• Today’s Movie: The Sting
• Year of Release: 1973
• Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
• Director: George Roy Hill

This movie is on my list of essential films.

NOTE: This installment of Sports Analaogies Hidden in Classic Movies is not being done as part of a blog-a-thon.  Instead, this is a monthly event hosted by MovieRob called Genre Grandeur.  The way it works is every month MovieRob chooses a film blogger to pick a topic and a movie to write about, then also picks a movie for MovieRob to review.  At the end of the month, MovieRob posts the reviews of all the participants.

For November of 2024, the honor of being the “guest picker” went to yours truly of Dubsism, and the topic is “Movies Featuring Gambling.”

The Story:

The Sting is set in 1936 and centers on Depression-ear crooks in Joliet, Illinois. In the beginning, a “bag man” is carrying an $11,000 deliver from an illegal gambling operation to it’s headquarters. Along the way he is robbed by con men who replace the money with tissue paper. As the mobster who was supposed to get the money, Doyle Lonnegan (played by Robert Shaw), gets some vengeance by having one the thieves Luther Coleman (played by Robert Earl Jones) thrown out of a window. Lonnegan also orders the murder of Coleman’s partner Johnny Hooker (played by Robert Redford).

However, Hooker escapes to nearby Chicago where he crosses paths with another friend of Coleman’s Henry Gondorff (played Paul Newman). Together they plan to set up a con against Lonnegan to avenge Coleman’s death.

To get things rolling, Gondorff plays the role of an obnoxious gambling boss from Chicago. As such, he manages to get into a poker game with Lonnegan. Being a known cheater, Lonnegan has his men replace the deck with one stacked in his favor. The problem is Gondorff knows this is coming, and simply out-cheat Lonnegan to the tune of $15,000. Another layer of this set-up is Gondorff had somebody steal Lonnegan’s wallet before the game, rendering him unable to pay the gambling debt.

Gondorff then dispatches Hooker (who is playing the role of Gondoff’s resentful assistant) to Lonnegan’s cabin to pick up the money. Playing on Lonnegan’s fury about losing, Hooker sells him on a plot to run a con game on Gondorff. As Hooker tells it, the only catch the plan calls for “someone respectable” to place the bets. Eager to have the next does of revenge be his, Lonnegan takes the bait.

Gondorff et al. rent an empty basement and in only a few days give it all the appearances of a prosperous gambling establishment. They hire an announcer J.J. Singleton (played by Ray Walston) to do a radio-like call of horse races as if they were happening live. The scam is the results of the races are already known; the “announcer” is reading from a ticker tape.

Better yet, this allows them to cherry-pick the races. Naturally, they choose ones with favorable odds, then use a pay phone to feed Lonnegan phony tips. They start small to convince their “system” will work; Lonnegan is presented with several small “wins.” Eventually, they convince Lonnegan to place a bet based on their “system” so large that it will bankrupt Gondorff.

However, things hit a snag when Lonnegan demands to meet Hooker’s supposed “accomplice” who doesn’t really exist. Hooker’s story to this point has been the key to the “system” is he has an insider at Western Union who gives him race results by phone before they’re released over the wire, but Lonnegan wants proof before he places the big bet. To counter this, Gondorff’s men trick a genuine Western Union manager into vacating his office for an hour, then one of them , and one of them plays the role of the manager.

At this same time, the “hit” on Hooker is still active, and another group of Lonnegan’s thugs are on Hooker’s trail but have yet to kill him. Nobody with Lonnegan is aware of the connection between Hooker and Gondorff. Worse yet. Lonnegan is unaware of Hooker’s true identity, and orders his top “hitman” Loretta Solino (played by Dmitra Arliss) to kill him.

But Lonnegan’s fractured gang aren’t the only ones hot Hooker’s trail. Joilet police officer Lt. William Snyder (played by Charles Durning), has been on Hooker’s heels eager for some revenge of his own since the “crook” tried to bribe the “cop” with counterfeit money. In his pursuit, Snyder joins forces with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent Polk (played by Dana Elcar) who wants to get his hands on Gondorff.

After Snyder catches up with Hooker, he presents the “crook” in handcuffs to Polk. In return, Polk puts the screws to Hooker by threatening to bring the full weight of the FBI down on Coleman’s wife if the “crook” doesn’t roll over on Gondorff. Hooker only agrees if the FBI will let the con game they are running on Lonnegan be completed before they arrest Gondorff.

The night before the con on Lonnegan is to come to completion, Hooker has a tryst with Loretta Solino, who is “undercover ” at the diner he frequents. Afterward, upon awakening Hooker is surprised to see her gone and that she hadn’t robbed him. While leaving his apartment, Hooker spots Solino coming toward him in an alley. Just then, a gunman in black gloves emerges and shoots Solino in the head, killing her instantly; a handgun drops from her hand as she falls. The gunman explains to Hooker that Solino was a hired killer and that “Gondorff asked me to look after you.”

