A Grip on Sports: No matter what happens down the road, never bet against hypocrisy to win no matter the consequences

A GRIP ON SPORTS • When you’ve been writing a column like this for nigh on 14 years, then you are bound to repeat yourself now and then. I’m taking wagers today on how many of you have read the story of my first near-legal foray into gambling. And how that taught me a lesson I wish millions would learn quickly.

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• Ever been to Las Vegas? Notice the shiny, beautiful buildings? The opulence? The extravagance? You know how that was built?

No, not by a bullet through Moe Greene’s eye. Nor by any other Hollywood-like story. The city was built on the backs of hard-working folks who never realized – or didn’t care – the house always has an edge. In the long run, every gambler is going to lose. Unless there is a way to tip the odds in their favor.

Lots of people think they have the answer. Some can’t-miss system. Unmatched brain power. Inside info.

Fifty years ago, I was dumb enough to think I could buck the odds. Took my meal money on my first college baseball road trip to a Vegas casino – either I looked 21, so no one asked, or I had an invisible-to-me sign on my back saying here comes a real rube – and decided to parlay it into big bucks on the blackjack table.

As I walked back to my room, I was broke. And I would have to scrounge for food the rest of the trip. It didn’t go well.

Out of my stomach’s constant rumbling came one life lesson. Gambling is for losers. Literally. At the least, it breeds them.

As it also breeds lawbreakers. Ex-professional athletes. And that one guy with an odd haircut who railed about not being allowed in baseball’s Hall of Fame the last quarter of his life.

But Pete Rose’s self-induced fall from sanity and grace occurred in a time when gambling was the occupation of seedy back-room folks who employed leg-breakers with cauliflower ear. Now gambling is just another business in which the mom-and-pop shop – or extended Sicilian families – has been forced out by corporate America.

Those conglomerates were going to do everything in their power to grow the business, weren’t they? They threw money at state legislators, spent lavishly on lawyers and, lo and behold, won a legal battle in 2018 that turned this country into England. At least as far as gambling is concerned.

It is everywhere. Even on your phone.

With every type of bet possible.

Think Cal Raleigh is going to hit a home run this at bat? You can bet on it. And when he grounds out on the second pitch, you lose. Think Bryan Woo is going to walk the next hitter? You can bet on it. And lose. Think Julio Rodriguez if going to strike out with a runner in scoring position? You can bet on it. And win.

Heck, you can bet – or you could until MLB suspended him – that Guardians’ pitcher Luis Ortiz would throw a ball to a hitter on the first pitch. And win.

There is a chance a lot of people did. And they did because the guy throwing the pitch allegedly was involved. No one knows for sure but Ortiz’s suspension reportedly concerns two instances of heavy betting, followed by Ortiz throwing a nowhere-near-the-strike-zone pitch.

It’s not the first case in which such actions have been alleged. And it won’t be the last. Funny thing though. It is the sporting leagues, in this case Major League Baseball, that have helped create the temptation. The leagues, all of them, are in bed with the corporations that control legal gambling. Not just in bed, mind you, but joined at the hip.

And everyone who loves the sport is forced to watch. Can’t escape it. It’s like Malcom McDowell in that “Clockwork Orange” chair, eyes stuck open, bombarded by images that are expected to change his behavior. Heck, even the disclaimer on the omnipresent commercials about addiction serve as white noise to allow the preceding announcement to sink in.

Betting is good. Betting is fun. And you have no guts if you won’t turn a three-team parlay into a four-team one. No matter the odds grow greater in the house’s favor every team you add.

Do it you coward.

But as insidious as parlays are, it is prop bets that have opened the door to the con game that is fixing the result. A college basketball player – or any athlete, in fact – knows gambling money is helping put them in the national spotlight. They also know missing a late layup – or making one – won’t change the outcome that matters, who wins or loses.

But change the betting outcome? Why not?

No one will ever know.

At least that’s the pitch. So a pitch is spiked, as Bob Uecker would have described it, “just a little outside.” Or all the way to the backstop, just to ensure nothing can go wrong.

Cha-ching.

There is a generation growing up that sees sports gambling as a right. Normal. A fun source of entertainment that is cheaper than a video game. And delivers even more thrills when you win.

