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First and final thoughts

Maybe Im the wrong guy to write about this topic. I dont bet on sports. Never really have. Ive led a fantasy-football-free life, and I havent played fantasy baseball since high school, back when it was called rotisserie baseball, which for me was a more appropriate term. I was too sentimental in building my rosters, loading up on my favorite players without regard for any analytics, my friends and competitors roasting me as if I were rotating above a hot grill. I stopped filling out March Madness brackets in college, back when I couldnt appreciate the wonderful randomness of the NCAA Tournament. As someone who fancied himself a college hoops quasi-expert, I was just tired of losing pools to people who based their picks on each teams mascot. The Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. the Montana State Bobcats? Im going with MSU, of course. Dont bobcats eat gophers?

READ MORE: Kyle Neptune has to make some changes to resurrect Villanova. The boosters will have to get used to them.

Now that we have that hefty disclaimer out of the way, can we acknowledge that the warm embrace in which professional and college sports now hold gambling is getting more than a little yucky? There have been plenty of concerning anecdotes and stories lately, and those anecdotes and stories are developing into a trend, and that trend doesnt look good because its revealing the potential for and possibility of corruption.

There is Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, who may or may not have wired millions of dollars to a bookmaker to pay off debts that may or may not belong to Ohtanis interpreter. There is the Temple mens basketball team, which was flagged by a gambling watchdog group based on some strange movement on the betting lines of some of the Owls games. There is Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who said last week that he has been threatened by gamblers and that he routinely hears fans shouting at him to make in-game decisions that will influence point spreads. There is ESPNs Rece Davis, who capped a gambling segment on College GameDay by saying that one bet was a risk-free investment a line that Davis said later was a joke.

Its not new, of course, to note that gambling has always been a part of sports. Whats new and disconcerting, though, is the speed with which the public stances of these institutions the leagues and the NCAA have gone from Gambling is terrible and immoral to Gambling is awesome and makes us money, but hey youd better watch it. (The same goes for plenty of media that broadcast and cover sports, too.)

Sports betting is legal in more than half the country though not in California, which is part of the alleged problem for Ohtani and Id like to think I have a healthy libertarian streak. But its worth remembering that theres a difference between something being legal and something being good or even reputable. Create an environment where sports betting is not just accepted but encouraged and promoted, and youre going to get what weve seen recently. And its not going to stop. And it will get worse. Sometimes guardrails exist not to stop a particular activity from happening but to temper it, to keep it under some control and maintain moderation, to make sure a useful and appropriate stigma is attached to its abuse. Seems like sports ought to think about rebuilding a few of those guardrails.

The Florida Panthers entered Monday tied for first place in the NHLs Atlantic Division, and they had allowed just 173 goals this season, which is tied for the fewest in the league. Their goaltenders ought to be familiar to hockey fans around here: Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz.

The Flyers signed Bobrovsky as an undrafted free agent in 2010 and picked Stolarz in the second round of the 2012 draft. Now the two of them have combined for a .919 save percentage for a team that reached the Stanley Cup Final last season and might win the Cup this season. When someone cites a general lack of patience as a reason that the Flyers have gone nearly 49 years without a championship, Bobrovsky and Stolarz are just one example of it.

John Tortorella benched his captain and initially sent one of his assistant coaches to explain why. Kim Mulkey, LSUs womens basketball coach, threatened to sue a Washington Post reporter over a story that hasnt been published yet. After the 76ers beat the Clippers on Sunday, James Harden ducked out of Crypto.com Arena before anyone could ask him a question.

Who knew us irrelevant media members could have such tough-talking coaches and athletes quaking in their boots?

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Sports gambling has gotten out of control - The Philadelphia Inquirer