Bob Lobel: So, Gambling is Okay Now? The NFL & MLB's Hypocrisy over DraftKings & FanDuel

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

There is no such thing as a good bye week. 

Not anymore, not since NFL football became an engine running the economy. This is now a week for local restraint in pulling out the wallet.

But wait, Sunday is back to the screen, as the newest crazy game to grip our nation continues to explode, at least until they all go to jail: DraftKings and FanDuel.

They both seem a little sketchy to me, but I just shrug my shoulders and move on. I have never been smart enough or, more importantly, brave enough to gamble. I guess you can't be afraid to lose. That’s my built-in don’t gamble mode. 

So we just sit back and watch the ads, where millions show up daily and promise you will join them in the bank vault. Not to be, I don’t think. How long will football partner with a gambling driven game via massive amounts of advertising on Sundays? Even worse, Major League Baseball is an actual partner.

What's the difference between that and the 1919 Black Sox who were banned from baseball for life? How about Pete Rose? This is a more important and clear message to those who follow baseball.

Realize that gambling poses a much greater threat to the game's future, see your cheatin’ heart swing into action without even a mention of air pressure in a ball. 

I mean really. It's clearly enough to just let that Brady business disappear. I also think that, based on  pure observation and listening to the reporters out there, good teams are pretty scarce. There is more respect for what Brady continues to accomplish than that West Coast thing, that if you're not cheating, your not trying.  

How damn lucky are we? It's now all football to the end, and most of us see New England as the last one standing, again!  

Injury is the real enemy, besides stupidly thrown cheap shots on the field.  This takes up the parts of our brain that see David Ortiz, Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. in our dreams at night.   

We have become a demanding culture since all the winning started. What more can I say except that not winning is not enough. It doesn’t bring out the best in us, for sure. It's an itch that can't be  scratched. 

If you're like me, I can see real 5-tool talent in the players your Sox are bringing back. They are so good that players like Hanley Rameriz and Panda guy just don’t have a place here. 

A long and brutal winter lies between today and the start of Spring Training. No doubt the next spring Red Sox team will be nothing like this year's, except the manager will be back.