College Athletic Directors Concerned About Gambling Fallout
Before addressing other issues with the June 1 piece in USA Today, "Colleges brace for gambling fallout," I wanted to share a letter I sent to colleagues and various media people. The letter is radioactive and will never be published because it mentions (in an ambiguous, imprecise fashion) some gambling situations that came to light in college football this last decade. The coaching staffs mentioned in the first two incidents are gone. Anyway, here's the letter --
In the June 1 article, "Colleges brace for gambling fallout," Tom McMillen, the CEO of an association of college ADs, trotted out the same old logical misdirection spewed by Graham Spanier in 2000, when college ADs and the NCAA attempted to ban Nevada's college sports betting.
McMillen is quoted as saying, "If gambling on colleges is in 20 or 30 states, there is probably a 100% chance of a point-shaving scandal at some school. McMillen, of course, fails to acknowledge that (without gambling in 20 or 30 states), there has "probably" been a 100% chance of point-shaving scandals in college athletics this last decade. The NCAA and ADs have managed to restrict public knowledge of these situations by keeping a tight lid on things.
A couple of years ago, Hawaii's football team had in issue with its backfield. An SEC school had problems with its basketball team's guards some seasons back. Most recently, the Alabama football team's defensive playbook magically disappeared the day before the title game. Anyone in the know about this may have been motivated to take Georgia and the Over. All of these stories withered on the vine.
The fact is that sports books are much more able to detect point-shaving than the NCAA, and they are not beholden to the NCAA to keep a lid on the scandals. This is what McMillen fears, just as Spanier (who knows a thing or two about keeping a lid on scandals) feared 18 years ago.
The NCAA's primary concern is that point-shaving will be exposed by the sports books, not that point-shaving will occur because of them.
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