Picks for Week 10 NCAA football

By Rick Morris

NOTE: 1-4 last week, 25-34-1 for the season

Ohio State -28 ½ over Illinois

West Virginia +3 1/2 over TCU

Auburn +1 over Mississippi

Stanford +7 ½ over Oregon

Arizona +6 ½ over UCLA

How to legally pay Little Leaguers like Mo’Ne Davis

By Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)

Much was made during this year’s Little League World Series (“LLWS”) back in late August about the fact that Little League participants, mostly 12- and 13-year-olds, should somehow be paid for being in the LLWS.  The arguments were particularly strong this year since ESPN, which was finishing up an eight-year, $30.1 million deal with Little League to televise the LLWS, had just signed a new eight-year deal, but this time for $76 million.

The financial boon to Little League is obvious: next year, and for the seven years after that, Little League, a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit corporation, will literally have almost $6 million more per year than they had this year.

With the increased pressure on Little League for making millions of dollars on the backs of young kids, and in light of the recent O’Bannon decision by a lower federal court to set aside $5,000 per year for certain college athletes to collect after they leave college, the time is right for youngsters to be given financial consideration for making it to the LLWS.

The question is: how to do it? 

The answer is that a program already exists to do just such a thing.

Little Leaguer Mo’Ne Davis, who garnered instant fame during this year’s LLWS, has transcended Little League by doing a national car commercial shown numerous times during the World Series.  The program discussed below could also be tailored to allow young people like Ms. Davis to receive monies for her efforts (without the NCAA having to jump through hoops to allow it).

HOW DOES THE ‘SMART’ PROGRAM WORK?

Welcome to the world of youth bowling, where thousands and thousands of young bowlers earn scholarship money for post-high school education by participating in bowling leagues and tournaments throughout the country.  According to the United States Bowling Congress, over $6 million annually is earned by young bowlers between the ages of five and 21.

So, how does this program, called the Scholarship Management and Accounting Reports for Tenpins (known as the “SMART” program) work?  Originating in 1994, the SMART program automatically opens a trust account in the name of any young person who participates in any approved bowling league or tournament and wins scholarship money in a league or tournament.  The participants must pay an entry fee to participate and, depending on the tournament or league, youth bowlers can win anywhere from $50 or so all the way up to $10,000 in scholarship money (that $10,000 was the highest prize in the national Junior Gold tournament which takes place every July).

Scholarship money is awarded as points. That is, every point equals five dollars.  So, the winner of this year’s Junior Gold in the oldest boys division received 2,000 points in his trust account.

IS THE SMART PROGRAM ACCEPTED BY THE NCAA?

The SMART program is in compliance with the NCAA, so a bowler with scholarship money can participate in any NCAA sport in college and not lose his/her eligibility.  Part of the reason for this is that the scholarship money is virtually never given directly to the student (if it is, the student cannot play an NCAA sport).  The check is made out to the institution where the scholarship winner attends his/her post-high school education.

Those institutions are broadly defined according to the USBC:  the scholarship money can be used at “universities, colleges, business schools, technical schools, trade schools and continuing educational courses.”  The actual funds can be used for “tuition fees, textbooks, meal plans, housing plans and required class supplies and equipment necessary for the successful completion of a course or program” at the institutions described above.   

The above program is offered as an example of something that already exists within the structure of post-high school education and has worked successfully for many years.  While Little League can and should develop its own program, the point is that the time is now and the means of doing it are already in existence. 

To compensate the 200 or so ballplayers at the LLWS at, say, $5000 per player, such an award could be put in a SMART-like trust fund until they are out of high school.  That would cost the Little League $1 million of the additional $6 million they will be receiving under the new ESPN deal.  Indeed, if they extended that to the players on the losing regional teams (those that miss going to the LLWS by one game), that would be an additional $1 million, still leaving Little League with $4 million more than they had this past year. 

CAN A SMART-LIKE PROGRAM BE EXTENDED TO OTHERS?

On the broader landscape, this type of program could possibly be extended elsewhere in the case of any group of young athletes who are the focus of programming where lots of money passes hands and the student/athletes get nothing.  For example, the high school football and basketball players that are often now seen on ESPN could be compensated via a trust account, even in smaller numbers than this proposed Little League trust fund (depending on the payment for such games).

WHAT ABOUT THAT MO’NE DAVIS CAR COMMERCIAL?

Well, for some reason, the NCAA felt that it had to jump through hoops to allow Ms. Davis to make money on a TV commercial and maintain her college eligibility.  Presumably, the trust account that the Davis commercial money was put into has SMART account-like principles.

The NCAA was criticized for allowing Ms. Davis to accept money – certainly by people who have no knowledge of the long-established SMART program.

Indeed, the NCAA should immediately discuss and allow implementation of, on a much broader basis, a SMART-like program for non-bowlers.

