Review of "Rigged Justice"

Sailing is a sport that I have not read about before, and while this book is about a sailing coach, the sport is not the reason this book is so good.  Written by a coach who was truly a victim of the Varsity Blues scandal, it is one that comes highly recommended.  Here is my review of "Rigged Justice"

 

Title/Author: “Rigged Justice: How the College Admissions Scandal Ruined an Innocent Man’s Life” by John Vandemoer

Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:  While many know about the Varsity Blues college admission scandal thanks to celebrities who participated like Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin, there were other innocent people whose lives were shattered because of the scandal.  One of these people was former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer and he tells his story of how he was caught up in this controversy.

There are a few sections in the book where Vandemoer talks about the sport of sailing – these include how he got interested in the sport, his coaching methods, the awards won while he was at Stanford and some of his coaching techniques.  However, those are few and far between his account of his legal troubles that all started with a phone call.

That call, from a man named Rick Singer, was one in which a student whose parents would make a substantial contribution to the sailing program should Vandemoer put in a good word for the student at Stanford and get her on the team.  Not paying close attention to what Singer was saying, Vandemoer agreed to do so as fundraising was always one of the more challenging duties he faced in his job. This led to other calls from Singer for other “recruits” and again, without fully listening and in some cases, getting poor reception, Vandemoer agreed to having more funds coming into the program in exchange for providing priority for these students.

What wasn’t known was that Singer was working as an informant for the FBI and when agents from the FBI and IRS came to Vandemoer’s house one morning, he let them in and started answering their questions.  This is how the book starts and from there, it reads like an exciting legal thriller – except it wasn’t really “thrilling” for Vandemoer as he was eventually charged with fraudulent activities.  He was able to obtain good legal counsel thanks to his parents.  He was one of the first people who pleaded guilty in the Varsity Blues scandal and his punishment was much lighter than what prosecutors were hoping to get. 

That doesn’t wash away the upheaval done to his life as he lost his coaching job and the hosing and medical insurance that came with it, Stanford wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, his family life was in turmoil and he was hounded by the media.  The book is heart-wrenching and maddening at the same time when one reads about the means to which an innocent man who thought he was simply raising money for his program ended up getting ensnared into one of the biggest scandals in recent years.  It’s a book that is a quick read that one will have a hard time putting down.  Not to mention one doesn’t have to be into sailing to want to read this one.  

I wish to thank Harper One for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Link:   https://www.amazon.com/Rigged-Justice-College-Admissions-Innocent/dp/0063020106/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1648061822&sr=1-1