Sean Patrick 格里芬, associate professor of criminal justice at 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校 and critically acclaimed author, soon will be busy with book signings and interviews as his much-anticipated book, “Gaming the Game,” is released later this week. 一部非虚构的真实犯罪作品, “Gaming the Game” tells the story of the recent NBA betting scandal and the Philadelphia-area professional gambler -- Jimmy Battista -- who made it happen. To watch 格里芬 in an interview about the book that aired on Fox 29 in Philadelphia, visit http://bit.ly/hvZZkW 在线.
格里芬暴露, 第一次, Battista’s remarkable decades-long bookmaking and betting career, including his role as architect of the widely publicized scandal. Battista -- unlike his co-conspirators -- never spoke with federal authorities, and reveals in this book the intricate details of the scheme.
研究了几十个访谈, 法庭文件, 投注记录, referee statistics and unique access to witness statements and confidential law enforcement files, “Gaming the Game” looks inside the FBI’s investigation and beyond to provide the definitive account of the scandal.
在最近的一次校园采访中, 格里芬 said he is critical of books in this genre because they so often rely exclusively on the words of law enforcement officials, 匪徒或其他罪犯. 格里芬 pointed out that the reader often has no way of knowing if what they are reading is fiction or non-fiction -- which is why he is so adamant about the importance of primary source research.
“My interviews of Battista were great, 他是个有趣的人, 有趣又聪明, but just because Jimmy Battista says it doesn’t make it so…with practically every little thing he said there was follow-up,格里芬说。. “That’s why it took so long to write this book. I’m an academic by trade so even though I want to make it interesting for a reader, I also want my colleagues and students to know that I’ve taken the time to research as much of the story as possible.”
“The best you can do -- as I’ve tried to do in ‘Gaming the Game’ -- is track down as many people who were part of the conspiracy, or prosecuted or investigated the conspiracy. 有执法档案吗? 有线人吗? 法庭文件? The idea is always to pursue as many sources of data as possible and to tell the reader that if this was written, this is where it came from (source notes),格里芬说。.
The 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校 students in 格里芬的 criminal justice classes are certainly benefiting from his meticulous and extensive research methods.
“研究过程是基础性的. That’s why it’s valuable to have researchers (as professors) in the classroom. It’s not simply the findings that wind-up as material for course work, it’s the process to get the findings that they need to know,他说. "One of the goals in all of my classes is that my students become discerning readers. I hope the students never read a newspaper article the same way again after they’ve taken my classes, 更不用说一本书了.”
格里芬, 他本人也是澳门威尼斯人官网的骄傲校友, earned all of his degrees at Penn State including a master's degree in 1998 and his doctorate in 2000. In addition to numerous academic works, he’s written another mainstream true-crime read, “黑人兄弟, 公司.,” a book about Philadelphia’s infamous and self-named Black Mafia. The story has been optioned to be made into at least one Warner Brothers’ movie and is in active development. Leonardo DiCaprio is rumored to star in the seminal film.
“Gaming the Game” will be in area bookstores beginning Feb. 17. 欲知详情，请浏览 格里芬的 博客.
A lecture and book signing with 格里芬 has been scheduled for 7 p.m.2月4日. 24人在阿宾顿校区. The event is free and open to the public. 检查 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校 website for details on this upcoming special program.
