Strange Bedfellows

On the TunneySide of Sports November 1, 2021 #872 Up next… Strange Bedfellows

If you have ever been to Las Vegas, and perhaps each of you has, you are immediately impressed by the beautiful hotels and casinos adorning the “strip” (the main drag of Las Vegas). Those hotels were built with gamblers’ money – not the owners. Gamblers have been in existence forever and will be here long after they have torn down those dusty walls. So, it’s interesting that gambling and sports leagues have become “strange bedfellows.”

In case you haven’t noticed the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL are daily advertising Draft Kinga and betting sportsbooks along with Flo’s Progressive Insurance, Liberty Mutual’s Ostrich and Sugar-Free Pepsi.

Have I missed something? In every dugout and locker room in a professional ballpark, there was always a sign that read “Gambling Prohibited!” Pete Rose, arguable one of the best professional major league baseball players in all major league history, is not in the MLB Hall of Fame since being banned by MLB Commissioner A. Bart Giamatti in 1989. Now more than 30 years later the “Big Red Machine” still has not been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rose saw that sign in the Reds dugout and ignored it by illegally wagering with bookmakers on MLB games – including the Reds. Nearly 60 years ago, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Green Bay Packer running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive lineman Alex Karras for betting, with gamblers, on NFL games, although not with or against their own team. They were both reinstated the following year and subsequently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tim Donaghy, the former NBA on-court referee was dismissed, fined, and served 15 months in prison for his gambling scheme with known gamblers. NBA Commissioner David Stern immediately refined the restrictions for on-court officials that limited their involvement in outside gambling. During my 31-year career in the NFL, the league restricted all on-field officials from being in Las Vegas during the season. I appealed to our supervisor requesting permission to attend conventions that had hired me as a speaker some three to five times each year. My request was granted but required that I avoid casinos and gambling sites.

Today, in 2021 we have not only teams (Raiders and Golden Knights) but game officials who are required to officiate their games check-in to those hotels and are in Las Vegas for more than just a few hours. While I have the utmost confidence in those officials, the exposure and connection between sports books’ operators, gamblers, and professional sports teams set the bar pretty high.

Will you log in your thoughts about gambling influence and sporting events?

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Jim’s books include many messages about rules and regulations (remember he was a referee). His bobblehead on your desk or shelf will be a treasure in your office or home.

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To contact Jim, go to www.jimtunney.com  or email jim@jimtunney.com.