Six Men Out, thanks to another sports betting scandal
UCONN makes power statement. Indiana survives a scare
Good morning, all! I hope your weekend is going well!
Another day, another sports betting scandal, or so it seems. On Friday the NCAA banished six players from participation in college basketball, after the NCAA Committee on Infractions reported its investigation found the alleged players:
Either manipulated their performances to lose games, not cover bet lines or ensure prop bets were reached, or provided information that enabled others to do so during the 2024-25 regular season.
Serious stuff, wouldn’t you agree? So what do you think is going to happen? Other than the six players being banned, nothing! In fact, this announcement comes just a week after the same NCAA gave permission for its athletes to bet on professional sporting events.
The genie is out of the bottle, whether you are talking about college or professional sports. These entities are raking in big bucks, as legalized gambling provides a lucrative revenue stream. With it comes the inherent dangers such as some players conniving with bettors or the threats some players and coaches receive. Make no mistake, however, there is no turning back.
To me the saddest part is the claim made by the supporters of legalized gambling that the professional athletes are making too much money to conspire with the underworld gamblers or NIL is too lucrative for the college athletes, who also have a professional career hanging in the balance ,if they choose to be a co-conspirator.
Oh really? What about the last player on the bench in college? Or the professional making the minimum salary, as high as that may be compared to the real world? What about the player who falls deeply in debt? What is to stop him from providing inside information in return for money?
No matter what safeguards the sports pooh-bahs implement, there will always be those on the inside not strong-willed enough to resist even more money from the underworld.
Sports has become totally intertwined with gambling. Watch any game of any sport and expect to see ads from - pick your betting parlor - or announcers’ reads, etc. It is up to you, as a fan, to determine if the games we watch are on the up-and-up. But for certain the games will go on, along with the legalized gambling, regardless of the latest six men out or three suspended baseball players. Bet on it!
Here are some other thoughts as the NFL prepares to offer another Sunday morning-to-midnight plethora of games:
Time to end the charade and put UConn in a Power 5 Conference, after Saturday’s scintillating 37-34 win over Duke, a team which was coming off of a win against Clemson.
No. 2 Indiana escaped with a win at Penn St. Saturday but not before the Nittany Lions nearly pulled off the upset. Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, who has Heisman Trophy written all over him, engineered a game-winning drive that was capped off by a circus catch by TE Omar Cooper Jr. at the back of the end zone. Cooper managed to flip and land with his feet inbounds for the TD. The Hoosiers escaped with a 27-24 win, improving to 10-0 and 8-0 in the Big 10. Penn St., which started the season ranked No. 2, has lost six straight under interim coach Terry Smith. These days there is nothing happy about Happy Valley. By the way, it was Indiana’s first-ever win at Beaver Stadium.
Injured New York Giants kicker Graham Gano says he gets death threats from bettors all the time. “Ever since sports betting started happening, I get people telling me to kill myself every week. The other day somebody told me to get cancer and die.”
No, you are not seeing things. The NBA is pulling a baseball move to save on money. The Boston Celtics played at Orlando (and lost) Friday night. They are playing at Orlando again today. Several series are set up this season, where teams will stay in the same city for three days to play the same team twice. That’s nothing. In the old days of the NBA, teams would play three days in a row, sometimes involving a two-game series, with travel to another city to play a game on the third day.
Granted it is an online poll with little scientific application, but the numbers cast ESPN-parent Disney as the bad guy in its dispute with You Tube not carrying the Disney-owned channels since the contract between the two parties expired. Eighty-two percent of the 300 respondents blamed Disney. To date, 10-million subscribers are impacted, making this more than a Mickey Mouse dispute (Ugh!).
Numerous minor league baseball players have declared their free agency. Here is the link to some of the names, including many who have played in the big leagues.
Expect a busy week of baseball news with awards being handed out and the meeting of MLB general managers in Las Vegas. (Speaking of betting.)
Justin Fields will start at QB over Tyrod Taylor today, as the red-hot Jets, winners of one-in-a-row, host the Cleveland Browns.
Guess Rick Pitino’s squad isn’t going undefeated. The fifth-ranked Red Storm fell to No. 15 Alabama, 103-96, Saturday afternoon at MSG.
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra - one of the best coaches in the NBA IMHO - says the support he and his family have received has been overwhelming in the aftermath of his South Florida home being destroyed by fire last week. Fortunately no one was home, when the blaze broke out. The Heat were returning from a road game and Spoelstra’s three children were at his mother’s home.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and have an enjoyable Sunday!
DAN