Originally posted by Cosmo:
Nearly everyone, including the refs, now that gambling is so prevalent that ESPN pushes it more than actual sports.
I agree, it's disgusting how gambling is pushed through the official channels, especially considering the hypocrisy by the NFL who pretends it's interested about "good" causes women's cancer, the armed forces etc. It would be fun to see all drugs made completely legal, just for the sheer irony of seeing Redzone telling me between plays where I can score the best smack and who the official cocaine partner of the NFL is.
It STILL has zero influence on how the game will play out, unless we can prove that it's so corrupt as to actually make an actual difference. In which case, we might as well stop watching it since the result is predetermined.
BTW I don't want to see gambling banned, or anything like this. I personally never bet on mathematical grounds, and also because I am extremely risk-averse personally. My thing, others see it otherwise. My original point was and remains that predicting a match based on where the gambling market clears is a pointless exercise. We might as well read entrails or study the flight of birds like the Romans did. They are two different, entirely unconnected matters (unless we down the conspiracy theory path, in which case we might as well quit watching).
