Gabby Thomas, Lance McCullers hecklers show the dark side of sports betting
Gabby Thomas, Lance McCullers hecklers show the dark side of sports betting
Welcome to Prince's Picks, a collection of betting news, analysis and opinions from BetFTW senior writer Prince J. Grimes.
At its best, sports betting can be fun. An extra element to enhance the thrill and unpredictability of the events we already love.
At its worst, it can be addictive and bring out the worst in people -- especially those already predisposed to loser tendencies.
That's what happened this past weekend at the Philadelphia Grand Slam track meet, where Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas was subjected to personal insults from a man (used lightly) she said followed her around the track.
Thomas wrote about the situation on X in response to a tweet from the apparent heckler, who had the audacity to post a video of themselves in action -- shouting at Thomas as she lined up on the blocks, calling her a choke artist and making a comment about her husband -- along with a bet slip that won as a result of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden winning the race.
"I think heckling is tolerable… but following me around the stadium is weird in my opinion," Thomas said in another tweet. And she's right. Make no mistake about it. This isn't typical sports fan stuff. It's embarrassing behavior for an adult -- at best. At worst, it's harassment. And it represents the dark side of sports betting.
Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers recently got a glimpse of that dark side too, telling reporters he received a message from someone on social media threatening to "find my kids and murder them" after his start against the Cincinnati Reds on May 10. On Monday, the Houston Police Department said the man was identified as an overseas bettor, who lost money on the Astros and was intoxicated when he sent McCullers the message.
Again, loser behavior.
Listen, I understand some people rely on betting to make ends meet, and some people struggle with addiction that causes them to gamble money they shouldn't. And while I don't know if any of that applies to the above scenarios, I understand, I sympathize with people fighting those demons. But none of that makes any of this OK, and we can't normalize this kind of behavior. It's exactly why NCAA president Charlie Baker wants to get rid of prop betting in college sports, because you can rest assured it doesn't end with professional athletes who are better equipped to handle these sometimes scary scenarios.
If people need help to control their impulses, they should get it. But in no world is it OK for athletes to be subjected to harassment and threats.
Belmont Stakes post position and odds
Morning line odds and post positions were revealed Monday for the Belmont Stakes, and to no one's surprise Journalism opened as the 8-5 favorite to win the final leg of horse racing's triple crown.
The Preakness Stakes winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up, Journalism is favored ahead of Derby winner Sovereignty, who returns as the second favorite at 2-1 odds after sitting out the Preakness.
Hill Road (10-1) Sovereignty (2-1) Rodriguez (6-1) Uncaged (30-1) Crudo (15-1) Baeza (4-1) Journalism (8-5) Heart of Honor (30-1)
French Open quarters
The French Open quarterfinals got underway this morning, so now feels like a good time to talk about Lois Boisson, the French woman who upset 3-seed Jessica Pegula.
Boisson had +50000 odds to win this tournament -- tied for the worst odds in the entire field. Now, she's set to play 6-seed Mirra Andreeva, who opened with the fifth-best odds at +1000. Boisson remains an incredible long-shot at +550 to beat Andreeva and +6600 to win it all, but after her run to the quarters, she might be the most interesting player to watch this round.
If Boisson is the single most interesting player in the quarters, the most interesting match might be the one between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev later Wednesday, which is basically a pick 'em at BetMGM where Djokovic is -115 to win and Zverev is -105. They opened the tournament as two of the four biggest favorites to win -- though the early meeting with Djokovic has dropped Zverez behind 8-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, who moved from +10000 odds to +1200 in his run to the quarterfinals.
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