I’ve long said that the coach on every NFL and NBA team needs an assistant dedicated to clock management. Some of the mistakes that take place at the end of a half or game are mind-boggling. Last week’s Bears game was a good example.
The Bears got the ball leading by one. There was 55 seconds left and the Broncos had two timeouts. Needing the game to end with no more scores to win my under bet, I was aghast when the Bears quarterback took a super-quick knee three times, leaving 52 seconds on the clock with the Broncos out of timeouts. The clock ran down to 12 seconds and the Bears had to punt. Are you telling me the Bears coach couldn’t come up with three plays that would take 15 seconds off the clock so the clock would run out and they wouldn’t have to punt? Here’s a clue. Have the quarterback run sideways three times before taking a knee. That should do the trick pretty easily. On the last play he could run backwards until the clock got to 40 seconds.
The danger to the Bears from this mistake was that it unnecessarily opened up the possibility that the punt could be fumbled or blocked, or returned for a touchdown or far enough for a field goal. (I know it was a pre-season game, but I doubt they would have done anything differently in the regular season.)
Luckily for me, the Broncos didn’t go to the lateral play on the punt, which is way way more likely to result in a defensive score than an offensive miracle. I’ve lost more than once on that play and been really pissed. Which leads me to the other point of this blog.
The choices coaches make at the end of a game can affect the outcome of wagers. Whether to foul or not at the end of a basketball game, or a player choosing between taking the last shot or dribbling it out. The winning team deciding to go for another score at the end of a football game or kneeling it out. And on and on. I’m sure every experienced sports bettor has won or lost bets based on decisions made by coaches or players, and are justifiably elated if it goes their way or angry if it goes the other.
The problem isn’t with experienced bettors who are used to these situations and understand that they could have helped as well as hurt. Rather it’s with the throngs of new bettors enticed into the sports-betting world in legalized states and their outcry and subsequent scrutiny of coaches and players that’s sure to follow a controversial coach or player decision and outcome. Here’s an example of a meaningless last-second score that affected a lot of bets:
In the past there’ve been uproars over such situations, but they were limited to Nevada and online chat rooms and forums. Once sports betting becomes mainstream, so will the outcry. This is going to put a lot of pressure on coaches and players. Cries of “fix” are sure to be common. Coaches and players will be accused of having bets on (or throwing) games, even though they aren’t doing anything differently than they’ve done in the past. For college athletes this could become particularly stressful.
I don’t know what the solution to this is, but for better or worse I think this and other factors will lead to federal oversight. In fact, Orrin Hatch gave a speech on the floor of the Senate on Aug 24th advocating federal oversight and said he’s planning to introduce a bill. There are lots of unknowns in the new era of sports betting, and whether the federal government’s involvement will help or hinder the industry is one of them.
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If Orrin Hatch wants something, it’s a certainty that it’s a bad idea.
I wouldn’t be suspicious of any bizarre end-of-game happenings in pro leagues–the players are simply paid too much to be bribeable. But college? Hoo boy. I remember one college basketball game back in UCLA’s glory days. UCLA was leading by 7 and the spread was UCLA -7.5. A UCLA guard–I forget who–was fouled in the act of shooting a 3 with about five seconds left. He was an 80% free throw shooter. Clank. Clank. Clank. And UCLA didn’t cover. (If the foul hadn’t been called, I’m sure the shot would have been about eight feet short.)
Nothing to see here, folks! Not suspicious at all! And the new Porsche the guard was seen driving the following week was a gift from his rich uncle.
You might not be, but that’s not the point. Neophyte bettors who haven’t experienced these things might see something like an NBA player going in for the last second dunk instead of dribbling it out, or vice versa, and start screaming. These situations come up quite often, and rarely is it devious. But, coaches and players know what the point spread is. In college, coaches or players might want to cover the spread in a home game to cater to their donors. I can see it being a problem.
Are coaches and players going to have guidelines in these situations to avoid controversies? I have no idea. Like I said, I don’t see an easy solution.
Fixing a score is no different than global warming.
One country gets hot another gets cool. Someone somewhere wins either way. It’s just nicer to be on the winner.