Gambling in Youth Sports

Youth sports are suppose to be a way for kids in the community to make friends and compete in sports they like. And in many places this is how it is, a good competition among other kids from the surrounding areas. But in some areas like South Florida people use these kids as money makers in gambling schemes. These kids begin to play and all around them people watch intently while money is being distributed between the parents and "fans" of the teams. "Groups of men in their 20s and 30s fill the stands and sidelines, to the point that passers-by must jostle for space as they walk along fences separating the bleachers from the field. And then something else becomes obvious: Wads of bills start switching hands; cheers and fist pumps are followed by exchanges of money; and men debate how much to put down next time. Marijuana smoke is often in the air, and adults walk around with cups of alcohol seemingly without concern." Explains Paula Lavigne from ESPN. Activity that you probably don't see outside of closed doors is now being brought to pee wee football games, just let that sink in. These men are betting on 5 to 15 year old boys who haven't developed into true athletes yet and are using their athletic potential to make money. Places like this show that youth sports isn't all fair game and good competition, people have large sums of money invested in their kids to do good and that's too much pressure for a 15 year old let alone a 5 year old. Of course 5 year old's don't truly grasp the concept but when they grow the expectations for them will grow and there could be repercussions later on in their playing careers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvp28IkXWE This is the ESPN Outside the Lines investigation on youth sports betting in South Florida, really paints a dark picture on youth sports in that part of the country.

Comments for Kids

This organization Comments for Kids gives us an opportunity as writers to get professional opinions on our writing, giving insight on how they like a writing style or tips for the future. This is a great way to get exposure of our writing and help us become better writers. A simple comment on a post can make a kids day knowing that someone other then his peers or his teacher actually enjoyed the post. A positive comment shows that you genuinely care and like what they have written and for a kid that is really cool to see that someone appreciates their writing. I believe if executed right the comments can be very helpful to kids, as a professional with the right opinions or just a nice comment to give them confidence to keep writing is what Comments for Kids is all about.

Big Profits from the Pink Movement

As many know the NFL "paints the town pink" in October in support of breast cancer. While it is out of respect for those who have fought the disease and those still fighting it, it is a big money maker for the NFL. Using a symbol like the breast cancer ribbon or the color pink in general can make companies lots of money. The NFL sells all sorts of pink products guaranteeing a donation to cancer research but as you look closer the amount they actually donate does not even compare to their profits of these pink items. Karuna Jagger the leader of Think Before You Pink campaign which monitors breast cancer programs states that the NFL does not even announce what percentage of their product goes to research and says that if they donate anything it is not even enough to make an impact. So while you think the pink product you are buying is helping the cause it may just be lining the NFL's pockets. By the time you are done buying your pink Eagles hat with the pink Nike towel and the pink receiver gloves the players wear you have spent probably close to $150. As far as we know the NFL keeps all profits and uses breast cancer awareness month as a big money maker. I always thought that the NFL gave at least some of their profits to research but never realized how dismal their donations were. The NFL has the money to really fund a big movement to fight and stop this horrible cancer but like most they're just in it for the money.

The Good Side of the Pink Movement

The pink movement in the month of October for breast cancer awareness month gives us a good way to show our support for awareness. In the NFL in October everything is accented with pink to show awareness to the illness. NFL players wear anything from pink towels, pink cleats, pink gloves all in support of breast cancer. The color pink is warming and symbolizes safety in a nasty disease where everyone affected is shaken by treatments and seeing the support of the NFL during this month gives people fighting hope and survivors the respect they deserve for fighting breast cancer. The spirit of wearing pink in fighting breast cancer is a good step but if you dive deeper into the movement you see not everything is how it seems. The month of October is a time of remembrance and time of hope for people fighting breast cancer but unfortunately it is also used for profit by big companies and the NFL is one of them.

Chase Utley's Controversial Slide

In the seventh inning of the second game of NLDS Chase Utley slides into Ruben Tejada to break up the double play. What is a common occurrence in the MLB today can be viewed by many as wrong and bad for the sport. Utley did not even go near the bag he was going directly for Tejada and that's targeting, and the result of the slide was Tejada breaking his leg. So now the Mets are down their starting shortstop the rest of the postseason in result to a dirty play. Utley is suspended for 2 games and is appealing it as if he did nothing wrong, as a baseball player sliding at someone is common and fair but when the shortstop isn't near the bag at all sliding towards them is cheap. Most people would view this as ethnically wrong to try and take out another human for the sake of saving an out, and especially in a situation were the injury risk is very high. But professional baseball players see Chase Utley's slide as getting the job done and the Dodgers rallied and won the game. Instead of a 2-0 going home to New York the Mets are tied up at one game a piece in big thanks to Chase Utley.

How ESPN and CBS should handle DFS

ESPN and CBS known sports news sources with a tie to daily fantasy sports. When you watch or go on either ones website you can't go a few seconds without noticing an ad for either site. With the recent allegations against the daily fantasy sites for insider trading and the debate whether it is gambling or not. For all we know daily fantasy sports could be hit hard with penalties and could be considered gambling and it will soon be a thing of the past. But the nature of this new style of fantasy sports may be too beastly to stop. More and more people are getting fed up with dealing with a full year team because injuries are so prevalent so people turn to daily sports. No injuries to worry about, small buy ins and big pay outs are great ways to attract fans to play. Despite all the controversy of insider trading daily fantasy sports had their biggest week ever coming in week 5 of the NFL season. Though only a few win just a dollar or two to play every week has fans coming back and that trend will continue. These ads make ESPN and CBS money and more and more people are joining these leagues weekly the ads will help their companies as well.

Daily Fantasy Scandal

Daily fantasy sports are an exciting new way to watch sports but one thing is becoming more and more difficult and that is winning any money. There is such a hierarchy in daily fantasy sports where the top guys always come home with the money. A recent Draft Kings employee used his insider information in a FanDuel  league and won $350,000. Many people view this as insider trading, using prior knowledge to pick the perfect players so you can win. This shows me that the companies hold all the power and know how to win at their sites while most people do not. The real winners are the pockets of the big guns at these daily fantasy sites but their outlook isn't as clear as it used to be. The government is tracking down to see if this is a game of chance or a game of skill and if the insiders already know and win all the money it isn't gambling its fixed. They make it so simple to pick your team and enter leagues but the number of people that actually make money is minimal except for the few "pros" and those who get insider information.

Throwing at Hitters

An unethical part of baseball is throwing at batters. When a pitcher feels that a batter is showing him up or previously did something to bother him the pitcher may come high and in to him a few times til he hits him. This is unethical because it causes harm to the player but at the same time it is a prevalent part of baseball today, if you don't play the game the right way then you could be beamed. For these actions pitchers can get ejected from the game, fined for their actions and even suspended. In last nights Wild Card game the Pirates vs. Cubs, the Cubs had a 4-0 lead in the 7th when Arrieta stepped up to the plate. First pitch Watson hits Arriteta with a pitch on the arm. The one thing that fires up a team is hitting their pitcher, benches cleared and Arrieta answered by throwing a complete game shutout to advance his Cubs to the next round. Arrieta did nothing wrong he was just really good at frustrating the Pirate hitters and was hit to try and fire up the Pirates because they had been shut down all night.