Now the stage is set for the final act. Lonnegan is on station to get his “tip” and comes complete with a half-million dollars in a suitcase. Once tipped, Lonnegan proceeds to place his bet. As he sits down to listen to the race, he’s joined by Kid Twist (played by Harold Gould) who has been playing the role of the phony Western Union manager who’s been providing Lonnegan’s tips. The first step in “setting the hook” into Lonnegan comes when he mentions he’s bet on the tipped horse to win. Kid Twist tells Lonnegan there’s been a mistake; he was supposed to bet on the horse to place rather than win. A clearly distraught Lonnegan makes a futile attempt to call off the bet.

The next step is to increase the level of confusion. Just as Lonnegan is losing it over his bet going wrong, Polk along with several of his men and Lt. Snyder burst through the door to arrest Gondorff. Once they have the “mastermind” of the operation in custody, Polk tells Hooker he can go…which makes it obvious Hooker betrayed Gondorff. As he’s leaving, Hooker shows Gondorff a look of pure guilt…which is acknowledged by Gondorff producing a pistol and shooting Hooker in the back.

In turn, Polk guns down Gondorff. Meanwhile, Lonnegan is standing in the middle of this melee and is convinced both Hooker and Gondorff are dead. Lt. Snyder makes it clear he doesn’t anything to do with murder and hustles Lonnegan out the door with him…without his suitcase full of cash.

Moments later back in the supposed gambling parlor, the scale of the scam comes to light. Hooker and Gondorff are not dead and Polk and the “FBI agents” were part of the con.

The Hidden Sports Analogy:

Movies become iconic for their ability to weave their way into the cultural fabric. After The Godfather, there’s no such thing as an Italian kid born in America being named “Fredo.” When I was a kid, anybody who owned a fish tank had something in it named “Jaws.” Today, various law enforcement agencies use the term “Sting” when they run an operation designed to lure and catch criminals.

Despite the fact that sports gambling is now legal in the United States, thee are certain things which will still draw the attention of the law enforcement community. Anything that gives even the appearance of rigging the game is a perfect example.

Just ask former University of Iowa defensive tackle Noah Shannon.

After an exemplary career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Shannon found himself drawing the attention of scouts from the National Football League. Athletically, he fit the bill. But there were nagging questions about his involvement in gambling. Despite it’s legality for the general public, sports gambling is strictly off-limits for players at nearly every level; the collegiate athlete being no exception. That’s how Shannon found himself embroiled in just such a “Sting.”

In early 2023, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) launched an operation intended to root out and halt hat was suspected to be fraudulent activity related to sports gambling in and around both the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. It was May 2 of that year when the Iowa athletic department was first notified by the DCI of “potential criminal conduct related to sports wagering that also suggested possible NCAA violations.” Two days later, Iowa was furnished with a list of athletes suspect of sports wagering.

The difference between the movie and what happened here was technology; or more specifically…the application thereof. Despite the evolution from faking a horse race on the radio to GeoFence technology, they’re both still exercises in taking down bad guys.

According to court records, in the spring of 2023, DCI special agent Brian Sanger first placed a GeoFence around a University of Iowa dorm, Then, Sanger did the same with several athletic department buildings at Iowa and Iowa State to gain gambling information. After getting many data points confirming illegal gambling was occurring, a full-scale investigation was launched.^*

Eventually, DCI complied incriminating information on 111 people connected to the University of Iowa athletic department. Additionally, there were 15 athletes from Iowa State University implicated, including several who were underage.

Consequently, several agencies launched investigations of their own probes. This included both universities, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. All tolled, Shannon was one of more than two dozen athletes who either A) faced various criminal charges filed by the state of Iowa and/or were B) penalized by the NCAA for activities related to improperly wagering on or allegedly fixing sporting events. Other accusations included using false identities while registering for online gambling accounts and using third-party credit cards to hide their bets.

Shannon was among several athletes who weren’t charged criminally. Still, he was deemed permanently ineligible by the NCAA. Anyone wagering on their own team received a lifetime ban. Wagering on other NCAA events received a suspension, and the amount of money wagered on non-NCAA sporting events impacted the penalties. Specific to Shannon, the penalties may also mean the loss of a professional football career

The Moral of the Story:

Greed is good; greed works. But there’s a reason why it’s one of the seven deadly sins.

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^* – The issue of the constitutionality of police search warrants warrants using GeoFence is currently winding it’s way through the American courts, and is likely going all the way to the Supreme Court.

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