Talk about counterintuitive. Americans are illegally betting millions of dollars on any given Sunday. Squelch a legislated, regulated, taxed betting scheme and you promote illegal betting with unlicensed bookmakers. Or you send gamblers scurrying to offshore Internet sites, some of them flimsier than a grass shack in a tropical storm.
The NFL says it's worried about the integrity of the game, fans grumbling about botched plays late in a ballgame that get people to look at players suspiciously. Hogwash.
Why does the NFL publish an injury report on Thursdays? To give the average guy the same information the wiseguys have before making their bets. Why give weather reports during the pregame show unless you're trying to help the bettor on his over/under wagers? Why does Al Michaels say "this game is far from over" when a Sunday-night 12 1/2-point favorite is leading by 14 with 4 minutes left?
When Brett Favre was throwing all those passes to guys in the other color uniform last year, did people think he was dumping, or did they just see an old, candy-armed guy throwing interceptions?
It's been explained many times, that legal betting in Nevada acts as a watchdog for the league. The guy running the sports book has the league office on speed-dial and doesn't hesitate to call when he's hit with a suspicious flood of money on one team.
Let's face it, Delaware gambled and apparently lost. The little-bitty state had a cockamamie scheme in 1976 - the state offered parlay betting on NFL games - that produced so little revenue it was scrapped before the season ended. It failed, but it made Delaware one of four states grandfathered under a federal law designed to stop the proliferation of sports gambling.
