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Dog days
The summer doldrums have hit to the point that SEC media days look intriguing.
They are not, of course, and answers are predictability boring.
That said, let’s embrace one of the tangential great things about the NIL reversal over the last few years.
Thursday is round two of the reinvented EA Sports College Football video game.
And I’m like a preteen on Christmas Eve.
Man, this franchise is truly great. It got me thinking about all the wonderful memories sports video games have had for me.
My first video game love — it became a summer addiction — was Mike Tyson’s “Punchout” in the late 1980s on the original Nintendo system.
There was “Baseball Stars” too, which was the first video game I can recall that allowed players to improve.
There was “RBI Baseball” and the standing offer I made in college about playing “Super Tecmo Bowl” against anyone with hundreds of dollars on the line.
Heck, the connection was even earlier than that. Intellivision baseball and football games were part of my childhood in Smyrna. And the old arcade “Track and Field” video game collected countless young 5-at-10 quarters and tokens at “the Space Shuttle,” which was our neighborhood arcade.
So color me excited for Thursday. I may be as absent as Chas during the comments section of our show on that day.
(And of course I will be taking Auburn to the natty in dynasty mode.)
Strange times
Maybe it’s the crazy heat and the long sun-splashed afternoons, but we find ourselves in early July looking toward Gilbert Arenas as the real voice of reason.
Yes, that Gilbert Arenas — the former NBA all-star and All-NBA selection who last played in the NBA 13 years ago.
Yes, the same Gilbert Arenas who got into a gun dispute in the Washington Wizards locker room — makes us thankful they changed their name from Bullets, I guess — with a teammate.
Yes, that Gilbert Arenas, who now is a podcasting star and delivered the best rationale for the rocky relationship between the majority of WNBA players and superstar Caitlin Clark.
“Y’all are eating because of her,” Arenas said on his show. “This is what you wanted. This is what you needed. We’re not watching because of your talent–we’re watching because someone came in that everybody wants to see. Now we can see your talent because the spotlight is finally on you.”
The TV numbers, the cities clamoring for expansion franchises, the overall interest has soared because of Clark, and anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.
Heck, the players are looking for more and better contracts as they renegotiate their collective bargaining agreement with owners.
And that, more than everything else, screams to Clark’s undeniable value.
Hate her because she’s popular if you must, WNBA foes, but know this: Clark’s rising tide of popularity is raising all of your boats.
Big Beautiful Bill
The intersection of sports and politics is never completely avoidable.
Among its 940 pages, the Big Beautiful Bill includes a small part that could greatly impact sports betting in America.
Before the BBB, gamblers were allowed to deduct all of their losses against all of their winnings, which meant if you won more than you lost over the course of the year, you only paid taxes on your profits.
When Trump signs the current version of the BBB into law, gamblers will only be allowed to deduct 90% of their losses and be forced to pay taxes on 100% of their winnings.
So gamblers who have a losing year could still be forced to pay taxes if they report the transactions accurately.
As explained by a Nevada-based accountant in the above link, “a gambler with $950,000 worth of winning wagers and $1 million of losing ones would have to pay taxes on the $950,000 while being able to deduct only $900,000 of the losses — meaning he or she would be forced to pay taxes on $50,000 of “phantom income” despite having lost that much money in reality.”
Conversely, a successful year for major players could also be severely taxed.
Again from the above story, “The change poses an existential threat to professional sports bettors, known as “sharps,” because they typically grind out profits from narrow margins, wagering huge sums to make a living. Under the new bill, gamblers who win $1 million and lose $900,000 in a year will be able to deduct just $810,000 of those losses, meaning they will pay taxes on $190,000 despite taking home $100,000.”
Yikes.
And this is far from peanuts as the gambling industry continues to grow.
The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that reducing the tax deduction to 90% on losses will generate more than $1 billion over the next eight years.
Again, yikes.
You know what? With the growing “juice” on legalized wagers — the old-school way was paying a 10% vig on losses, but now almost every bet starts at minus-115 or even minus-120 — and now this, the neighborhood phone call to your local guy is becoming more and more attractive you know?
This and that
› You know the rules. Here’s Paschall with some UT football goodness and how the Vols’ preseason forecasts are not as sunny as last year with SEC media days approaching.
› Hey, Braves did not lose last night. Yay, Braves. (Yes, they did not play. They traveled to play the Cityless A’s.)
› Chef Boyardee’s brand just sold for $600 million. Man, the Chef’s beef ravioli was high on the rotation of food options for the young me.
Today’s questions
True or false, it’s Tuesday. Morning, Ernie.
› True or false, you will still play video games.
› True or false, you at one time played EA College Football or Madden.
› True or false, you can remember the name of your neighborhood arcade from your childhood.
› True or false, when Gilbert Arenas is the voice of reason, the public is truly confused.
› True or false, betting taxes and rising juice are more of a concern than players being involved in suspect wagering.
› True or false, the Braves need to burn it down and reboot.
You know the drill.
As for today, July 8, let’s review:
Roone Arledge, a sports broadcasting pioneer and the father of Monday Night Football, would have been 94 today.
Toby Keith would have been 64 today.
What would be Toby Keith’s Rushmore of tunes?
