Jordan And Rose: Two Gamblers, Only One In The Hall Of Fame

Michael Jordan and Pete Rose share some of the characteristics that make athletes great. Their compulsive behavior pattern is one that allows athletes to reach a level of greatness that few others can achieve. It also can be destructive.

On the eve of Jordan being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, one question begs to be answered. Why is Jordan the face of his sport while Rose is ostracized in his? They both had the same addiction to gambling, yet one is looked at as a savior and the other a villain.

Of course, there are those that will say the difference between the two players' gambling problems is that Rose bet on his own team in his own sport. On the surface, that argument seems to have some validity, but a deeper look shows that both were simply betting on their own abilities.

Jordan would go to a golf course and lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. He would do the same on a poker table. In both instances, Jordan felt like he was the best. He was the best basketball player, the best golfer, the best poker player. In fact, there was even a time when he felt he would become the best baseball player.

Rose, on the other hand, was cocky enough to think that he was the best even in a situation he could not control. He bet on the Cincinnati Reds to win, even though all Rose was doing was calling the shots from the dugout. Without the ability to even step into the batters box, he believed his team was better than all the rest.

Jordan never bet against himself on the golf course or in a Las Vegas casino. Rose never bet against his team, feeling as though they would lose. Yet even with all these similarities, there remains one difference-people generally like Michael Jordan.

While Rose came across as arrogant and brash, Jordan was the lovable kid from North Carolina that saved the NBA. Rose's opponents on the field and even some of his teammates hated his brashness.

One idea drove both Rose and Jordan to greatness-the will to be the best at everything they did. Now, two of the best athletes to ever played their individual sport are linked forever by their lack of self control when it came to gambling.

The only difference is that one's sins have been forgiven as he enters the Hall of Fame, and the other remains a distant figure to a sport he represented on the field as well as any player that ever played the game.

September 10, 2009
Posted By Vincent Tapoglia III
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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