Thanks for the comment to the last post on "integrity", Jon:

I'm not sure betting on your own team can make the result less-than-honest...

Betting against your team is when things get suspect, but everyone bets for their own team (not always monetarily)

Two mayors have a bet during championships, or big rivalaries... They always bet for their home team, and this gets big headlines, shows team support, yadda yadda...

What abou the Boss Hogg that would step up and bet a big bar-b-que pig that his how team wins, and then calls his bookie and lays down a grand on the rival...

Either all betting is bad, or it isn't... we can wink and nudge at fans that bet, and then totally condemn a guy for doing the same thing that many of his most loyal supporters are doing in the stands...

I was going to post this in the comments' box, but it's long enough to be a post/follow-up, so here goes:

maybe i can change your viewpoint. this isn't about betting for your team as a FAN (you betting on "your" team, the mayors betting on winners, etc) - it's about betting on them as a PARTICIPANT.

let's say you're pete rose, and you're managing the reds. this week, there's a three-game homestand with atlanta. as the starters come up in each team's rotation, their ace is pitching game two. you put money on games one and three FOR YOUR TEAM TO WIN. but you're the manager - you control the game like no one else placing bets (while gambling should be seen as bad, dishonest gambling or controlling gambling would be worse, right?). now, in game two, where you didn't bet any $$$, your team has a great chance in the late innings to win if you'll only bring your ace reliever to the mound - but you don't want to waste your closer in the bullpen or chance an injury because you might need him for game three, a game you've got money on. you now make a coaching decision based on something that's completely removed from the game itself. win or lose, you've boneheaded it.

or say there's a spread, and you've got to beat the braves by at least three runs in game three. you keep a hot bat in the line-up in spite of a nagging injury, hoping to get that run for your own off-game purposes, not taking into account that a win is a win and this guy needs to stay off the field. you win by one, but get all frustrated and foul-tempered because of your bets, not your team's performance.

undermining the integrity of the game is what's at stake. while one man's integrity is shot to pieces, he is also disrupting the inherent trust in all of the game's interested parties.

one more example - if anyone's paying attention to your bets, they'll see that you didn't bet on game two, so you must know that the reds are going to tank - and all the money goes to atlanta, again letting something screwy happen to the nature of the thing....

Hmmm... I typed all that into the comments box and then cut/paste here. I don't know why I tend to go all lowercase in the comments box. Screwy.
- posted by Rick @ 13:18