Cheating in Sports is Bad for Gambling
Point shaving scandals in the sporting world is nothing new. There have been incidents of gambling by players, managers, and referees as long as there has been sporting events.
This is a bad thing for any event where a wager may take place. Unfortunately, when there is money to be made, someone will find a way to take advantage of it for their own personal gain. It does not matter how much money a player, coach, or referee makes, it is never enough.
Gambling problems are only one reason for this and it is the only time the public is made aware of these things. Having been in the business for quite some time, I have been privy to athletes and coaches that have in the past gambled on games either that they participated in as a player or coach, and on teams that friends of theirs played on. Most times there was nothing unusual about these bets. It is the nature of man to gamble. Often a player or coach would make a wager for the same reasons that you or I would. The added thrill of having a personal stake in the outcome of an event. It is often not enough to just attend or watch a game on TV, especially with friends who may have differing opinions of who the better performer will be that day.
This is the reason that fantasy leagues are so successful. It is more for bragging rights, proving that you are more knowledgeable than others when it comes to handicapping an event. This type of mentality extends to not only sports, but politics as well.
In politics we all take sides, we all have our favorites and we try to influence the outcome of elections by donating money to our candidate of choice, communicate our reasons for that choice and try to sway friends and family toward our opinions. We lobby those we know, write articles of support for those we want to win and against those we do not want in office.
We get upset when someone involved in the game has undue influence on the outcome of that game only because it skews the results and gives the gambler a clear disadvantage. There is no longer trust in a decision made by the gambler when he or she are made victim to selfish, greedy participants in an event that changes the outcome of an event.
Gambling on sporting events should not be universally illegal, however, when an official in that particular event is found guilty of affecting an outcome because of their personal bets, they should not only be banned from such activity, they should be jailed.
Fixing the outcome of sports is no less than stealing. I have seen it in horse racing, especially at the trotters, when drivers actually planned the outcome among themselves, then had family members or friends place wagers for them at the window moments before the race starts. Drivers sometimes give signals to spotters in the stands with their whips as they are warming up prior to a race.
Cheating has and always will play a part in sporting events, from the boxer taking a dive to the referee calling more fouls in the NBA or NCAA, bad spots on the football placement or intentionally missed fly balls in baseball, Umps calling balls and stikes, or the pitcher lobbing balls to the batter, to the doping in cycling, there will always be a question of legality of the call or the perfomance of the athlete.
For the gambler, this can be a devastating occurrence. The savy gambler studies the stats and prior performance of a team or participant, makes judgements based on his or her determination and takes a position. The one variable that can not be factored in is the performance of the officiating crew. We are told that the officials are professional and above reproach, so we tend to discount their perfomance and don't give them much of a thought when handicapping. Therein lies the problem of recent events involving Tim Donaghy, the NBA referee accused of gambling on games in which he officiated.
Donaghy is accused of betting on games in which he officiated in an effort to erase other gambling related debts, his name has been linked to organized crime figures and if proven true will rile gamblers across the world. There have been police reports of threats and harassment by people to Donaghy at his home in Sarasota, Florida.
This type of accusation hurts sporting events. Sports are so popular in this country because they are deemed a fair contest between closely paired teams or individuals. When improprieties such as what Donaghy is accused of occur, sports are dealt a major blow. Fans no longer can have faith in the belief that their team will win based on performance, and if they lose, will always question the officiating. There is a renewed black cloud hanging over amatuer and professional sports and if cheating is not controlled better, the sporting industry will be the big loser.
Sports leagues must do more to monitor and oversee the officiating. There must be better screening of performance of the officials, better review of the players and coaches, or the public will lose interest.
July 24, 2007
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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