U.S. senators introduce gambling legislation to campuses
Kate Nagengast
news writer
Lawmakers worry that most amateur athletes, under constant pressure to perform well academically and athletically, feel unneeded pressure from gamblers and bookies. To combat this issue, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas introduced legislation last week to make wagering on college athletics illegal.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Leahy and Brownback said that amateur athletes deserve to be protected from the possibility that their games could be fixed. Leahy specifically mentioned the "vulnerable position [college athletes are in] that threatens their integrity [and] the integrity of their schools."
Kevin Pendergast, a former football and soccer player at Notre Dame, proved this vulnerability when, following his graduation from Notre Dame, he conspired with members of Northwestern's basketball team to fix three games during the 1994-95 season.
In response, Notre Dame's athletes and sports administrators have joined with other universities nationwide to support of The High School and College Gambling Prohibition Action introduced by Leahy and Brownback. The Act proposes to outlaw gambling on high school, college and Olympic sports. Additionally, the Act would force newspapers to stop publishing betting lines on college games, and eliminate any confusion regarding which states allow such betting and which do not.
"Certainly we would be in favor of such [legislation], especially given some of the incidences that have occurred … namely the most recent Northwestern situation," said John Heisler, Notre Dame's assistant athletic director and director of sports information.
However, Notre Dame is working to make Pendergast's experience an educational one. "All of our student-athletes have been well educated on [the risks of gambling involvement] through our Life Skills Program," Heisler said. "[The program] even involved Kevin Pendergast being here himself to talk about his own personal experiences and what he's been through."
"I don't look at who's favored I just go out there and play," said Troy Murphy, a forward for the Irish varsity basketball team. "But I did get something out of that [Life Skills] Program — it's one thing to have people tell you the facts, but to have someone come back and tell you their personal experiences. It makes it a little more real, that it could truly impact someone here at Notre Dame."
"It is hard to find something more compelling than that: someone who was here as one of our most successful student-athletes telling his story. It proves that it happen here; it can happen anywhere," Heisler said.
According to The Chronicle, NCAA officials concede that far more money is bet illegally across the country and every campus has student bookies.
"I think [the legislation is a good idea] but I still think people would [gamble] illegally … people might find a way around it," Murphy said.
"It's an ongoing thing that you need to remind people of, there can sometimes be a tendency to think this is something that you don't have to consider, but there have been enough high profile incidences to raise consciousness among everyone," said Heisler. "Many institutions are wondering how we can raise awareness among our student athletes — that's what we hope Life Skills is doing."
All News Stories for Monday, February 14, 2000
