Watching most of the weekend’s NCAA Wrestling Championships, and also watching some of the NCAA Basketball Championship series I’m pressed to think about the amount of gambling money involved in NCAA athletics. Is it possible that the vast sums of gambling revenue will find a way into intercollegiate athletics, more specifically intercollegiate wrestling? Will there be an undo (read illegal) influence on wrestling programs, on wrestling coaches/staff, on wrestling officials/referees, and on individual wrestlers as a result of the pressures of gambling revenues?
Last week we witnessed the college admission cheating scandal, noting that it implicated redshirt athletes. We have witness the ongoing scandal involving the relationship of NCAA officials (coaches, athletes, supporters, parasites) with the major shoe companies, (Adidas, Under Armor, Nike, Reebok). The major athletic conferences have stated policies requiring the release of minimal and innocuous information concerning athletic programs as a safeguard from the gambling cosmos. Witness the constant chatter this past season regarding the status Spencer Lee. Silence from the University of Iowa Athletic Department and wrestling program staff; a university policy, and Big Ten policy?
Within the next year over half of the states in the country will have legalized betting on intercollegiate sports. Will a collegiate athlete/wrestler be able to place a bet at the local horse track, or river boat without jeopardizing his/her eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics? I’m not a gambler, but a lot of people enjoy talking to their bookie.
Last week we witnessed the college admission cheating scandal, noting that it implicated redshirt athletes. We have witness the ongoing scandal involving the relationship of NCAA officials (coaches, athletes, supporters, parasites) with the major shoe companies, (Adidas, Under Armor, Nike, Reebok). The major athletic conferences have stated policies requiring the release of minimal and innocuous information concerning athletic programs as a safeguard from the gambling cosmos. Witness the constant chatter this past season regarding the status Spencer Lee. Silence from the University of Iowa Athletic Department and wrestling program staff; a university policy, and Big Ten policy?
Within the next year over half of the states in the country will have legalized betting on intercollegiate sports. Will a collegiate athlete/wrestler be able to place a bet at the local horse track, or river boat without jeopardizing his/her eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics? I’m not a gambler, but a lot of people enjoy talking to their bookie.
