Ever wonder what some entertainment people and athletes do with all that big money that they make? If you've ever looked at the MTV show Cribs, you've been treated to seeing such wise investments as buying High-Def TVs, (to watch crap-o-vision), for every bathroom--maybe that's another reason that it's called the crapper. All kidding aside most of the expeditures made by celebrities are foolish and reflect an immature outlook on life. (It's almost as foolish as the proposed uncapped propping up of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the US Treasury.)
So what happens when testosterone loaded young athletes with idle time and idle cash get together? Well, there was a high-stakes card game aboard a December 19th Washington Wizards charter flight. It resulted in a $25,000 gambling debt that, if you'll pardon the pun, triggered the locker-room faux gun-play between NBA super-star Gilbert Arenas and his teammate Javaris Crittenton. The deadbeat-debt collector standoff occured in the locker room of the Wizard's home arena. The Wizards did everything to cover up the incident, but in this media saturated era in which everyone is a reporter or a media whore the story emerged. It's also claimed that the guns were empty so nothing really happened. You know the old "no harm no foul" bromide. A father of one of my best childhood friends always admonished us both to never point a gun at anything unless you intend to shoot it.
The article in the New York Post, which broke the story, described Arenas' high stakes gambling habits. Among other things, Arenas would rush to play video pocker during halftimes at Wizard games. Faux gun-play aside, doesn't the gambling habits of star NBA players bother Commissioner Stern at all? Pete Rose was suspended for gambling on games and is still being denied any return to MLB because he still gambles in betting parlors.
The NBA should be concerned with gambling in any form, especially after the NBA's 2008 betting scandal involving former NBA referee Tim Donaghy. Referee Donaghy did time in the federal pen for his role in a gambling scheme in which he provided "inside information" to mob gamblers. So how was Donaghy ensnared into working with mob gamblers? Donaghy was a high stakes gambler. It's easy to connect the dots to figure out how someone like Donaghy might be "persuaded" to provide "insider information." Such insider information included how referees would treat certain players leniently or strictly during games.
Although David Stern may might claim that Donaghy's misdeeds were an isolated incident, Donaghy's gambling associate, Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista has claimed that at least 13 more referees were involved. This should be a more serious concern to Stern than a pair of punks playing with empty guns like brainless adolescents. Gambling has corrupted all sports. Lotteries, OTB, online sports books, odds makers, poker TV tournaments and other forms of gambling are a part of our daily lives. Think about it the next time you participate in the NCAA Tournament basketball pool at work. By the way in California, unless it's over $2,500 all you'll get is a $250 fine instead of a misdemeanor conviction for bookmaking. I guess you all caught a break there. After all what's a friendly bet between friends? It's nothing worth pulling a gun over. Now get back to work.
