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Would You Bet On Hockey If You Could?
by Paul on 08/03/09 at 02:04 PM ET
Comments (6)
from Art Spander at RealClearSports,
Legalized sports gambling is coming. Bet on it. There’s opposition from the leaders of the pro and college leagues. You already know that. It doesn’t matter.
This isn’t an issue of being pure and saintly, it’s an issue of reality, an issue where already one state, Delaware, said it will allow wagering on NFL games and a gubernatorial candidate from another, Christy Mihos of Massachusetts, would hope his state follows the lead.
The worry is games will be rigged, that organized crime will call the shots, that when gambling becomes legit in other places, as it is in Nevada, sports will lose their integrity, and without that there’s no reason to play because there’s no reason to believe.
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Comments
Well, I live in Nevada and have never bet on hockey games, so I guess I’ll go with no.
Posted by Entitynein on 08/03/09 at 02:31 PM ET
I’m more worried about the American Needle vs. NFL case ruining the integrity of pro sports than I am about gambling causing games to be fixed.
A sports league that is considered a “single entity” has no motivation to allow championships or even individual games to be decided by the players on the field in fair competition, considering they’re not competing amongst themselves, but as partners. Try to trust the outcome of the Stanley Cup Finals when a big market team beats a small market team in today’s atmosphere of inconsitent refereeing and league decisions on things like playoff suspensions…
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 08/03/09 at 02:40 PM ET
Betting isn’t just legal in the UK, it’s advertised on daytime TV… and we’ve only had one match-fixing scandal in the EPL for the last twenty years!
Seriously, why would players who earn millions of dollars over their career jeopardise it all for one big payday through rigging matches? Now, college sports… that could be a different kettle of fish.
BTW, even though gambling is legal in the UK, I’ve never ever felt any compunction to do it… there seems to be an implicit assumption with any of these moralising laws that people are wantonly feckless and must be protected from their own moral depravity, which is a tremendously depressing view of humanity.
Posted by fredster from london on 08/03/09 at 02:40 PM ET
I love the sport and game of hockey too…much to bet on it. So, my answer’s, “No.”
Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 08/03/09 at 04:09 PM ET
Seriously, why would players who earn millions of dollars over their career jeopardise it all for one big payday through rigging matches? Now, college sports… that could be a different kettle of fish.
I would think there would be more concern over officials gambling - that was the concern with the NBA. As spotty as the officiating is in the NHL right now, how could you tell an official was intentionally swaying the game one direction or another because he was being pressured to do so in order to pay off a gambling debt, or if he was just being his normal arbitrary self?
I don’t even buy lottery tickets or anything. I’d rather spend my money on something other than gambling, personally.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/03/09 at 05:22 PM ET
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Posted by mc keeper on 08/03/09 at 02:28 PM ET