Poll finds 40 percent of sports reporters gamble on sports

I never bet on teams that I cover, but I was always asked by friends and fans what I thought of the spread.

I bet I was wrong half the time, and I knew more about those teams than anyone outside the program.

I think 40 percent sounds about right...

 

Does this mean that 40% of us are banned and ineligible for the SportsJournalists Hall of Fame?

 

I mean, it's not like I lost enough money gambling that I had to borrow some from the people I cover on my daily beat...

 

At my first full-time job, a guy in the composing room named Vinny (I am not kidding) would take bets. I am sorry, I could not resist a few times -- it all seemed so old-school stop-the-presses glamorous at the time, like doing shots and beers with other newspaper people after work. So, ever? Yes, a few times. And I've known some sports journalists who were total degenerates about it. But this question is sort of like asking anyone born after 1950 if they ever smoked pot in college.

 

I see nothing wrong with gambling.
I see nothing wrong with gambling on sports.
I see nothing wrong with gambling on sports that you cover.
We have no impact on the outcome. We are not on the field, managing how the game goes or paying off athletes to throw games.
Again, I have no problem with gambling in any shape or form - sports, poker, slots - well I avoid slots like the plague -horses, craps, ect.

 

That is an interesting topic that can prompt a lot of different views and opinions.

From my view, it is highly unethical to bet on a team you cover (or bet against them if they suck).

If you are an NBA beat guy, it is probably best that you don't bet on any NBA games. Same goes for an NFL, NHL or MLB beat guy. However, I can't see any reason why an NBA beat guy or gal couldn't bet on NFL games or college hoops games, etc.

I once worked at a paper that had a horse track nearby and our horse racing guy spent more time betting on the races than crafting his stories. That just didn't seem right but this guy's argument was "everyone who covers horse racing bets on horse racing. It's the only reason the sport exists."

For the record, I have never used a bookie (wouldn't know how to find one if I wanted to) but have placed bets in Vegas on vacations a couple times. My trips were in my sport's offseason so I have never had to face the temptation of betting on the sport I cover.

I have participated in NCAA basketball bracket pools (even won a few!) but never had a team I was covering (yeah, I covered a few college hoops programs in my time) in the tournament during the years I played.

Oh, and seriously, is there really such a thing as a NASCAR pool??!!

 

Last year when we were blogging, I made some picks on college and pro games (straight on, never against the spread), but not the high school games, not only because I felt uncomfortable doing that, but to stop in their tracks that lunatic fringe that thinks we hate their school and favor the other. (No, ma'am, we haven't photographed your team the last couple of weeks because we hate them. We haven't photographed them because they've been on the road and I have a tight travel budget).

 

I will not bet real money on teams I cover. I'll bet on CentSports, which is all for fun, but never will bet for real on a team or sport I cover.

 

HAHA! Damn, that was good. Never gets old, in fact.

 

The big deal is if you coverage college football, NFL or college hoops.
Given that you're available to hit Vegas on those days, I suspect not, but if you do it's about as deep a conflict of interest as there is in this business. That's the big deal.
RedSmithClone is in complete denial here. Why does it matter if you bet on the sports you cover. OK, let's go over this.
You're an NFL beat guy and you take the Bengals -1 against the Broncos.
Carson Palmer throws an interception -- there goes your objectivity on him!
Chad Johnson gets flagged for excessive celebration -- now he's on your list, too.
Marvin Lewis goes for it on 4th-and-goal and Benson gets stuffed. Now you need revenge on Lewis, too.
Betting on sports you cover is inexcusable. It's a whole heck of a lot worse than taking that computer bag they want to give you at the Super Bowl.
If you don't cover these sports, then it should not be a big deal. At all.

 

Speaking of picks by members of a paper's staff, I've never seen the attraction to this. You line up the picks of five or six writers and — this is STUNNING — they all pick the local heroes on a day they're 42-point favorites. You pick the local team to lose on a day it's a two-touchdown underdog and the prevailing sentiment in the locker room afterward is, "You hate us, don't you?"

There has to be something more newsworthy to run in this space.