Mo Egger

Mo Egger

Mo Egger delivers his unique take on sports on Cincinnati's ESPN 1530!Full Bio

 

Some Stuff: Let's Gamble!

I took the day off from blogging yesterday, mainly to take time to prepare financially for all that legal sports betting I'm going to do.

I have three main thoughts on yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, which strikes down a stupid federal law that prohibited sports wagering.

1) The people who run the major sports leagues will issue somber, serious statements about how their main concern is the integrity of their games.

Then they will figure out the best way to get a piece of the action.

This is inevitable, and has been ever since we started talking about sports gambling like adults. The leagues will embrace gambling - and help regulate it - as soon as they can figure out a way to turn a profit from it.  Roger Goodell has stated publicly that his goal is to turn the NFL into a $25 billion a year business. That statement wasn't made with the belief that legalize gambling wasn't coming.

It is. And the NFL stands to benefit the most.

2) We are about to watch a drastic change in the way sports are covered. The major sports networks are currently in the process of locking in deals with gambling experts to use them the same way they use former athletes and coaches.  Did you clutch your pearls the first time you heard the College Gameday hosts refer to point spreads of college football games three years ago?  Get ready to be aghast at how much gambling talk permeates through that show, and its NFL counterparts.  Were you annoyed at how often we talked about point spreads on our show last football season?  You're gonna be pissed this fall.

3) This won't change how much people gamble. Just because something is more convenient doesn't mean we'll use it more.  I can use Uber Eats and GrubHub to have whatever fattening food I want delivered to my house. I've not needed to drive to a mall to buy things for years.  Yet I don't eat shitty food any more than I did back when I had to get in my car to go get it, and I still only shop for things I really don't need occasionally.  It will soon be easier to make a bet (and I can assure you, legalized gambling is going to come to Ohio and Kentucky), which means that it will soon be easier to collect on a winning bet. But if you exercise self-control - and like most gamblers, I do - the ability to bet legally won't translate into a willingness to bet more often.

Here's some stuff...

When an earthquake is a game's biggest highlight, that game probably didn't go well.  The Reds lost last night, which despite the assurances of some, was bound to happen at some point. Sal Romano has been mostly pretty good. Last night he wasn't. 

Nor was the typically reliable Reds bullpen.

Scooter Gennett had a poor game as well, going 0 for 5. He's carried the offense for a while, so an off night can be forgiven.

Here's my question about Scooter....

What's his future?  He's got an arbitration year remaining, and his value may never be as good as it is right now. Nick Senzel will be here at some point. Eugenio Suarez will hold down one infield spot. Jose Peraza has done enough this season (although he was a disaster in the field last night) to make you think he'll be here for a while. What do you do with Scooter? Is he worth making an investment in?  Can you use him in the outfield?  Do you trade him away at the deadline to the highest bidder?  These aren't pressing questions, not on May 15th, but they're decent questions nonetheless. 

Wanna answer them?  You know where to reach me.

The Golden State Warriors took 48 minutes to claim what they allowed the Houston Rockets to earn over 82 games.

Homecourt advantage in the Western Conference Finals.

The Dubs, for all of their offensive firepower - and Kevin Durant was fantastic last night - at times put on a defensive clinic in game one, forcing shot clock violations and late-in-clock desperate heaves. They forced an already isolation-heavy team to be a little to-reliant on isolation, and they disrupted any semblance of offensive continuity the Rockets tried to maintain. James Harden was terrific, of course, but Golden State forced Houston into too many possessions that ended with Harden, or a less-talented teammate, going one-on-one.

Combine that with Golden State exploiting its depth advantage, and you have a very unsurprising game one win for the road team.

I think this series is already over.

Here's some other stuff....

From Mike DeCourcy...America's bet against sports gambling was always a big loser

Bookmark this...The Do’s and Don’ts of Engaging in a LeBron vs. Jordan Debate

Why Chris Mack is willing to risk it all at Louisville

How Bengals assistant Kyle Caskey helped land USF’s Quinton Flowers

What to Expect in a World Where States Can Legalize Sports Betting.

No, today’s decision on gambling has no bearing on Pete Rose

Radio Show: Do the Reds hold one of the biggest keys to this year's pennant race? That, and so, so, so, so, much more, at 3:05 on ESPN1530. 

Also....wanna win a new lawn mower and tickets to every Riverbend show? Go here

Follow me on Twitter @MoEgger1530.

Email me: mo@espn1530.com

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