Jimmy the Greek
| Jimmy Snyder | |
|---|---|
Jimmy Snyder in 1971
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| Born |
Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos September 9, 1918 Steubenville, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | April 21, 1996 (aged 77) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Resting place |
Union Cemetery Steubenville, Ohio, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | James George Snyder, Sr. Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder |
James George Snyder Sr. (born Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos, September 9, 1918 – April 21, 1996), better known as Jimmy the Greek, was an American sports commentator and Las Vegas bookmaker.
Snyder was born in Steubenville, Ohio. According to his New York Times obituary of April 22, 1996, Snyder's family roots were in the village of Tholopotami (Θολoποτάμι), on the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea. As a teenager in Ohio, he became acquainted with bookmakers.
According to his autobiography Jimmy the Greek, Snyder bet US$10,000 on the 1948 election between Thomas Dewey and Harry S. Truman, getting 17–1 odds for Truman to win. In a later interview he indicated that he knew Truman was going to win because Dewey had a mustache and "American women didn't trust men with a mustache".
He invested money in oil drilling and coal mining, but when those ventures failed, Snyder moved to Las Vegas in 1956 and began a weekly pro-football betting line.
The sports line eventually led to a 12-year stint on the CBS Sunday morning show, The NFL Today, a pregame show for National Football League (NFL) games. Known simply as "Jimmy the Greek," he would appear in segments with sportscaster Brent Musburger and predict the results of that week's NFL games. While already famous in gambling circles, his rough charm made him into a minor celebrity. He had fairly major conflicts with Musburger (whom he once punched in the face at a bar when the show anchor insulted his intelligence) and Phyllis George (whom he once brought to tears before a show by making a comment about her husband, leading to Jimmy taping his segments with Musburger in advance so that he and George were not on the set at the same time), but the core group was able to overcome them and continue CBS' massive Sunday ratings success for several years.
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