Mike Florio ,
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As the Wild West days of legalized, normalized, and heavily monetized gambling continue to rage (and, hopefully in time, to wane), we plan to cover all of the various scandals, lawsuits, and prosecutions. And not just to sell copies of Big Shield . (The ebook is still a steal at 99 cents .) Anyone who cares about the NFL should worry about the kind of controversy that will further undermine the integrity of the game.
The word “further” is important because the integrity of the game is already being undermined, by the exact dynamic the Commissioner cited before the NFL decided to throw upon the doors and welcome the wolf inside for supper. “Normal incidents of the game” routinely spark suspicions of shenanigans. The league can try to plug its ears (while filling its pockets) all it wants, but it is a now-constant complaint, spreading from the tinfoil-hat crowd to the fair and reasonable-minded members of mainstream fandom.
And the league is doing tangible nothing about it. No full-time officials. No efforts to promote the kind of consistency and transparency that will get people to understand that the “normal incidents of the game” are not the result of abnormal motivations.
One recent development came on Monday, when former University of New Orleans basketball player Dae Dae Hunter admitted his role in a point-shaving operation. Hunter and others are accused of losing or attempting to lose by more than the point spread in at least seven UNO games.
Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America , Hunter said he did it to get money to support his family.
“I just had a child,” Hunter said, via David Purdum of ESPN.com. “The school wasn’t paying me money, so I was trying to get money to take care of my child .”
Hunter also admitted that he lied to the NCAA when asked about the situation.
“I told them I wasn’t doing it,” Hunter said. “I told them I didn’t know anything, but basically the whole time, I knew everything.”
Whether it’s a desire to get money for a family member, to chase extra money because it’s there, or to help childhood friends make a little scratch by betting the under on prop bets, the risk of abuse continues. It’s critical to reduce the temptations, in part by minimizing the universe of inside information that can be misused.
In this case, it was far more insidious. It wasn’t about sharing individualized secrets but engineering team performance. That’s a far more difficult task to accomplish. It’s also a far more direct assault on the integrity of the games in which it has occurred.
If something like that ever happens to the NFL — and if the NFL doesn’t choose or manage to cover it up — the consequences will be dire, and it will take years to recover. Even then, it’s a stain on the sweater that will never fully be removed.
Which makes it even more important for the NFL to spend the time and money necessary to stain-proof the sweater. It requires the people who care about the sport to push against the current “relax, guy” inertia, sacrificing internal political capital (and risking an involuntary departure to “pursue other interests”) by being the one who stands up and sounds the alarm, even if those who are steering the ship aren’t interested in the proximity and size of the iceberg.
Big Shield combines gambling, pro football, and the mob into a cautionary tale regarding inside information, and the dangers that come from selling it.
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