There’s an old gag about the gambler who has lost 20 straight bets on football. Even his bookie feels bad for the guy, so he makes this suggestion:
“Why not bet on a different sport, say hockey?”
“Hockey?” he hollers, “What do I know about hockey?”
Years ago I watched a neighbor crash and burn from gambling. In addition to his money, he lost his job and his wife, who left with their newborn son.
He’d bet everything that was on TV, including hockey, to track his action. He didn’t know Denny Crum from apple crumb, but he’d bet college basketball, staying up until 1 a.m. to watch Pepperdine at Cal State-Fullerton.
At social functions he’d apply his reality to all the other men in the room: “Who ya like, tomorrow?” “Did you see how DePaul covered at the buzzer?” He became delusional. He figured everyone in the room bet sports.
Today? Perhaps, with the prompts from so many directions, he wouldn’t seem delusional. By now, everyone is supposed to have a bet.
In fact, the MSG telecast of Thursday’s Senators-Devils included “Line Changes Brought To You By William Hill,” a sportsbook and new business partner of Jersey’s NHL team. How long ago would this have seemed impossible? Now it appears in high-def. William Hill also provides gambling content in The Post.
Now fans of any and all sports are encouraged to either detest or love players and teams based on their gambling investments as per one-night stands. Unfettered appreciation of the sport, any particular game and its players is no longer as important as betting on the games. Follow the money, even if it leads to the darkest, dankest cellars — leg irons included.
But what’s never told in concert with the new rush of gambling and gamblers is that in the long run, and perhaps in the short term, gamblers are relied upon to lose their money as per bad odds, lousy payouts and premiums or “vigs” on losing bets. No gambling operation and its investors are in this business to lose money. And profits are predicated on you, the sacrificed-to-greed sports fan/sucker, losing your money.
And they know they’ll get a lot of you, sooner or later. And the further removal of the sport from our sports is happening sooner than later.
What a hustle: Buying tix doesn’t insure player effort
Tickets to MLB games and the purchase of MLB TV packages and local and national cable networks that televise baseball should now come with warnings — the way some food packaging warns that the contents may contain traces of peanuts, and side view mirrors warn, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”
MLB should warn: “Players are not obligated to play hard to try to win games.”
We continue to be told Robinson Cano is entitled to jog to first base during “automatic groundouts” as if his selective indolence is why he has been able to stay healthy for 14 seasons.
Gee, why didn’t Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr. think of that? And if only Pete Rose didn’t run to first for 24 seasons he wouldn’t have had to retire at 45. What was Lou Brock thinking about during his 19-year career?
I’m still lost as to how Cano, other than the self-fulfilling act of not running to first, is able to determine he’ll be an automatic out. After all, the second baseman has made 118 regular-season errors, certainly many of them throwing errors to first that left “automatic groundouts” on first or second base.
Then there’s Cano’s wait-and-see approach that will turn doubles into singles or force him to slide into second rather than arrive standing. If he chooses to slide.
In 2013, before entering the majors, Miguel Sano, to the Hartford Courant, spoke of the advice given to him by Cano, his idol and mentor: “He tells me, ‘You have to hustle all the time. You have to play hard all the time. And outside the game, be a good person.’ ”
Fascinating. But as long as the Mets have seen fit to sign the 36-year-old minimalist who lost half of last season to a PED bust, they should provide a warning to consumers that they should not automatically assume that all the Mets will try their best to win as that’s again “optional.”
Same now goes for the Manny Machado Padres and whomever signs Bryce Harper.
Amazing what’s reported as if it were true, as if there was nothing to the contrary worth noting.
So LeBron James’ “Jewish money” rapper pal, 21 Savage, is a UK resident now in the U.S. illegally. Last week Savage told the New York Times he feels an obligation to remain in America:
“Yeah, I feel a responsibility. My situation is important ’cause I represent poor black Americans and I represent poor immigrant Americans. You gotta think about all the millions of people that ain’t 21 Savage that’s in 21 Savage shoes.”
Naturally, there was nothing about his lyrics — nearly all of them — that lay poor black Americans low and play them as stuck-in-reverse, N-wording, vulgar, gun-worshipping, women- denigrating, no-hope fools.
Don’t take my word for it. Check for yourself. Start with his charming song “F–k N—a Bitches” then over to “10 Freaky Girls.” Or are The Times and Team LeBron good with such artistry?
So read his lyrics then decide if 21 Savage is worried sick about the plight of poor black Americans.
IU fans do more Haarms than good
As heard on ESPN2 Tuesday, we remain in a free fall.
Indiana University’s athletic director, Fred Glass, last week was forced to issue a public scold of the student body for chanting “F–k you, Haarms!” at Purdue center Matt Haarms last week.
Apparently, many Indiana students didn’t know any better.
Haarms was a steady target of the vulgar vitriol for no other known reason than he’s 7-foot-3 and very thin, as if he were a sideshow freak as opposed to an improving player.
Sports venues continue to encourage patrons to mock the visitors as much as to cheer for their side. In fact, coarse has become par for the course.
Perhaps Robert Kraft should’ve instead joined Tom Brady and Julian Edelman at Disneyworld.
If an NHL player strains his abdomen, is that an upper lower-body injury, or a lower upper-body injury?
Aaron Boone must still have an ESPN hangover or Mike Mayock Malaria. He continues to refer to “hitting” as “impacting the baseball.”
From reader Donny Mac: Nike’s new slogan is “Just glue it!”