Stucky QOTD: Sports Betting

Beeting should be legal. Aussies will bet on which of two flies will buzz off first. They are unbelievable. And if govt tax collector lottery betting is legal, why not sport betting?

Corruption will of course expand.

In the summer of ’65 I detached one head of my biceps femoris. A severe hamstring injury from water skiing. Had I not done that I would have stayed and lived with my basket ball coach in Florida to vie for a scholarship. Instead I followed my family to Clinton Md. I tried out for the high school b-ball team but missed the cut by one. No surprise because at the time I could not lay on my stomach and bend my knee to lift my foot. I was a bit of a cripple.

So I eventually joined a boys club team. Silver Hill Boys Club, just outside DC. One of my classmates at Surrattsville High was on the team too. He was also a cripple, bad knees. He wore bulky metal knee braces to play. Had it not been for his disability, he would have become a college player. He was a 3 point shooter before the rule. We ended up winning the Maryland Boys Club championship, defeating the Baltimore Police Boys Club in College Park in the final game of the tournament. In Florida and DC I always led the team in rebounds and assists, I was not much of a scorer.

We were also entitled to play for the DC Boys Club Championship. We went through easy competition to get to the final game. They were all black save one red headed kid.
As the game progressed I found myself being blocked out under the basket by one of my team. An 18 year old tree stump of a young man. Strong as an ox but no jump to him. After he blocked me out several times I knew something was up.

Our star shooter lived with his alcoholic father in a one room apartment in the District. A sad situation of which John did well considering his plight. John and I hung together. He taught me the ropes of Anacostia’s hood. We drank beer together at Harrigan’s Irish bar, legal at 18.
We partied at his humble apartment when his father was gone. He was banging girls in his bathroom, I was a boy scout but one drinking night I finally felt up a female’s boob at his place.

But back to the game. We were losing significantly. I could see the goal of John and big Melvin. I told them, come on, at least make it close. So we closed the gap. In the final minute we were behind by one point. The other team shot a free throw and I grabbed the rebound and called timeout. Our normal strategy was to feed me down low to draw defenders and I would kick it out to John for his accurate perimeter shots. During the time out John empathically told me to give him the ball for the last shot. He was my good friend and I complied out of loyalty. I kicked the ball back to him and he put up a brick as time ran out.

Though he never said it out loud, he did tacitly acknowledge the game was fixed. I hope he made $50. I have no clue what the details were. But street ball was big back then. Austin Carr, DeMatha HS, all part of the street game in DC. Lew Alcindor was a HS senior in NYC.
I imagine there was big money on the outcome of our little local game.

I rationalize losing by the metaphor of John Booth (his real name, now deceased) throwing the championship game to black men in the Nation’s Capitol. We both attended Surrattsville High School, named after Mary Surrat who harbored John W. Booth after he shot Lincoln.

40 years later I was visited by a man who knew Melvin. He had 40 grand of possible dental work. He said he cared not one bit what it cost. He gave me a clipping Melvin had saved from a small newspaper that described our season. I figure Melvin owes me with interest.

1–haven’t read about the supreme court decision but states should handle the issue,not the feds–
2–you’re correct,it will corrupt sports even more than they are already–even worse,now that much more $ will be riding upon outcomes,all errors & missed calls will be viewed w/suspicion-
3–i rarely watch sports anymore & won’t in the future–
4–yankees–it’s a known fact that both the players & their fans have small hands & long ring fingers–

You know the Roman troops wagered for Heysus’s clothing. Nice eh? This is why Christians abhor gambling. They call it a sin to wager. I tend to agree. Why you ask? I worked for a casino for 3.5 years as an IT Manager. Only the random asshole wins occasionally otherwise the casino does.

So you ask, am I a christian? I wish I was. I would defend it more than the modern ones do.

Friend of mine was raised in a strict, conservative Dutch First Christian Reformed church. One day at a market a couple of church members saw the pastor buying two lottery tickets and called him on it- “That’s the devil’s money!”
The pastor retorted “That’s right! And he’s had it long enough! It’s my turn to use it now!”
True story.
Another one (not on topic but reminded me of it)- Same friend was raised in a pretty sheltered environment. Church people and friends from the church Christian school were pretty much the only people he associated with growing up. No Hispanic acquaintances and certainly no blacks.
So he’s in a store checkout line with his mom one day when about age 10. The Hispanic man in front of them is wearing a uniform shirt with a name tag-“Jesus”. He whispers to his mom “Hey Mom! This guy thinks he’s Jesus!”

Q1- No
Q2-not in a positive way
Q3-Don’t watch much now, will not change my viewing habits.
Q4- Yankees suck DDD