book Critics Circle] to take a public position in his support, I had phoned Freeman for the express purpose of asking whether the
New York Times
had ever received the letter in question. At that time, he confirmed that the
Times
had indeed received the letter but, finding it without merit, had not published it.”
6
On January 11, 1992, the
Washington Post
published the results of a scathing investigation of Judge Penn, who, by virtue of his seniority, was slated to become the chief judge of the federal court in the District of Columbia. The
Post
charged that he had amassed a backlog of “70 aging casesânearly double the number of older cases pending before any other federal judge in the District.” Four of these cases dated back to the 1970s.
In an editorial four days later, the
Post
stated: “Delays experienced by hundreds of litigants in Judge Penn's court are unfair and should be remedied. If the judge believes that he cannot in good conscience handle a reduced caseload and the important administrative responsibilities of a chief judge, he should decline the post [as chief judge] and concentrate on improving his performance as a trial judge.”
My attorneys filed their motion on the same day as the publication of the
Post
's editorial.
7
Also, with my attorneys' approval, in the postscript to the 1993 reprint of my 1978 book,
The Hoffa Wars
, I recounted the
New York Times
' long history of making payoffs to mob associates in return for labor peace. I further stated, “As of this writing in August 1992, the district attorney's office in New York is again conducting an investigation of the Mafia's penetration of the city's newspaper industry through its distribution operations. Already, according to a prosecutor in the DA's office, employees of the
New York Times
and at least one other newspaper have been indicted for making payoffs to mobsters, and the probe is continuing with the
Times
' cooperation.”
Also, the
New Republic
reported in its February 17, 1992, issue: “The emergence of a convicted Lucchese associate in labor negotiations with the
New York Times
was a vivid reminder of publishing's dirty little secret: its long-standing, deeply ingrained relationship with organized crime.”
8
Of course, life went on. Four days after the filing of our petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, Kenneth Starr was chosen as the independent counsel for the Whitewater inquiry of President Bill Clinton by a three-judge panel selected by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
On August 9, four days after Starr's appointment, Judge Abner Mikva, the dissenting judge in
Moldea I
, was named as the likely new White House counsel, who, as part of his job, would be dealing with the new Whitewater prosecutor, Kenneth Starr. The appointment of Mikva became official on August 11.
My awe and respect for the
Times
grew considerably after the publication of my fifth book,
The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy: An Investigation of Motive, Means, and Opportunity
(W.W. Norton & Company), during the spring of 1995. Anticipating that my work would be either ignored or ravaged by the
Times
, my supporters and I were floored when the
Times
' principal daily book critic, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, gave my book a highly favorable daily review on May 25. Then, on June 18, the Sunday
New York Times Book Review
followed with another fabulous review by Gerald Posner.
On June 5, 1995, reporter Alex Kuczynski, who is now a staff reporter for the
New York Times
, wrote in an article for the
New York Observer
:
A rave review by the
New York Times'
venerated book reviewer Christopher Lehmann-Haupt is every author's dream. But are your chances even better if you've brought a lawsuit against the
Times
for their last review of one of your books?
On Thursday, May 25, the
New York Times
published a highly favorable review, by Mr. Lehmann-Haupt, of Dan E. Moldea's
The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy: An Investigation of Motive, Means and Opportunity
. The book, Mr. Lehmann-Haupt wrote, was “carefully reasoned and ultimately persuasive”; Mr. Moldea's “dramatic account ⦠brings the point of dispute into sharper focus, leading the reader to believe that the author is on the verge of a major discovery.” Mr. Lehmann-Haupt concluded: “His book should be read, not so much for the irrefutability of its conclusions as for the way the author has brought order out of a chaotic tale and turned an appalling tatter of history into an emblem of our misshapen times.” â¦
“I thought it was a really classy thing for both Christopher Lehmann-Haupt and the
Times
to do,” Mr. Moldea told the
Observer
. “Sometimes when you're reviewed, you get a real pro and other times you get a shill for the institution you're writing about. The last time I got a shill, this time I got a pro.”
Said Mr. Lehmann-Haupt: “I just sort of put my head in the sand and tried to judge the book on its own merits. That to me is the job of a good reviewer.”
Notes
PROLOGUE
1
. GRANTLAND RICE often told a story about an incident that occurred during halftime of a 1920 game, just before Gipp's death. Rice reported that he had been told by an assistant coach for the Irish, “Being behind by three points, Rock was really laying into the boys. He had about finished and Gipp, standing nearby, asked me for a drag of my cigarette. Rock looked up and spotted Gipp leaning against the door, his helmet on the back of his head, puffing the cigarette.
“Rock exploded, âAs for you, Gipp, I suppose you haven't any interest in this game â¦?'
“âListen, Rock,' replied Gipp, âI've got five hundred dollars bet on this game; I don't aim to blow any five hundred!'”
Rockne said nothing and never disciplined his player who had been gambling on the outcome of his own games.
2
. “Page Six,”
New York Post
, 9 January 1989.
CHAPTER 1
1
. Deposition of Allen Davis, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. National Football League, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Civil Action No. 78-3523-HP.
2
. In the standard NFL players' contract, there is a section entitled “Integrity of Game” that reads: “Player recognizes the detriment to the League and professional football that would result from impairment of public confidence in the honest and orderly conduct of NFL games or the integrity and good character of NFL players. Player therefore acknowledges his awareness that if he accepts a bribe or agrees to throw or fix an NFL game; fails to promptly report a bribe offer or an attempt to throw or fix an NFL game; bets on an NFL game; knowingly associates with gamblers or gambling activity; uses
or provides other players with stimulants or other drugs for the purpose of attempting to enhance on-field performance; or is guilty of any other form of conduct reasonably judged by the League Commissioner to be detrimental to the League of professional football, the Commissioner will have the right, but only after giving Player the opportunity for a hearing at which he may be represented by counsel of his choice, to fine Player in a reasonable amount; to suspend Player for a period certain or indefinitely; and/or to terminate this contract.”
CHAPTER 2
1
. There is some confusion over the actual founding date of the APFC. Most of the old-timers, including George Halas, claimed that it was created on September 17, the first meeting Halas attended. However, NFL records show that the initial meeting was on August 20 in Hay's auto showroom. The charter teams were the Akron Professionals, Buffalo All-Americans, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, Dayton Triangles, Hammond Pros, and Rochester Jeffersons. The teams from Buffalo, Hammond, and Rochester were not present at the first meeting but formally applied for membership in writing. Most reports also include the Massillon Tigers as a charter member, but no team from Massillon, a powerhouse in pre-1920 play, was entered.
At the second meeting in Hay's showroom on September 17, the original seven teams were joined by the Racine [Chicago] Cardinals, Halas's Decatur Staleys, Muncie Flyers, and Rock Island Independents. Three additional teams participated in the 1920 season: the Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, and Detroit Heralds.
The Akron Professionals finished the 1920 season in first place with an 8-0-3 record.
2
. Myron Cope,
The Game That Was: The Early Days of Pro Football
(New York: World Publishing Co., 1970), p. 41.
3
. Carr instituted the college draft in 1936.