Cosart Games
Current Miami Marlins Jarred Cosart probably bet on sports. I mean I’m pretty confident he definitely did but until that information is made public I’ll error on the side of caution. Anyone with a pulse who spent time on social media yesterday saw the same details reported in different ways from highly reputable media outlets. I’m here to say that unless Cosart bet on baseball, we actually don’t have a story at all.
It is not against MLB rules for players to legally bet on other sports.
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) March 25, 2015
During my time behind the counter at Caesars Palace I saw plenty of high profile faces, specifically athletes, walk to the counter to place bets. Athletes from all different sports came to our book during busy events betting everything from the ponies to the Superbowl to major prize fights. Let me be clear in heading off the rumors before they start; not a single time did an active athlete bet a sport with which he or she had an intimate connection under my watch. Had this taken place, myself along with my colleagues, would have had the responsibility to report said incident to the gambling control board.
Why is this relevant you ask? Young males, when given wealth (and not much direction in how to spend it) combined with a competitive drive to test themselves will always gravitate towards games of chance. Funny how that works when athletes play cards, roll dice, or sit at BJ tables that we somehow become surprised when they elect to put a little skin in the game during March Madness or the football season. Last I checked backdoor poker games aren’t exactly the most legal of recreational pursuits either. Before we get into Cosart’s allegations, I’m going to say with nearly 100% confidence there’s at least 1 fantasy football league or NCAA tournament pool taking place with money on the line in every professional locker room or clubhouse around the country right this very minute.
Jarred Cosart is 24 years old, he pitched for the Houston Astros last year before being traded to the Miami Marlins. I have no personal relationship with the starting pitcher but was once a 24 years old male myself and had plenty of buddies in and around professional sports at the time. New found wealth and a lot of free time create a perfect recipe for people to make questionable choices. Now Cosart’s situation is a bit different, he apparently sought out a pick seller hoping for some “insider” consulting knowledge to make a few bucks. That in and of itself is not illegal…however gambling with a bookie or offshore is indeed illegal (perish the thought!). Maybe this is what MLB is attempting to do, become the first pro sports organization to prosecute one of their own betting on games outside the state of Nevada. If you’re the MLB, what better way to make a strong statement than turn Cosart, an average arm, into a scapegoat for all the illegal sports wagering that takes place among professional baseball players as a potential scare tactic
Let’s now go 1 step further, not absolving Cosart of betting through an illegal bookmaker but dissecting the social critique of the individual that exposed the alleged dialogue. Rather than give him the gratification of including his twitter handle or picture of the tweet I think it’s somewhat obvious he wanted to use this story for personal gain. If the individual was worried about the integrity of the game or Cosart’s welfare he’d have elected to handle it in a much more discreet manner. Clearly there was an ulterior motive in disclosing the information to twitter where the masses could run with the story hoping he could see some sort of financial windfall. Hell it is twitter, everyone is a capitalist these days.
However I digress, that’s not the focal point of the story but instead the issue of sports gambling taking place behind closed doors. It should come as no surprise that I’ve always been and remain a proponent for legalized sports wagering for just this very reason. The ironic part of this is that Cosart wasn’t even caught gambling rather trying to solicit information on the topic that incited a riot. I’m obviously not a complete dumbass (most of the time) so where there’s smoke there’s potentially fire and MLB needs to investigate his wagering but unless Cosart directly impacted the outcome of a major league baseball game in which he had control or violated rules of MLB’s conduct policy, where’s the harm in betting a few bucks on a college basketball game like the rest of America? Last time I checked it’s a lot better situation to handle internally than when we have to send pro athletes in front of a jury of their own peers for domestic assault, performance enhancing drugs, or something worse that reflect a lot more poorly on the American past time than a hoops wager. Unless Cosart bet on baseball the story that took over twitter really isn’t a story at all just another case of why sports gambling should be legalized and regulated on a national level.