But they also feel the powers-that-be controlling sports have teamed up with gambling giants to make sure the Average Joe can’t win. If there’s a simple, easy, can’t-lose way to tilt the odds some, let’s do it.

No one will ever know.

Until they do. And lives are ruined.

Jontay Porter. Tucupita Marcano. Pat Hoberg. Kayshon Boutte. Not household names. At least most of them. But all caught up in gambling investigations in 2024 alone. And it hasn’t stopped this year. Ortiz is just the latest. Basketball players at Fresno State. An NBA player. The list isn’t just growing, it’s becoming inevitable.

And it overshadowed the uncounted thousands – millions? – of fans whose life have been upended by a gambling problem. But, hey, there is help out there. Just listen to fast talker at the end of the commercial.

Or, you could if you want the cheap approach, just blow a week’s worth of meal money on whether or not the next card will be a seven. When a king pops up, and your cash disappears, there is a chance it may just scare you straight. I am pretty sure you can bet on whether it will work.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner looks back at the week in the West. … Realignment had an unintended consequence. It brought more schools into the FBS. … Did you know college sports now has a soft salary cap? That’s just one of the financial aspects of the latest “new era” in the industry. … Washington, like everyone, is dealing with contracts and such with its athletes. … Oregon’s young(ish) offensive coordinator Will Stein has been in Eugene for three seasons. He’s grown a lot. … So has Arizona’s defensive front. … In basketball news, the U.S. U19 basketball team will play another undefeated team, Germany, in today’s World Cup final. The Americans, coached by Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, routed New Zealand in Saturday’s semifinal. … There are more than a few questions surrounding the Colorado men’s team.

Gonzaga: We did not see this Theo Lawson story on the S-R site – it is about Graham Ike and Braden Huff – until it was almost too late to add it to my column. We will go into it in further depth tomorrow. 

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Idaho State’s opening football game at UNLV will be its earliest ever. … Sacramento State’s recruiting shot off some fireworks on the Fourth. Just what did it mean? … Utah Tech filled the most important recruiting spot, quarterback, on Friday. … In basketball news, who will be the Idaho State men’s next breakout star? … Before Southern Utah announced it was joining the Big Sky down the road, there was a change made at athletic director.

Preps: No one who saw Lexie Hull and her Central Valley Bears win a couple State basketball titles back in the day will ever forget it. Nor will they forget watching her and sister Lacie help Stanford win and win not all that long ago. But all that is in the past. The present? Lexie has emerged as a bona fide WNBA star, helping the Indiana Fever reach new heights this season.

Indians: Tri-City pitcher Ryan Johnson gave up a two-out single in the first inning. And nothing else as the Dust Devils topped the Indians on Saturday night. Dave Nichols was at Avista Stadium and has the coverage.

Kraken: There is news on the contract front.

Mariners: Good Luis Castillo has been showing up a lot more often than Bad Luis Castillo lately. In fact, he was lights out last night as the Mariners topped the visiting Pirates 1-0. You think after the M’s scored in the bottom of the sixth, someone told Castillo “Hey, we got you a run. It better be enough because it’s all you’re getting.” … The homestand ends today with a great matchup of young pitchers. … When The Athletic posted this story on Rathdrum’s Bobby Jenks a while back, we shared our interactions with the pitcher. It’s those personal connections that makes it harder to deal with his death Saturday at the age of 44. … Is Woo going to make the All-Star team? The numbers say he should.

Sounders: Yesterday we linked this Athletic story on today’s Gold Cup final between Mexico and the USMNT. It is on the S-R site today. … Midfielder João Paulo has torn his ACL again. The injury will probably end his Seattle career. … Back to the Gold Cup, Diego Luna has been the U.S.’s breakout star this tournament.

Storm: Is Seattle the WNBA’s most-polarizing team?

Seahawks: DK Metcalf basically forced his way out of Seattle. How are Hawk fans dealing with that? Is he on their boo-him-forever list?

Wimbledon: Lots of upsets in the tournament’s first week. That’s the headline. But there are more notably happenings. Including Novak Djokovic reaching a milestone.

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• Yes, a friendly wager with a friend or a group of them is usually good fun. But the way betting has spread throughout society like a Roundup-resistant kudzu is beginning to choke more and more folks. And enticing others to try to game the system way too often. It seems only a matter of time until there is another “Say it ain’t so, Joe” moment. Until later …