page_title: Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal
section_title: Blondy Wallace
hierarchical_section_title: Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal / Inaccuracies and outcomes / Blondy Wallace
caption_attribution_description: English: The Canton Bulldogs team. (Back L-R) Jack Ernst, Clark Schrontz, Tom Thorpe, Dave Cure, Blondy Wallace, Ed Murphy, "Bullet" Riley and Townsend (Front L-R) Sheldon, Jack Lang, Reemsnyder, Vince Stevenson, "Pop" Sweet and Paul Steinberg.
context_page_description: The Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal was the first major scandal in professional football in the United States. It refers to a series of allegations made by a Massillon, Ohio newspaper charging the Canton Bulldogs coach, Blondy Wallace, and Massillon Tigers end, Walter East, of conspiring to fix a two-game series between the two clubs. One account of the scandal called for Canton to win the first game and Massillon was to win the second, forcing a third game—with the biggest gate—to be played legitimately, with the 1906 Ohio League championship at stake. Another account accused Wallace and East of bribing Massillon players to throw a game in the series. Canton denied the charges, maintaining that Massillon only wanted to damage the club's reputation. Although Massillon could not prove that Canton had indeed thrown the second game and it remains unknown if there was ever a match-fixing agreement, the scandal tarnished the Bulldogs name and reportedly helped ruin professional football in Ohio until the mid-1910s.
context_section_description: The scandal caused Wallace to file a libel lawsuit against Stewart and the Massillon Independent for $25,000, with Wallace claiming that his good name and professional credit have been ruined due to the paper's story. However, his libel suit never came to trial, and it is believed that he may have settled the case out of court. By this time, Wallace was too deep in debt to turn down any reasonable cash offer. He later became a bootlegger in Atlantic City and was, for a time, under federal indictment. As for the scandal, the lack of a trial left the details of the events still disputed by historians and football fans alike. Because Wallace possibly settled out of court, there was no real conclusion to the fix scandal—just charges and countercharges. Due to Harry March's book, Wallace was seen as being responsible for the scandal for the next 70 years.
caption: 1906 Canton Bulldogs: (Back L-R) Jack Ernst, Clark Schrontz, Tom Thorpe, Dave Cure, Blondy Wallace, Ed Murphy, "Bullet" Riley and Townsend (Front L-R) Sheldon, Jack Lang, Reemsnyder, Vince Stevenson, "Pop" Sweet and Paul Steinberg.
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