I was reading different news articles about “spot fixing” in
cricket over the past few days. I know
what “match fixing” is but I never knew what spot fixing was until a few days
ago.
There is a difference between gambling and fixing. Gambling is placing bets on a team to win or
lose. In my opinion, it’s like buying a
lottery ticket – you may win or you may lose…but the probabilities are random.
On the other hand, match fixing and spot fixing are serious
offenses. Basically you’re cheating and
the bet is no longer random but heavily skewed in one direction. Making sure something is fixed and the
outcome is already pre-determined – well that makes you a cheater. By gambling on a fix, you are capitalizing on
the cheat. Like I said before, a serious
offense.
Pete Rose is a former professional American baseball player who is
very famous. Pete Rose to baseball, is
like Tendulkar to cricket or Beckham to soccer.
To say that Pete Rose loves playing baseball is quite an understatement. Let me give 2 examples of his love for
baseball.
1 - He once said in an interview that he will play baseball even
if no one paid him any money to play. He
loves the game so much that he’ll play for free. (I don’t think Tendulkar or Beckham will make
such a statement.)
2 – During his games, whenever he got a “Ball 4 - Walk”, he would
run as fast as he could to first base, instead of just walking to first base. (Non Baseball readers: If you do not
understand the game, it is OK). This is just
an example to show Pete’s enthusiasm for playing the game. He is like a 12 year old boy, playing a game
with friends on the weekend, in the middle of the street.
Because of his unique playing style (enthusiasm
of a school boy in a professional sport), Pete was nick named Charlie Hustle.
Pete should have been automatically elected to Baseball’s Hall of
Fame. However, there were accusations
and allegations that he gambled on baseball.
Therefore, he was banned from induction into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Gambling on baseball is legal in Las Vegas
Oh by the way, there is one final point I wanted to make about
Pete Rose’s gambling on baseball. What
kind of bets did Pete make? He always
made bets for his team to WIN. He never made
any bets for his team to lose.
Fixing happens when athletes lower their performance on purpose so
they look bad and the team looks bad (now they can make money by betting
against themselves). Pete always wanted
to win and also bet that way. Banning him is indeed a tragedy.
