So the Supreme Court of the United States has voted 6-3, a landslide by their typical sorry lib/con standards, that the federal government (see Congress) was "unconstitutional" when it banned gambling on NFL games at the state level.
Oh boy, the flood gates are now officially wide open. And well they should be. Look for the states to quickly jump on the the golden goose bandwagon. While skimming their take off the top, of course, and taxing the winnings of any lucky bettors. Can't have enough revenue for their politicians to blow on pet projects -- right?
Yet the utter hypocrisy across the entire spectrum is (and has been) so rampant, it's difficult to know where to start.
When I was a kid, early teens, I used to play "football cards" my local barber offered. Bet a buck of my paper route or caddying money, pick four games against the point spread, and win nine bucks if you get them all right. Five games was fifteen bucks. And I never won a single time. But I had a shot and enjoyed it. Illegal? Sure. But nobody cared.
The states have long banned bookies running numbers, typically the equivalent of 3 or 4 number combinations, either "straight" or "boxed". Why? Because they claimed such gambling was addictive. People would go broke, lose their houses, jobs, wind up on the streets, become bank robbers and muggers to support their habits, etc., etc.
But it was perfectly OK for the very same law-abiding citizens to gamble their money away, all of it if they wished -- as long as the state was the bookie. See Keno, various lottos, a bazillion varieties of scratch-off tickets, etc. etc. And of course the 3 and 4 daily number combinations.
A significant difference ---- a bookie would pay $600 on a winning 3-number combination. Here's your dough. Have a nice day.
The state pays $500. And demands you pay taxes on such "winnings". Make it more like $400. Which sounds like the better deal?
One can play a variety of poker games through the state and even more scratch off tickets. They don't care if you go broke -- as long as they get the money.
But don't you dare have a friendly poker game in your house, lest the jack-booted thugs crash down your door and haul the lot of you off to the pokey.
Are you starting to see a familiar thread here?
Now the NFL is in a huff over SCOTUS having the utter audacity to allow same law-abiding citizens the legal right to wager on its games. This is nothing hasn't gone on all along, of course, and been quite legal in the state of Nevada (see Vegas in particular).
Roger Goodell and his minions are of the opinion that such betting will ruin the "integrity" of their game.
One word. Please. If people wanted integrity they wouldn't spend upwards of $10 billion a year going to and watching NFL games, where the whole point seems to be beating the opponents' brains out. And over-priced concessions for slop while there you wouldn't feed your neighbor's dog at home, let alone yourself. And watered down beer. And ridiculous parking prices. All so the fans can be treated to the services of players making multi-millions of dollars, while most couldn't pass a fifth-grade equivalency test given ten tries. This is integrity? Really?
No, it's not about integrity. Never was. It's about control, which equates to cha-chings.
Like politicians, the offices of the professional leagues always, always, ALWAYS, want to control their product. See licensing fees for various paraphernalia. Did I mention cha-ching?
Idle thought.
The United States is currently in the process of doing anything -- ANYTHING -- to keep other "rogue" nations from acquiring nuclear weapons. But guess who the only country in the world is that has actually deployed them against civilian populations? Twice. The hypocrisy is incredible, yet nobody wants to acknowledge it. But I'm getting off-topic. Sorry.
The only thing the NFL, or other sports leagues need to be concerned with is the possible "throwing" of games by the players, if enough pressure, and money, is brought to bear on some of them.
But that possibility has been there all along, and it hasn't happened.
The "infamous" Chicago Black Sox of 1919, you say? Shoeless Joe Jackson and that bunch of alleged shysters on the take?
True enough, Commissioner Kenessee Mountain Landis banned the lot of them baseball.
Thing is, after a thorough review of the evidence, and more importantly lack thereof, a federal court totally exonerated Jackson and his teammates years later. They were innocent all along -- but nobody ever bothered making that public. The scandal was much more "fun", the screwed players notwithstanding. Look it up if you don't believe me. Worse, Jackson, an obvious choice, remains out of the Hall of Fame to this day. In the last century, no Commissioner has had the guts to right this obvious wrong.
And now Roger Goodell thinks he can barge into the rooms across the country and have his way with what should have been legal all along.
He's even blustered to the effect that the mighty NFL will lobby Congress to pass yet another stupid bill, so the league can stay on top of the hordes of degenerate losers and menaces to society that will no doubt result if otherwise law-abiding citizens can legally make a wager on an NFL game if they please. Yet in all probability, any new law they came up with would go against the new precedent handed down by SCOTUS. So what's the point? Another years-long legal battle, only to have their misguided handiwork struck down again? Does that make sense?
But it's been there all along. I did it when I was 13-14 at the barbershop, hustling on the pinball machine in the back room. Didn't want to mess with the kid back in those days. I'd take your money. Tim the barber would even dare some of his customers -- while secretly backing me for higher stakes I couldn't afford -- for a cut -- to try. Quite the mini-racket and fond memories. Had to let them win once in a while to keep them coming back. But I was a far cry from a professional athlete in a league such as the NFL. A difference -- big one.
In the meantime, over all the years, I've rarely gambled on anything. Kind of grew out of it, I guess. Don't play the rip-off state stuff out of principle. Was never any good at poker. Maybe put up a Jackson on a football game here and there -- but only if somebody else goads me into it. And it's not like I can't afford to lose. I can. Through some shrewd., OK maybe lucky, investments over the years, I'm fairly comfortable. Hardly Trumpish, but an equally long ways from a dumpster.
But Roger Goodell and the NFL need to shut up.
Let the states, and far more importantly, the PEOPLE be the judge of whether they want to bet or not on his precious, and I dare say barbaric games.
In sum, what the NFL is telling the people is this --
You're too stupid to know what is good for you, so we'll decide what's best. Trust us.
Excuse me, but I would strongly disagree with that opinion.
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