WILL CONSENT FORMS HELP ATHLETES AVOID KOBE/TYSON SCENARIOS?

In December Sports Illustrated ran an item on a new sexual consent form that a company is marketing to athletes. It included the following passage:

Several players contacted by SI say they would use the contract. “You have to,” says Hawks forward Stephen Jackson. “People look at us as targets and try to get what they can out of us.”

On January 18th, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran the following item;

Hawks forward Stephen Jackson and his fiancé, Imani Showalter, had a baby girl named Taylor Eva-Marie Jackson early Friday morning at Northside Hospital. Taylor Eva-Marie was 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.

"I had a baby girl," Jackson said, flashing his gap-toothed grin. "The love of my life."

After he scored 19 points and hit all four of his 3-point attempts -- a season-high -- during a 75-70 win against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, Jackson didn't have to look too far for inspiration.

"Well, if I can shoot like this every night, I'll be having a baby every day," said Jackson, who has three children.

With his consent forms soon to start flying around, we’re not sure if Jackson simply has a fiancé who is very understanding of the “NBA lifestyle” or if he is shooting for the Shawn Kemp Award.

Media Misinformation: If there’s one thing that we can count on Super Bowl week, it is the annual parade of newspaper reporters to Vegas and offshore wagering venues to report on the weekend’s activities in the betting world. It paints a picture that is wholly and completely inaccurate as to what sports wagering is like for the other 364 days of the year.

The biggest inaccuracy is the suggestion that Vegas is a hub of sports wagering activity. In truth, professional bettors have a very hard time getting bets down for serious money in Nevada. Vegas casinos have morphed from entrepreneurial gambling halls run by risk takers to corporate entities run by managers who fear the wrath of the corporate brass if profits aren’t up to snuff. A smart player can beat a sports book with regularity. No matter how bright someone is they can’t beat a craps table or a slot machine. The tables and slots have guaranteed rates of return that can be projected with great accuracy, which is impossible with sports betting. Bosses who understood gambling realized that a sports book could have a losing month. That doesn’t work for a corporation that regularly has to report results to Wall Street, especially when casinos have been known to see share prices slip due to heavy baccarat losses.

This creates the need for a sports book to engage in risk management processes that aren’t needed in other parts of the casino. There is never any need to ban a slots player, but the sports book management has to keep an eye on their clientele, taking action to limit the chance of losses to smart bettors.

But reporters don’t understand this, and they’re reporting from the sports book on Super Bowl Sunday, when everyone and his brother is welcome to bet their house on the Super Bowl, as the huge action generated by dozens of props on the game smoothes out the risk for the casino. The Super Bowl brings out the whales and once a year sports bettors, the ideal clientele for a sports book. They are spreading big money out on an opaque event, an event with no real inside information or possible surprises.

Don’t get us wrong, the Super Bowl is a great time in Vegas. But the real story about the long-term prospect for sports wagering in Vegas is not the boozed up insurance agent from the Midwest betting big money on the Super Bowl. It is the college basketball bettors’ inability to get much more than a token bet down on the Duquesne at St. Bonaventure being played that same day. The future of sports betting is playing out in servers and calls centers in dozens of countries around the world. The past of sports betting can be reported on from Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday.

Recruiting Fun: Even those of us who feel that football recruiting is the most overblown event this side of Howard Dean’s “aaaaarrrrrrrghhhhhh!” ask the question, what goes on during a football recruiting visit? The Miami Herald is running a series based on the recollections of his visits by local high schooler Willie Williams, who is widely considered the number one prospect in the state of Florida. From the private jet to the posh hotel (``This place was beautiful, nicest place I've ever stayed. It was called The Radisson. I was impressed.'') everything seems to be first class on the visit. But there is nothing quite like Williams’ dinner.

