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How will NCAA handle Supreme Court ruling?

By Bill Hughes for The 4 min read
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The Supreme Court of the United States voted 6-3 last Monday to overturn the ban on sports gambling.

The court ruled in favor of the state of New Jersey, which had filed a lawsuit attempting to get sports betting legalized.

Prior to Monday, Nevada was the only state with legalized sports gambling before the ruling.

“While we are still reviewing the implications to college sports, we will adjust sports wagering and championship policies to align with the direction of the court,” NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said in a statement to Jill Martin of CNN.

The NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL all released statements on the situation.

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 banned state-sponsored wagers on sports. Nevada and other states with limited forms of sports gambling were grandfathered into the law.

The Supreme Court ruled PASPA unconstitutional with its ruling

“Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own,” the Supreme Court outlined in its ruling. “Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution.

“PASPA is not.”

The Supreme Court initially declined to take New JerseyĢƵ case in 2014, however, the state continued its push and 20 different states offered their support to New Jersey.

However, some politicians have already stated that they will fight the ruling as it contradicts what the NCAA stands for.

“The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering, which has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community,” the NCAA posted on its website at http://www.ncaa.org/enforcement/sports-wagering.

On one hand, people scoff at comments like that from the NCAA as it brings in billions of dollars each year, yet is scrutinized because of how it pockets all of the money while the “student-athletes” are rewarded only with college scholarships.

(While I do feel that money-generating sports like big-time college football and big-time menĢƵ college basketball should provide its student-athletes with more than just scholarship money, Title IX thwarts that option.)

The fear for many involved with college athletes is that now players have a way to make money on the games they play in. Point spreads are available everywhere, including on College Gameday every Saturday morning through Chris “Bear” Fallica, who picks winners based on the point spread.

Anyone who thinks that college football players and college basketball players will not have people reaching out doesn’t realize how these types of things work. For years, athletes have gambled on games through others and now it appears to be that much closer to being legal.

Malone finishes strong season

Connellsville native Jimmy Malone recently finished his sophomore season as the ace of the Saint Vincent staff.

He led the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference with 79.0 innings pitched, finished fourth with five wins, fourth in opposing batting average (.252), fifth in strikeouts (46) and second in pickoffs (two).

Against top-seeded Washington & Jefferson in the PAC tournament, Malone threw a 110-pitch complete game in a 4-2 win.

Malone, who is majoring in Business Management with a minor in Operational Excellence, finished first-team All-PAC after finishing on the second team a year ago.

“All of the accolades mean a lot to me and they let me know that my hard work is paying off while motivating me to strive and do better,” Malone said. “This summer and off-season, I hope to gain more arm strength to add velocity to my fastball and to continue to develop my change-up.”

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