The hypocrisy of the NFL

I love the NFL. To say the NFL has is the alpha dog of professional sports and TV ratings in general in the United States is an understatement. It dominates everyone else. And anyone who knows anything about the NFL, knows that dominance is based largely on one things: Gambling.



That's right, the NFL would not be where it is today if people did not care about the games because they've got $50 bucks tied up in a teaser. Fantasy Football is in large part responsible for the huge interest upsurge of the NFL in the last 20 years and who the hell want's to bother with a league in which there is no money on the line.



Therefore, it would seem that placing a friendly wager on a NFL game is as American as Washington crossing the Delaware, no?

Then perhaps someone could explain to me why the hell the NFL is so bent on stopping the State of Delaware from legalizing sports betting. The NFL is like Doc Holliday here, their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Last night, we had dinner with friends, one of who is a musician who was under contract at the now-defunct Hard Rock Park. In discussing the quick death of that business venture, the conversation once again touched on a subject near and dear to my heart: legalizing gambling here in the State of South Carolina. There was talk when word started getting out about that park (now to reopen and be called the "Freestyle Music Park"....How lame is that?) coming to the beach, that the owners wanted to open a casino. Now, I ask you for just one minute to consider how big Myrtle Beach would become if we legalized gambling and allowed casinos at the beach. It would be bigger than Las Vegas. It would be an economic boon to this state. You ever seen Nevada public schools? You ever seen ours? But, you argue, SC will never allow casinos...the Churches would never allow it. See...that's where you're being short-sided. Gambling would be the best thing to ever happen to churches here in SC. What do I mean? It would give all these megachurches around here the perfect foil and fundraiser. It would not just bring billions into the state coffers, but it would enrich those that preach against it. It's win-win.

So will it ever happen?