As the admissions flowed last week, we learned two things about gambling and sports.
First, if you spot Charles Barkley and John Daly at a poker table, rush over and have them deal you in.
Second, we don't really know if there's a gambling problem in sports. And what we don't know could hurt us.
It's certainly hurt Daly's wallet. Does that affect his golf game?
Even he probably can't say. But it sure makes it easier to assume he blew that winning putt because he:
A) Had money on the other guy.
B) Choked under the added pressure of having to pay off an eight-figure tab in Las Vegas.
Speaking of ridiculous sums, how about $5 billion. That's how much is bet illegally on NFL games every week, according to some estimates. We know not a penny of it comes from an NFL player because none of them would ever do such a thing.
Would they?
No major pro league has been rocked by a gambling scandal for more than 50 years. But you don't need a modern-day Black Sox to smell trouble.
Sports has produced a flood of rich, young adrenaline junkies. And our gambling culture is growing so fast, there has to be some fallout beyond Michael Jordan being secretly suspended for a year.
Daly says he lost $50 million. Barkley fesses up to $10 million. He says it's not a problem because he can afford it. Besides, he's a private citizen, it's legal and it's not as if he's beating his wife.
All true, but it's not that simple.
If nothing else, athletes drinking bottles of Cristal, dropping 100 grand at a blackjack table and waltzing away creates an image problem. And the mere perception of "Jocks Gone Wild" creates an atmosphere where conspiracy nuts really believe the NBA suspended Jordan.
But forget pro sports. Forget the NHL gambling ring that snared an assistant coach and Wayne Gretzky's wife. Forget reports that 60 of England's top-league soccer players are gambling addicts. Forget the presumption that all pro jocks make so much they can't be sucked into point-shaving schemes.
And sure, forget The Church Lady arguments about how gambling isn't the best use of one's time and money. To quote the esteemed lady:
God only knows what's happening in college.
Well, God and the NCAA, which often assumes that position. In a 2004 study of 21,000 Division I athletes, 17.2 percent of them admitted to betting on college sports. Four percent said bettors had put them in compromising positions to provide inside info or shave points.
Remember, those are just the ones who admitted it.
A University of Pennsylvania study said as many as 500 college basketball games had been affected by point shaving in the past 16 years. That was based on a statistical analysis of scores.
Call it voodoo freakonomics if you want. Any gambler who studies numbers would bet there's something there.
Amid all the wagering fog, there is one certainty. The gambling train isn't going to slow down.
Leagues used to sprint the other way at the mention of gambling. Now a WNBA team plays in a casino. The Vancouver Canucks are in business with the lottery. Lotto-crazed states are now rushing to get into the slot machine business.
Gambling is becoming as easy and acceptable as going to the store for milk. None of which means Daly feels added pressure to play well or some kid will accidentally-on-purpose drop a pass against State U.
Fact is, we just don't know if there's a gambling problem in sports.
That's the problem.
First, if you spot Charles Barkley and John Daly at a poker table, rush over and have them deal you in.
Second, we don't really know if there's a gambling problem in sports. And what we don't know could hurt us.
It's certainly hurt Daly's wallet. Does that affect his golf game?
Even he probably can't say. But it sure makes it easier to assume he blew that winning putt because he:
A) Had money on the other guy.
B) Choked under the added pressure of having to pay off an eight-figure tab in Las Vegas.
Speaking of ridiculous sums, how about $5 billion. That's how much is bet illegally on NFL games every week, according to some estimates. We know not a penny of it comes from an NFL player because none of them would ever do such a thing.
Would they?
No major pro league has been rocked by a gambling scandal for more than 50 years. But you don't need a modern-day Black Sox to smell trouble.
Sports has produced a flood of rich, young adrenaline junkies. And our gambling culture is growing so fast, there has to be some fallout beyond Michael Jordan being secretly suspended for a year.
Daly says he lost $50 million. Barkley fesses up to $10 million. He says it's not a problem because he can afford it. Besides, he's a private citizen, it's legal and it's not as if he's beating his wife.
All true, but it's not that simple.
If nothing else, athletes drinking bottles of Cristal, dropping 100 grand at a blackjack table and waltzing away creates an image problem. And the mere perception of "Jocks Gone Wild" creates an atmosphere where conspiracy nuts really believe the NBA suspended Jordan.
But forget pro sports. Forget the NHL gambling ring that snared an assistant coach and Wayne Gretzky's wife. Forget reports that 60 of England's top-league soccer players are gambling addicts. Forget the presumption that all pro jocks make so much they can't be sucked into point-shaving schemes.
And sure, forget The Church Lady arguments about how gambling isn't the best use of one's time and money. To quote the esteemed lady:
God only knows what's happening in college.
Well, God and the NCAA, which often assumes that position. In a 2004 study of 21,000 Division I athletes, 17.2 percent of them admitted to betting on college sports. Four percent said bettors had put them in compromising positions to provide inside info or shave points.
Remember, those are just the ones who admitted it.
A University of Pennsylvania study said as many as 500 college basketball games had been affected by point shaving in the past 16 years. That was based on a statistical analysis of scores.
Call it voodoo freakonomics if you want. Any gambler who studies numbers would bet there's something there.
Amid all the wagering fog, there is one certainty. The gambling train isn't going to slow down.
Leagues used to sprint the other way at the mention of gambling. Now a WNBA team plays in a casino. The Vancouver Canucks are in business with the lottery. Lotto-crazed states are now rushing to get into the slot machine business.
Gambling is becoming as easy and acceptable as going to the store for milk. None of which means Daly feels added pressure to play well or some kid will accidentally-on-purpose drop a pass against State U.
Fact is, we just don't know if there's a gambling problem in sports.
That's the problem.
