In essence, gambling on a sporting event is making a judgement call on the result, having taken into account which players are on each team, or which individuals are in the contest, such as a tennis or a squash match.
Gambling is not in any way a crime in Australia. Indeed, the society thrives on gambling in every sphere of society as many a school P&C raises funds by raffle ticket sales.
Fetes of one kind or another are replete gambling options such as the famous chocolate wheel or guessing the number of marbles or lollies in the glass bottle, and such similar antics, all in order to raise a few dollars for a good cause.
I recall when our eldest was in first grade at school in the early '80s and there was a school class room event (a form of gambling) where a child would win 'whatever it was'. This concerned me as a parent as in my world view it was giving the subliminal message to these tiny tots that gambling was quite OK. There was no moral 'other view' provided.
When I raised this with the teacher, the response wasn't to give the class another option, rather it was to set aside my child and tell the class she wasn't allowed to participate in this specific bit of class fun. The teacher turned it against me and therefore, on my little girl for even making a reasoned comment.
I realised at that point the system was out of whack even at that tiny tot level, that gambling wasn't something that only affected big people, it was insidious and tackled even the most venerable.
This is why I support the efforts of the Reverend Tim Costello of World Vision Australia and the anti-gambling lobby and that of the political energy expended to restrict poker machine operations in Australia. It is obvious that one person cannot do this alone, it needs a joint effort by diverse groups who have witnessed the suffering and hardship that gambling encapsulates. It's been said before, that Jesus comes into many a heart and therefore the household, and it's turned a gambling addiction into school shoes.
When it comes to Sport and Gambling, it is not difficult to see why (ABC Radio National Radio program) the English County Cricket Board has alleged corruption against a county fast bowler who bowled conspicuously "wides" at given times in the match to which, they imagine huge profits were made through illegal betting on the sub-continent.
Imagine this scenario. A lad who may never reach the heights of international cricket is provided an opportunity to make the kind of money he's only ever dreamed about by bowling a specific number of "no balls" at given points in the match. Well, every fast bowler does a no-ball from time to time, that's nothing unusual, and who's being hurt by it any way?
The ABC Radio National program cited another situation of a $240,000 bet on a local Canadian junior sports game. This wasn't even a major league event, nor was it a state fixture, just a junior club match.
Imagine the scenario of someone saying to the two lead players, young children, they'll get the latest electronic communications gismo if they fall short in their efforts, hey, no big deal. Do better next week.
What's being conveyed to these young people is that dishonesty in sport is not the great big sin they've been led to believe. It's a marginal adjustment to one's sporting endeavours, construed as a miscalculation, and who doesn't experiment, it's all part of improving your performance.
The rewards for this kind of bad behaviour and moral lapse can be astronomical. Therefore where does the line between honesty and dishonesty lie for the rest of life's little adventures?
This therefore is the ultimate issue for everyone. Each person in some way loses somewhere down the track when huge amounts of money are gained through cheating. The young athlete, in another scenario, cheats similarly at university (pays for someone else to do the research for the assignments), becomes an engineer, hasn't grasped the full potent of a miscalculation, and the bridge eventually collapses killing people.
Sport and gambling affects everyone at some point in time.