Poll finds 40 percent of sports reporters gamble on sports

My grandfather (the one who looked like the little old man in the Benny Hill Show that everyone patted on the head) once told me to never bet on humans. Dogs and horses are OK, but never humans.
Seems like good advice.

 

If I remember correctly, Rolex used to give away watches at Indy car races. The reporters or journalists who picked the winner of the race were put in a raffle. One person won a watch at every race. That's corporate sponsored gambling in my book. And everyone got in on the action.

 

It's weird, but 35 years in the biz and I know of only one guy in a department I worked in who acknowledged real, live "call-your-bookie" gambling. He was open about it, and the fact that he was no good at it.

 

It's not that weird, Henry.
That's been my experience, as well.
Only one guy in 27 years.
That's why these numbers have no meaning. What's the context? Is the 40 percent supposedly the guy who's on the phone to his book twice a week, or the basketball writer who puts $50 on an NFL game when he's in Vegas every other year?

 

Wow. I thought pretty much everybody bet on the sport they covered. I don't gamble much, but I've placed money on the sport, even team, I cover in the past. Hell, our columnist recently blogged about putting down futures bets on our local college teams.

I know lots of reporters who regularly bet on games they're covering. I really don't think it's a big deal.

 

I do NCAA Tournament pools
I play fantasy football and fantasy baseball.

Does that make me a "gambler?"

 

Well, I guess I'm in denial. But I'm with Method on this.
Also with Mizzou. For you holy rollers, I hope you're not in a pay fantasy league for sports you cover, because you're gambling on a player's future. Hope you're not doing any college hoops pools. Oh, the evil that is gambling.

 

I don't believe you should ever gamble with your poker money.

 

If gambling on the sport/team you cover doesn't constitute a conflict, Red, what does?

 

I've played fantasy baseball for 20 years. I've also covered baseball.

I've played fantasy football for 15 years. I've also covered the NFL.

I've done NCAA pools since was six. I've also covered college hoops.

If that makes me a gambler, I'm fine with that.

 

When I was covering the NFL I had to write a fantasy column every week. It consisted of, which guys should you start and which guys from the local team had favorable matchups.

Every year I covered college hoops I did a mock pool for readers.

If people can't see the difference between fantasy football, fantasy baseball, NCAA Tournament pools and real gambling, then they're pretty fucking stupid.

 

The way I look at it is that if you are paying to be in fantasy leagues or to do a college pool it is gambling. But again I see no conflict and I see no problem. I think sports books should be allowed nationwide, not just in Vegas and hopefully Delaware soon. I'm sorry, we do not have any impact on the outcome.
If you want to play those silly games, I call it unethical for a politcal reporter to vote in an election. That has more of a chance to sway objectivity in reporting than does betting on a sporting event or team.