Anyone watching the press conference?

No gambling of any sort (except at the horsetrack)?

My initial reaction is no.  I think there should be rules against betting on your own sport, but not really sports in general.  Unless you instill the one in baseball where you cant bet on your sport but cards, NCAA pools and random wagers area allowed.  Besides, by eliminating gambling from the sport, what are all those guys going to do when they go to Vegas?

More importantly perhaps is how can MJ as a part-owner adhere to a “no gambling” policy as discussed by Stern?

tyrone briggs - 24 July 2007 11:44 AM

More importantly perhaps is how can MJ as a part-owner adhere to a “no gambling” policy as discussed by Stern?

That is a very good question. But look how much he gambled as a player. What was the deal then?

It is a bit of a joke for Stern to publically admonish all forms of gambling when the iconic symbol for the NBA remains to Michael Jordan.

Gambling on your own sport is obviously a conflict of intrest (your team to lose espically) But legal gambling anywhere else is for an individual to decide if it violates a moral code of ethics. If it’s legal, it should be allowed.

Wasn’t he at a casino in Atlantic City between games of one of the Knicks playoff series? It must not be waht is done, but rather who does it?

I’m sure he was just there to see the dancing girls and eat .10 cent shrimp.

Is it just me, or is the fact that the annoucnement came while the NBA camp is in Vegas strike anyone else as ironic?

Here’s my issue with Stern’s no gambling and it’s not Jordan, it’s the Cavs owner Dan Gilbert who was arrested in college for bookmaking and gets to own a team.

Big Daddy Kool - 24 July 2007 02:32 PM

Here’s my issue with Stern’s no gambling and it’s not Jordan, it’s the Cavs owner Dan Gilbert who was arrested in college for bookmaking and gets to own a team.

So, what you are saying is he was a VERY GOOD bookie? Seriously, they have the Summer League in Vegas. What do they think the players and the fans are doing? Reading Chaucer by candlelight?

Chaucer?  I picture them as being more of a Henry David Thoreau type of group.  A little Walden perhaps.  And candle light is to harsh, there is nothing like reading Walden by the soft glow of a neon strip sign.

The biggest fear about pro athletes gambling is they’ll get so far in the hole and owe $ to loan sharks and be susceptible to fixing games. Call me naive, but I don’t see that happening in this day and age. If they want to bet legally and not on their sport, it’s nobody’s business.

The only playoff game I saw during the Jordan era was the one after his Atlantic City trip. Jordan got the loudest ovation during the introductions that I’ve ever heard. He then proceed to light it up and, for good measure, goad John Starks into technical fouls. The place went nuts when Starks was tossed. I can still see him walking off the court with his tail between his legs; MJ had bested him good and he knew it.

I would make the sport they are participating in off limits to all professional sports. If they’re caught, lifetime ban. For the players, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. Afterall, this isn’t the Black Sox era. However, the officials (and umpires) are another story.

How about this to raise the bar in competition? Make all the participants throw their game pay in the pot. Winner takes all. Every game. Now that would be pure entertainment.

tyrone briggs - 24 July 2007 05:38 PM

How about this to raise the bar in competition? Make all the participants throw their game pay in the pot. Winner takes all. Every game. Now that would be pure entertainment.

Now that would be interesting.