Hockey's Dirty Linen

The neighbors, who used to watch dapper little James ("Occo") Tamer mowing his front lawn, didn't suspect that he was an ex-gunman and bank robber. The Detroit police knew. What's more, they had a pretty good idea that velvet-voiced little Jimmy (out of prison on parole) was Detroit's public enemy No.1--resident boss of the city's dope smugglers, policy operators, syndicate thieves (specializing in furs and jewelry) and bookmaking ring. He wasn't the kind of man who could do it all on his own: he was, the police were convinced, Racket King Frank Costello's man-in-charge in Detroit. The police tapped Tamer's telephone wires and settled back expectantly.

Over the phone one day last month came a call from a player on the Boston Bruins pro hockey team. Asked Tamer: "How are things going?" The player: "Don't worry about the game tonight. One of the players is sick and another's baby died and he won't be playing. I'm going to be the only one able to play well and I don't intend to do so good. Don't worry. Bet $500 for me."

The Calls Went East. As soon as the player hung up, Tamer was on the phone to New York. The Detroit police noted that many of his long-distance "information" calls went east; presumably he was relaying the dope to Boss Costello, whose office sets the national odds on pro hockey games.*

A few days later, Tamer was arrested in a downtown Detroit bar, and the story broke. Detroit police dropped hints that Tamer had "made contact" with players on other teams in the league. And it was no secret that gamblers congregated near the entrance of the Detroit rink before hockey games to hawk bets. There were lots of gamblers at other big-league hockey arenas, too, particularly at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.

No Fixes. Clarence Campbell, president of the National Hockey League, hurried to Detroit to investigate. Obviously, big-league hockey couldn't stand the kind of black eye that the Black Sox Scandal had given baseball in 1919. Greying Clarence Campbell, a Rhodes scholar and ex-hockey referee, went into conference with Michigan's Governor Kim Sigler, bustled vigorously about Detroit for a few days, then announced triumphantly: "Nobody fixed anything anywhere."

But last week, he expelled a New York Ranger hockey player--Billy ("The Kid") Taylor--from professional hockey for life. The charge: making a wager on a hockey game, which is an infraction of the rules. Campbell also suspended a Boston Bruins player--Don Gallinger--for associating with people like Parole Violator Jimmy Tamer, who wouldn't be mowing his lawn again for some time to come.

*The big Minneapolis syndicate which has long set the nation's odds on college basketball and football games stopped quoting prices and accepting bets on pro hockey games (and prizefights) about two years ago.

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