The NFL has suspended Atlanta Falcons Wide Receiver Calvin Ridley for a year. Why? For gambling! Seems he placed a parley bet on his own team for $1,500.00. We find this a little hard to digest here. Why? Well, if you've watched any NFL games in the last few seasons, they advertise betting and the betting sites before and during the games. Also, late at night when most degenerate gamblers are still wide awake. The NFL wants people to bet via FanDuel, DraftKings or Caesars. So, it's real easy to see how a player, any player might easily get confused. "Don't they want me to bet too?" Especially when you realize that the average NFL player has been banging his head into other players for at least a decade or so.
But we think the NFL missed a great opportunity here. Instead of suspending Calvin Ridley, they could have put him in one of their commercials where he explains the parley bet to all the fans. That bet is a little complicated. Especially to the novice bettor. And, the NFL wants them too.
We also wondered if it would have been all right with the NFL, if Calvin Ridley bet on the other teams and the other games? We mean if his team is not playing and he's sitting home in front of his TV watching Monday or Thursday night Football and the commercials come on? He's just another fan at that point. And, he's got the head banging part down pat, so he'd fit right in with the rest of the fans who have been banging their heads into walls, as they watched their bets fail to cover the spread and their rent or mortgage money, along with their kids college fund, go down the drain.
Speaking of College what if Calvin had bet the College games on Saturday, or the NBA or MLB? What would be wrong with that? What makes Calvin Ridley different from anyone else? Why should he be out of work? Why can't he watch his rent or mortgage money, along with his kid's college fund, go down the drain, just like everyone else?
And, speaking of MLB, when are DraftKings, FanDuel or Caesars going to wake up and get Pete Rose to do their commercials! Pitchers and Catchers have reported to camp and Opening Day is just around the corner. Ole Pete may be 80 years old but he's still compos mentis. And, if there ever was a guy who could tell people the who, the what and the how to bet on baseball, it's the guy with the most base hits in the history of the Major Leagues, Charlie Hustle himself, Banned for Life from Major League Baseball for gambling, Pete Rose. C'mon guys don't let this become a missed opportunity.
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great piece Donny. Of course it should be mandatory that a guy have money on his own team every game, this way you know he is going to try. They have it backwards, betting on your own team is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteGreat point Tiv. I always thought our best games and the ones with the most pressure were the money games. Someone like Shoo would find another team and each team put up $100 and we'd play for it.
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