MAKING THE RIGHT BET

Proverbs 21:20. A fool and his money are soon parted.

My mom used to say this, quite often in fact, and I always considered it to be a fleck of generational wisdom handed down to us by folks who had the great misfortune of living through the Great Depression of the 1930’s. But I guess, if you trace things back far enough, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the notion may have had its origin in scripture. And let’s face it, fools and their parted money have been with us for as long as there’ve been fools and money.

I’m about to commit what I believe to be a double sacrilege. I’m going to slag the recent, prolific emergence of online gambling, particularly sports betting, and I’m going to take a shit on Wayne Gretzky because, well, somebody should.

Why does a Canadian icon like Gretzky want me, my kids, and all of our friends and family to bet on hockey games? Sadly, for me, the answer is straight-forward and simple: Gretzky never sniffed a dollar that he didn’t like, and looking over his past business ventures reveals numerous failed partnerships with characters who have ended up either incarcerated or close to it.

And here’s Gretzky again, tight and cozy with the folks who’d love you to drain your bank account pursuing the glitter in the world. The advertising is everywhere, and betting-related content has carved a slice of space time during period intermissions as a regular part of the broadcast coverage. .

Look at the picture below taken from an ad. What the hell is that, other than downright creepy? He looks like some villain from Batman, which is unfair to Batman who has his hands full chasing down Penguin, Riddler, and Joker without having to deal now with Swindler as well.

Have you seen the ad with Gretzky and Connor McDavid? The one where McD is firing pucks at an empty net with targets while Gretzky prattles along while throwing bets together on his smartphone? It’s about as cringy as Russian or North Korean propaganda.

Gretzky, McDavid, and Auston Matthews. One’s a millionaire, another makes $12.5 million a year, and the third makes $11.6 million, and the three of them together are doing what they can to convince the poor schmuck who’s having trouble meeting his mortgage to pony up and be a winner, just like them. Never mind the potential impact on the guy, his wife, his children, and their lives. Just be cool, like us, and follow the flashing lights.

Gretzky has sort of been down this road before. His wife, Janet Jones, was caught up in the middle of a nasty U.S. federal investigation into an illegal gambling operation back in the early 2000’a while Gretzky owned and coached the Phoenix Coyotes.

I’m wondering if we’ll see an ad featuring Evander Kane. Or Pete Rose. Rick Tocchet, who was found guilty in the same illegal gambling situation that ensnared Janet Jones? How about Charles Barkley, who has admitted losing over $10 million in debts over the years but denies he has a problem since, as he said, he can afford to lose.

Listen, any of these guys would be fantastic in a television ad.

But what about the guys living in their cars behind Walmart, or without their cars behind Walmart? We probably won’t be seeing any of them in ads, nor are we likely to see anything set in a Family Court.

No matter the ads, if you want to gamble, go to it, it’s ultimately your business and your responsibility. But that’s different from willingly enticing people watching a hockey game to follow along on the same path. Gambling, like tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, is an addiction. And gambling, like tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, is a problem. Not just personal, but familial and societal as well. To me, hockey celebrities, both active and retired, on or off the ice, don’t look good accepting endorsements pumping a product that has this much potential for danger.

As if the in-your-face media offensive launched by these guys isn’t enough, we now have to endure the presence of gambling metrics as part of our hockey telecasts. There’s even “sports” guys, who are part of the regular telecasts, doing segments between periods on gambling rather than hockey analysis. If we get to the point where Elliott Freedman and Jeff Marek do a “31 Thoughts” on betting, then that’s fucking it for me and I’m gonna subscribe to the goddamned cable chess package.

Gambling problems have not touched me personally in my life, although as a fool I’ve been parted from my money on occasion. But I know of folks who do struggle with this, and I also know that there are a lot of people out there who, one way or another, have gambling as an unwelcome part of their lives even though they, themselves don’t gamble.

They see the stuff Wayne doesn’t show you in the commercials. The preoccupation with gambling, what the next bet will be and where to get the money to lay it. The defensiveness and lying when confronted or questioned. Borrowing money to bet or pay off losses. Chasing losses with additional betting in an attempt to cover previous losses. Increasing bets to raise the level of excitement. Equating gambling with importance. Missing important events. And on and on.

This most recent onslaught has everything to do with a recent court decision that opened us up to this kind of thing. It’s got nothing to do with excitement and glamour, but rather has everything to do with business people seizing an opportunity to make money.

I know this much.

Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid, or Austin Matthews aren’t likely to be there for you if you’re trending down.

They’ll have likely already cashed out.