NCAA's fight vs. gambling must begin at home

Sporting News, The, July 5, 1999 by Mark Blaudschun

The NCAA is on a crusade against gambling, specifically against gambling involving college athletes. This is a noble cause. Sort of like taking a stance against evil. It's also close to impossible to win the battle.

Yet, the NCAA is giving its best shot. And it wants the media to help by not publishing point spreads of college games.

"When the media publishes point Spreads in any state other than Nevada (where sports gambling is legal), it encourages illegal sports betting," says Bill Saum, director of agent and gambling activities for the NCAA. "We at the national office are not going to give in to this."

Nor should they, if they believe in their cause. Clearly, there is a problem. In the past few years, there have been incidents involving athletes at Boston College, Northwestern and Arizona State, where point-shaving was the heart of the problem in each instance. It's all slimy stuff that shakes the confidence of those who oversee the NCAA.

But before it goes too far in its crusade and asks for help from the media--foolishly in the case of not printing point spreads--the NCAA needs to look in the mirror. It needs to stop holding meetings, conventions and championship events in cities such as Reno and Las Vegas, the heart of the gambling industry in this country.

How hypocritical is it for the NCAA to take a moral stand against gambling while its athletic directors are holding their annual convention in a place where slot machines are as accessible as a newspaper? It's just as bad that NCAA schools conduct league football and basketball championship events in Las Vegas, as the Western Athletic Conference has done. The NCAA counters by saying those events are out of its control, as they are nm by leagues. Please.

The NCAA threatened not to give newspapers that printed ads promoting gambling tout sheets credentials to the Final Four. Yet, it can't control its own members? Or at least strongly suggest that such events not take place in venues where gambling is legal. The NCAA sanctions the Las Vegas Bowl, Which featured San Diego State and North Carolina last December. Where did the players from those teams sleep each night? In a monastery? No, they stayed in Las Vegas hotels, where slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps and sports books were easily accessible. Pac-10 athletic directors recently conducted a meeting in Reno.

Gambling is a part of society, as myriad states have lotteries and riverboat gaming. Its excesses, such as athletes betting on games and, even worse, shaving points, are a major problem. Nevada has 142 sports books that operate each day. It has casinos and betting venues that provide income and pleasure for millions of people each year. The NCAA says it sees a problem. It has taken the information compiled in a two-year study and wants to take a stand. Saran says the primary objectives are to:

* Make 21 the minimum age for gambling.

* Ban Internet gambling.

* Have harsher penalties for underage gambling.

"We admit we're not going to solve the problem," Saum says. "We're trying to have a dramatic effect on those who wish to wager and a dramatic effect on any individual who may ever think about point-shaving."

Again, those are noble causes, which should be applauded. But before the NCAA goes any further with its rhetoric or policies, maybe it's time to take its business away from places where gambling is prominent.

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