Betting scandals will be the ruination of professional sport... Betting has been going on since sport began.. But now you can bet in ‘real’ time... Will he make the next basket? Will he hit the next pitch? Will it be a fastball?
You name it... It’s all up for grabs and computer tech makes it instantaneous. Betting has never been easier nor more pervasive.
In the mid-1950s I was in Madison Square Garden to watch a game in which I recall Tom Heinsohn was the star of what I think was a Holy Cross squad. Toward the end of the game Heisohn’s team would be ahead by seven, and it seemed the hundreds of people in my section would go nuts. Then the other team, which may have been UCLA with Willie the Whale Naulls, would score two, and this time the anger would be palpable. This went on for about two minutes, until finally, me, the dumb west coaster asked a spectator what the hell was the big deal. Holy Cross was bound to win. The fan informed me that the betting line was Holy Cross plus six, and as the game teetered back and forth thousands of dollars were at stake. Yeah. Basketball is now, and has been for years a betting game.