Betting and sports

As we bid goodbye to another NFL season, I wanted to call attention to the biggest "elephant in the room" when it comes to sports, and that's gambling on sports. And the fact that the various leagues promote and endorse it just makes it that much worse. 

A few years ago, you had the story about the NBA referee who was aiding the mob in a sort of game fixing. 

Look, a single call in a game probably won't influence the outcome. But if you can disrupt the flow or get someone in foul trouble then you can influence it. 

And while that story went away, like magic, the reality is that the sport is forever tainted. And then when we heard about the NBA player being suspended this year because he was gambling on games, it's that much worse. 

Franchises have rules that players can't bet on the games they're involved in, and can't bet at all when at the team facility (to protect the owner from appearances of impropriety)

But of course they find ways around those rules, or have friends place bets on their behalf. And what's to stop a player from doing something that could alter the outcome? It's not that hard to miss a free throw or take a strike or make a half hearted effort to tackle is it?

You had the MLB involved in a scandal a few years back where there was "sign stealing" and again that was investimagated and turned up nothing. 

Same thing in the NFL with the patriots.

And more recently in the NFL, you had some consequential but very marginal officiating going on late in the season and in the playoffs. The league simply said "hey some errors were made but pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"

For me, I enjoy watching sports. But for the entertainment of it all. I try my best not to get caught up in who wins and loses and rooting for a team. There's really no purpose; it could be "fixed" or it could simply be luck that the team you're rooting for wins - or loses. 

But in the end, eyeballs are on that event. And sports betting makes an absolute killing on interest in a sportsball game. 

The ads, the point spreads, the constant barrage of information about betting on games. It's just too much.