CONCLUSION

With respect to Little League, the time is now and the money is there. 

With respect to others, it shouldn’t be too far away.

© 2014 BY STEVE KALLAS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

NFL Week 9 power rankings

By Rick Morris

NOTES: Numbers in parenthesis reflect rankings from the start of the season to the present.

TOP TIER

1 Denver (6-3-3-3-3-2-1-1)

2 Arizona (22-19-9-4-4-5-5-2)

3 Seattle (1-1-1-1-1-1-3-8)

4 New England (3-12-7-9-15-12-10-11)

5 Philadelphia (15-16-8-6-10-8-7-4)

6 Dallas (19-24-24-20-14-9-6-3)

7 San Francisco (2-2-2-7-6-4-4-7)

8 San Diego (7-11-6-5-5-3-2-5)

9 Green Bay (4-4-4-16-8-7-8-6)

10 Indianapolis (10-5-18-18-12-10-11-9)

11 Baltimore (9-10-10-10-7-11-9-10)

12 Detroit (12-8-19-13-9-17-13-12)

SECOND TIER

13 Pittsburgh (14-15-16-12-16-15-20-14)

14 Kansas City (23-31-31-28-24-23-23-15)

15 Buffalo (18-14-11-14-20-14-19-13)

16 Miami (30-13-20-24-22-24-24-16)

17 Cincinnati (11-6-5-2-2-6-12-18)

18 New Orleans (5-7-17-17-19-18-18-19)

19 New York Giants (24-28-28-21-18-13-15-17)

20 Houston (16-18-12-15-11-20-21-20)

21 Cleveland (26-26-22-23-23-22-16-21)

THIRD TIER

22 Washington (20-25-21-22-26-25-27-26)

23 Minnesota (28-21-25-26-25-26-28-27)

24 Carolina (17-17-14-19-21-16-17-23)

25 Chicago (8-20-13-8-13-19-14-24)

26 Atlanta (13-9-15-11-17-21-22-25)

27 St. Louis (21-30-27-29-29-27-25-22)

28 Tennessee (29-22-26-27-28-28-26-28)

FOURTH TIER

29 Jacksonville (31-27-29-30-31-31-30-29)

30 Tampa Bay (25-29-30-32-30-30-31-31) 

31 New York Jets (27-23-23-25-27-29-29-30)

32 Oakland (32-32-32-31-32-32-32-32)

BIGGEST RISERS: New England (7 spots), Seattle (5 spots), Minnesota and Washington (4 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: St. Louis (5 spots), Dallas, Green Bay and San Diego (3 spots)

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL TEAM, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

1 NFC West 39

2 NFC East 52

3 AFC West 55

4 AFC North 62

5 AFC East 66

6 NFC North 69

7 AFC South 87

8 NFC South 98

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 NFC 258

2 AFC 270

New Jersey betting – Irreparable Harm???

By Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)

While much can and will be written on New Jersey’s recent attempt to allow sports betting at Monmouth Park, there are two fascinating things to look at in the specifics of the present case (a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) last Friday barring Monmouth from taking any sports bets) and the history of the federal law at issue in the present case.

WHERE’S THE IRREPARABLE HARM?

While there are four things a movant must show to get a TRO, we will focus on the main two:  irreparable harm (in this case, to the NFL and the other leagues) and likelihood of success on the merits of the case.  A federal judge, in this case Judge Michael Shipp, read his decision from the bench last Friday, stopping Monmouth Park from accepting bets on sports this past Sunday. 

In discussing his decision that the NFL and other movants would be irreparably harmed if you bet $50 to win on the Patriots this past Sunday, Judge Shipp said: “More legal gambling leads to more total gambling, which in turn leads to an increased incentive to fix plaintiffs’ matches.” 

To say this cheapens the meaning of “irreparable harm” would be an understatement.  According to papers filed in New Jersey federal courts over the last few years, sports betting is a $500 billion (yes, with a b) per year industry, most of it bet illegally.  In New Jersey, let’s assume the annual illegal betting is in the neighborhood of one billion per year (you can put in any number you want here from hundreds of millions of dollars to a few billion).

The point here is that, even if 10 or 20 billion dollars a year would be bet legally in New Jersey (and remember, the New Jersey gambling at Monmouth did not allow any wagers on games played in New Jersey and limited wagers to $100), that would be a drop in the bucket compared to what is already wagered.

We’ve already had the Tim Donaghy affair in the NBA and a number of betting scandals in the NCAA.  Did this have anything to do with legal (as opposed to illegal) gambling?  Of course not.  The leagues police this stuff and warn their players about it every year.  If anything, the concept is backwards.  The legislatures and the courts should be more worried about illegal gambling rather than the spread of legal gambling.

