State-sponsored legal sports books could be coming your way soon. The Supreme Court opened that door by correctly, in my humble opinion, ruling in favor of New Jersey in its case against the major sports leagues and the NCAA to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 as unconstitutional.
Surprisingly, this whole thing had to go all the way to the Supreme Court. It should have been a non-starter to begin with. How could Congress pass a law that made sports betting illegal in all but one state and think that would pass the constitutionality test?
Perhaps more shocking is that it took 25 years for the poor piece of legislation to be overturned.
Gambling has been part of the framework of sports since the first Olympics were held in 760 B.C. The problem arises from unsavory characters who try to help determine the outcome of games in their favor.
But the government should solve all of that, right? No unsavory characters there.
At issue now is how all the money will be divvied up. The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA might have been dragged kicking and screaming into this thing, but you'd better believe they're going to want their cut.
It wasn't all that long ago, after all, I was at Foxborough Stadium and walked by about 1,000 DraftKings signs. Now that the spigot has been turned on, you can expect to see all kinds of advertisements dotting stadiums around the country.
The NFL is pushing Congress to act quickly to do something to regulate what is sure to be an industry that will generate billions of dollars of legal gambling.
"Congress has long-recognized the potential harms posed by sports betting to the integrity of sporting contests and the public confidence in these events," the league said in a written statement. "Given that history, we intend to call on Congress again, this time to enact a core regulatory framework for legalized sports betting. We also will work closely with our clubs to ensure that any state efforts that move forward in the meantime protect our fans and the integrity of our game."
The integrity of the game will be fine. You can bet -- no pun intended -- there will be a whole new level of governmental oversight to keep the unsavory elements away from the athletes. And this isn't 1919 when the White Sox players revolted and took money from gamblers to throw the World Series because they were underpaid.
Today's pro athletes are much better compensated than their contemporaries even 25 years ago. The average salary my first year covering the Steelers in 1993 jumped to $666,000 after being $484,000 the previous year as true free agency began to kick in. Last season, it was around $2.5 million.
Now, the NCAA, that's another matter ...
• No, I'm not in favor of paying college athletes for their services. On most campuses, they live in their own dorms in their own cafeteria with their own tutors. They get an education -- should they choose to take advantage of that opportunity -- for which most families wind up going into serious debt to pay.
That being said, college isn't for everyone. There should be another way for football and basketball players, in particular, to polish their game before turning pro as their counterparts in baseball and hockey do.
A minor league of sorts in both of those sports makes sense, but there's too much television revenue to be made to ever allow that to happen.
• If you're a Pitt fan, you have to be very happy with the job Jeff Capel has done thus far on the recruiting trail.
He's gotten some nice commitments thus far and, more importantly, hasn't shied away from going after five-star recruits as if he were still at Duke. His aim has been high.
It's kind of like dating. You never know if that 10 will go out with you if you don't ask. But you also have to be prepared for some rejection.
• Next week at this time, the Steelers will be kicking off the on-field portion of their OTAs. That should give us the first chance to see newcomers Morgan Burnett and Jon Bostic in action.
It also should start to give us an idea of how the Steelers intend to replace Ryan Shazier. Given that rookie Terrell Edmunds was thrown into the linebacker mix at rookie camp, it wouldn't surprise if he opens up next to Vince Williams right away in several packages.
• I was listening to a national fantasy baseball show while driving around Monday and they were talking about possible replacements for Robinson Cano. The subject of Josh Harrison came up and the two moron hosts began talking about the slow start to the season he's apparently had because he's available in so many leagues.
Yeah, a broken bone in your hand will do that.
I realize the Pirates aren't the Yankees, Red Sox or any of the other teams constantly on ESPN, but how can you not know an All-Star second baseman has been out for over a month?
That will end soon. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Harrison is pushing to return in time for next week's series in his hometown of Cincinnati.