Good morning,
GAMBLING AND SPORTS
I love in-person sporting events. They are experiences to be savored with friends and family. The sights, the sounds, the music, the strategy, the disagreements with refs/umpires, the mediocre ballpark food—it all creates a special experience.
Many of us believe that baseball needs to speed up the game. There are real changes being made to shave time off of the game by eliminating some of the “dead time” between pitches, manager strolls to the mound, warm-up tosses, stepping in and out of the batter’s box, and adjusting the package. And more changes probably can (and will) be implemented.
But there are other things being done to retain the attentions of fans that I find unacceptable. One, the inclusion of interactive features at stadium and arena seats, while distracting from the experience and playing toward the already unacceptable lack of attention span from which many suffer, probably can’t be controlled. The other is related but far more insidious. That’s the creation of gambling opportunities for the fans. While I think it’s bad outside the ballpark, it arguably is worse when it’s available inside the park.
Not only is making gambling on sports a terrible example for children, but it is a concession to adults that experiencing a sporting event for what it is “simply isn’t enough.” It feeds on the vulnerability of those who are addicted. And it places the gambling in full view of the watchful eye of children.
I’ve made no secret of my disdain of gambling. Oh sure, it can have its place as an entertainment diversion when one looks at it as an alternative to other forms of entertainment. But too many people view gambling as hopeful and some of them have addictions that don’t even allow for free choice. It is bad enough that one can gamble on sporting events in Vegas and other gambling meccas. Its extension to the Internet and one’s home is a bridge too far. And at the ballpark it’s over the top. The ads for on-line gambling make the claim that they make the games more exciting. But at what cost? Sure there will be a few newly minted Silicon Valley billionaires when this is over, and the venture capital funds and other service providers will make their pound of flesh. But, in the end, it will be paid for by the ignorant, the greedy, the poor, and the addicted.
If the opportunities to gamble are further embraced at sporting venues, it will be the beginning of the end for live events. Teams already are bragging about having Internet connected tools at spectators’ seats. It is a small step to making gambling accessible and easily used while watching the game. Eventually, it will be like horse racing. People go to the races more for the gaming than the game itself. Why watch the pitcher carefully, as he checks the runners and goes into his windup? Why watch the runners, taking leads off the bases? Why look up at all? When one can achieve the immediate gratification of betting on each and every movement and outcome, the game itself will become secondary.
Then it’s not sports. It’s just another lottery, just another hand of 21, just another video game.
MORE TERRIBLE DAD JOKES
1. Observation: “I love telling Dad jokes.” Response: “I know; he laughs at everything you say.”
2. What do you call someone with no body and no nose? Nobody knows.
3. What do you call poor Santa Claus? St. Nickel-less.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives:
I thoroughly agree! And love the dad jokes!