Maybe the judge doesn’t understand how involved the NFL is with gambling (maybe with a wink and a nod, but involved nonetheless).  Sometimes, judges just don’t quite understand the industry before them.  For example, why is the NFL injury report so important, so regulated, so needs-to-be-true,, according to the NFL?  Well, if you understand the business, you understand that the weekly injury report is gold to gamblers, legal and illegal.

There is certainly no evidence to show that, if there were more (legal) gambling on top of illegal gambling, it would cause more “incentive” to fix games.

Maybe the judge also doesn’t understand that legal gambling won’t attract the big bettors anyway.  You see, the state of New Jersey isn’t going to give you credit when you go to bet at Monmouth.  Your local bookie, if you know one, will absolutely (in most instances) give you credit.  Of course, you’d better pay if you lose. 

There are an awful lot of under-the-radar things when it comes to sports gambling.

Frankly, the notion that legal gambling would lead to more fixes is preposterous.  It’s just a made-up reason to stop legal gambling in New Jersey. Again, can anyone really say, with any certainty, that, if sports gambling increases from $500 billion to $600 billion (or any number you want to fill in here), more games will be fixed?

Of course not.  And we won’t even discuss the behemoth that is fantasy football, that is played “for fun” and, yes, for money (and plenty of it).  But we will discuss one more irreparable harm aspect below under New Jersey’s colossal blunder.

WHAT ABOUT LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS ON THE MERITS?

While it didn’t seem to be addressed, at least by news reports of Judge Shipp’s oral decision, this judge also had to find that the NFL and the other leagues are going to prevail at trial on these issues (in order to grant the TRO).  That’s a very bad sign for New Jersey (although the loser of this case will appeal to the Third Circuit, where, it says here, New Jersey has a better chance to win).

As you may know, Judge Shipp had ruled against New Jersey a few years ago and his ruling was affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  But there was language in the higher court’s opinion that gave New Jersey hope that it could have legal sports betting in New Jersey.

It is unclear as to why Judge Shipp believes that the NFL and the other leagues will win this case on the merits.  Presumably, it is that sports betting in New Jersey still runs afoul of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (“PAPSA”).  This act, essentially, bars state-involved gambling.   

So you have a federal judge who has ruled against the state of New Jersey in the past, who has come up with, to be kind, weak irreparable harm, who doesn’t quite understand the realities of the gambling business and who has, either explicitly or implicitly, decided that the NFL and the other leagues will win this case on the merits.

NEW JERSEY’S COLOSSAL BLUNDER?

Lost in the shuffle, while discussing this case, is that the State of New Jersey had the right to institute legal gambling in New Jersey and chose not to do it. 

How could that be?

Well, when PAPSA was passed, there were three exceptions to the anti-gambling statute.  One, of course, was for Nevada, apparently so as not to destroy their economy.  Another was for other states (like Delaware and Oregon) which are allowed to take lottery-type bets (only Nevada can take single-game bets).

But the third, which is section 3704(a)(3) of PAPSA, specifically allowed the state of New Jersey to license sports wagering in Atlantic City within one year of PAPSA’s enactment.

Obviously, New Jersey decided not to do it then.  But, equally obviously, they want to do it now.

h

Did New Jersey “drop the ball?” 

Draw your own conclusions.

To add one more factor to the erroneous (it says here) irreparable harm finding, how is it that something (sports wagering in New Jersey) which was specifically going to be allowed as legal in 1992, somehow become a basis for irreparable harm in 2014?

Again, it simply makes no sense.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion is legal sports betting is coming to places other than Nevada.  The only question is when, not if. 

Indeed, the bigger question is whether Congress will repeal PAPSA and allow any and all states to participate in legal sports gambling. 

While New Jersey is not “sponsoring” the legal gambling they want in New Jersey, the benefits to the state are obvious: more tax revenue, the saving and/or revival of thousands of jobs (many already lost) in Atlantic City, the revival of racetracks and the horse industry, which also has thousands of jobs in New Jersey.

It says here that, eventually, the leagues will come on board (presumably if they get a piece of the action).  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has already essentially said that the NBA would consider it (he knows it’s coming).

Maybe the court(s) should look at the legalization of marijuana in places like Colorado, even though it seems, to some degree, to run afoul of federal law.  New Jersey is trying to do a similar thing (in fact, New Jersey is trying to comply with the law as enunciated by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in the prior decision on sports gambling in New Jersey).

The legal gambling snowball is rolling.  Eventually, like with the legalization of marijuana, each state will make its own decision as to whether they want to have legal sports gambling or not.

There is no evidence that legal sports gambling, no matter what a federal judge thinks, will lead to more potential fixes.  The heavy hitters would never bet in a state-sponsored gambling casino, because, among other reasons, 1) they wouldn’t want their gambling habits to be made public; and 2) they won’t be able to get credit for large amounts of money that they already get credit for from their bookmakers.

Time to face the realities of the situation.

The future is now.

© COPYRIGHT 2014 BY STEVE KALLAS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED