Talk:The Basketball Fix

A fact from The Basketball Fix appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 27 January 2021 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the 1951 film The Basketball Fix is based on a real-life scandal involving college basketball betting?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2021/January. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/The Basketball Fix.

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This article was copy edited by Twofingered Typist, a member of the Guild of Copy Editors, on January 10, 2021.Guild of Copy EditorsWikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsTemplate:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsGuild of Copy Editors articles

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 19:50, 22 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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Comment or view
Article history

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... that the 1951 film The Basketball Fix is based on real-life scandals involving college basketball betting?
- ALT1:... that college basketball was considered "pure" until betting trials in 1951, which the film The Basketball Fix capitalized on during the same year?

Reviewed: Izaac Hindom

5x expanded by SL93 (talk). Self-nominated at 05:37, 9 January 2021 (UTC).[reply]

I'll approve this, but could you please rework the first paragraph of the "Production" section, because it is a bit unclear to me in regards to some details. And the chronology jumps around a bit.
1. "Gambling involving college basketball became known in 1951 after multiple trials over scandals." — The book Basketball in America doesn't really say it like that. It simply says that some scandals came to light in 1951. College basketball gambling might have been known to the wide public long before that.
2. "Ever since spread betting was created by mathematician Charles K. McNeil and the start of doubleheaders at Madison Square Garden, gambling began to include college basketball."
— The book doesn't seem to mean it like this. To me, it reads:
A. "For many years, with the development of the point spread system by mathematician cum oddsmaker Charles K. McNeil [...], gamblers have embraced [...] the financial possibilities of betting the spread."
B. "For many years, with the innovation of doubleheaders at Madison Square Garden, gamblers have embraced the excitement of college basketball [...]."
3. What were those "doubleheaders at Madison Square Garden"?
4. "Most of the college basketball gambling occurred in New York."
— I'm not really sure, but the book seems to say that it was the movie's action that was centered in New York, not the actual real-life gambling. --Moscow Connection (talk) 16:00, 9 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Moscow Connection I'm not sure why you think the book seems to say that it wasn't the actual real-life gambling that was based in New York. The very next sentence after the one that states "Most of the action was centered in New York" says "The most notorious stage of the scandals came when..." which refers to real-life scandals in New York (these things aren't a part of the film's plot). Only the last sentence of that paragraph is about the film. I have an original news article from 1951 here. SL93 (talk) 16:58, 9 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Moscow Connection I think I fixed the issues. To clear things up, there is an article on the scandal at CCNY point shaving scandal and the public (according to a source that I just added) was not aware of such a thing until this scandal happened. if the original hook is used (which I think is the least interesting), it would have to be ... that the 1951 film The Basketball Fix is based on a real-life scandal involving college basketball betting? SL93 (talk) 17:46, 9 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
This article should help show what the book means. There is also the fact that Madison Square Garden, in New York, was one of the reasons for the gambling to start. Sorry if my comments come across as rude - I really am just trying to make it clear just in case and nothing more. SL93 (talk) 01:00, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
- Thank you very much for all the answers to my questions, even to some I didn't ask. (Like, "what scandals were there exactly?" I wondered about that. But I didn't ask.)
  The article s long enough, it was created from a redirect and timely nominated. Both hooks are sourced. (I think the second one is more interesting.)
  P. S. Actually, I still find the first paragraph of the "Production" section a bit shaky, so I will submit a request to the Guild of Copy Editors. --Moscow Connection (talk) 13:08, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
- Twofingered Typist copyedited the article, and I tweaked it a bit more.
  @Twofingered Typist and SL93: Could you have a look again? I think it is better now. --Moscow Connection (talk) 17:20, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Moscow Connection I think that it looks fine, but I'm wondering what the GOCE editor thinks. SL93 (talk) 17:22, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Based on the recent change, the hook should probably be ALT2:... that amateur college basketball was considered "pure" until betting trials in 1951, which the film The Basketball Fix capitalized on during the same year? SL93 (talk) 17:54, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I'm okay with this alt as well. --Moscow Connection (talk) 18:11, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]