``Coach Haggins told us to order as much as we wanted. I ordered a steak and a lobster tail. The lobster tail was like $49.99. I couldn't believe something so little could cost so much. The steak didn't even have a price. The menu said something about market value. I was kind of embarrassed so I didn't order a lot.
'But then I saw what the other guys were ordering, I was like, `Forget this.' I called the waiter back and told him to bring me four lobster tails, two steaks and a Shrimp Scampi. It was good. I took two boxes back with me to the hotel.''

The ‘noles spare no expense, offer to unretire numbers, and even get Mrs. Bowden in the mix. At Auburn Willie complains about the “farm girls”. Larry Coker picks him up in an Escalade, which makes him seem like a peer to Willie. Lots of funs stuff. Check it out at http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/high_school.

Speaking of young athletes with potential, we had a slightly erroneous prediction in this space last week. Remember that stuff that was written about Michelle Wie, that stuff about the confidence of a 14-year old girl being shattered by being embarrassed on TV by the PGA Tour’s best golfers…can we take a mulligan on that? What a spectacular performance by Wie. Let’s hope her parents and other handlers are judicious with her schedule and keep her emotional stability and general long-term best interests in mind.

Player Friendly Sports Book Note: The recommended sports books at consumerbet.com are all offering cash bonuses of at least 20% in promotions that end when the Super Bowl kicks off. If you’re looking for a solid place to play and you’d like to kick things off with a cash head start, visit http://www.consumerbet.com/rsb.html.

Dull and Stupid: Kind of odd that people are complaining about how dull the Super Bowl is going to be. People say they respect selfless team play and wish there could be more of it. These two clubs are the epitome of selfless team play, yet they are being called dull. Well last season’s Super Bowl teams weren’t dull this year were they? The Bucs and Raiders were both in full rebellion against their coach and each tossed the towel in numerous games this season. Give me a couple of “dull” teams full of players who don’t put themselves against ahead of the team any time.

Incidentally, if you not only understand the desire to bet five, ten, or fifty times your normal wager on the Super Bowl but plan on doing so, you should find yourself a new hobby. Clearly it is only a hobby for you, because nobody who attacks this activity as an avocation or have otherwise developed the expertise to be profitable over the long term will be doing the same. If you see a side or total that you like, play it. If you sense a couple of props have value, attack them. But it is downright silly to bet this thing like a fiend just because it is the Super Bowl. Be smart about it.

Idiots such as those described in the preceding paragraph are responsible for over $70 million bet in Vegas on the Super Bowl annually. Two more visible teams, Tampa Bay and Oakland generated $77 million in wagers last year. The house lost on the side and the total but won overall thanks to props. It also helped enormously that the side and total both fell outside of the teaser range. Let’s be clear about this, the insurance agent from Dubuque who rolls into Vegas to spread $20,000 on the Super Bowl each year is not a bettor that is feared by the Nevada Sports Books. How much is bet offshore? Tough to say exactly, but rest assured it is a multiple of the $70 million figure above.

Hoop it up: In Saturday college basketball, we’re going to take a look at Drexel over NC-Wilmington. For the past few years, both of these teams tend to light up Colonial opponents on their strong home courts but struggle on the road. Surprisingly, Wilmington pulled out the win over Drexel in Philly last year. The Seahawks also beat the Dragons in Wilmington and they knocked Drexel out of the conference tourney as well. With triple revenge looming, we’ll look for Drexel to knock off their nemesis on their strong home court.

We’re going for our fourth straight winning week in basketball and we’ve been terrific in the NBA, hitting 65% on the season. If you’re interested in our basketball you can follow along on our free hotline at 770-618-8700. We’ve got a fresh play up there every day and on Sunday will have a proposition bet for the Super Bowl. If you’re interested in basketball make that free call a part of your daily routine.

Thanks for taking the time to read us. Good luck and be careful.

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Kevin O’Neill is the director of content for www.consumerbet.com. His 24-hour free telephone selection hotline can be accessed by calling 1-770-618-8700.