As if their first half play didnt taint baseball enough, the Diamondbacks have baldly positioned the first ever major league stadium next to a burgeoning strip of casinos.Ninety years after the Black Sox scandal nearly destroyed the game, and twenty after Pete Rose divided it, reknowned moralizer Ken Kendrick has conspired with Corrupter-In-Chief Selig to push beyond invasive casino advertising and physically link the national pastime with slots, blackjack and "numerous televisions for viewing sporting events".
Sufficiently torn about funneling baseball fans of all ages towards
their tax protected gambling mecca, the SRP/MI tribes bankrolled the $100 million Dback playpen with 'winnings' unassigned to their $400 million auxiliary casino being built down the street. Both projects shadow Casino Arizona, one of the state's largest, already located at the Indian Bend and 101 site.
Less conflicted, Derrick Hall and the Diamondbacks methodically undermined their legal marriage with Pima County to abut and abet this Scottsdale gamblers' paradise. On behalf of loyal Tucsonans, who've supported spring ball for sixty consecutive years, the jilted county has threatened to sue the Diamondbacks for multiple breaches of contract, presumably excluding adultery and prostitution. Mr Kendrick shouldnt lose much sleep over legal expenses however, since his model organization is now in bed with casino interests - to a degree unprecedented in the history of baseball.
8 comments:
The whole gambling thing in the US is a mystery to me so I can't comment (although ironically I am commenting), but it would be nice if a team with Arizona in the name tried to play games in as much of the state as possible.
First Matt returns, now Russell??? What exactly are you D-Backs fans up to? Russell, did you get busted for pimpin' just as I suspect Matt was locked in the county jail for stalking Josh Byrnes?
I feared you had died in a British Columbian mudslide or something - at least until you popped up at snakepit last week. Thx for stopping by!
What's mysterious about US gaming? The righteous indignation of people like me? The way casinos are relegated to marginal native land?
Curious.
-- I miss AVS, btw. The grey background, comedy videos, aerial shot of Slough. Oh yeah, the writing wasnt too shabby.
Unfortunately they don't have internet access in Canadian High Security institutions, but fortunately there's not a cell built that can hold me.
In England there's a bookmaker (sports book) on every high street and also one in the majority of stadiums. Even here in Canada there are casinos downtown so I guess it's the "you can only gamble on native land" idea that seems bizarre.
Interesting. Any scandals of British footballers on the take? That's the big concern here, along with a significant but steadily eroding view that gambling is an inherent vice.
Betting is far more integrated in US society than it was a generation ago, and to many (perhaps most) it's a relatively benign social activity.
My own view is that it's an intrinsically immature behavior, too often undermining self respect, family cohesion, etc. and I'd prefer it not be so accessible and legitimized.
There have been one or two but linked to off-site gambling rather than in the stadium. More comparable with baseball is cricket which has been beset by match-fixing and gambling scandals although this has a long history;
"In 1664, the "Cavalier" Parliament passed the Gaming Act 1664 which limited stakes on cricket to £100, although that was still a fortune at the time , equivalent to about eleven thousand pounds in present day terms."
On a side note the casinos in BC are run by the Government, and the lottery and betting on Keno in bars (also Government run) seems to be positively encouraged.It's socialised gambling!
Sounds uneventful now, but within a generation, slot happy Vancouverites will speak German and worship the Pope.
And here you thought they were gonna build this with Casino Money!
The wonderful leaders of this particular nation, one facing a diabetes epidemic I might add, in their infinite wisdom of priorities, is going to TRY and tap into federal stimulus to pay for this. Heaven forbid they waste it on useless health clinics. Let's make sure the developer of a sports venue is well taken care of.
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