By Artur Davis, on Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET 
Artur Davis‘ First Reponse
[The RP’s Provocation, Artur Davis’s Rebuttal #1; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #2; Natasha Dow Schüll’s Analysis; Spectrum Gaming Group’s Analysis; Jason Grill’s Rebuttal #3; The RP’s First Defense; Jason Grill’s First Response]
I would add just a little to Jonathan’s arguments against sports gambling, which I think are entirely correct. The NCAA struggles to police the rules that exist today; it is a notoriously weak investigator without subpoena power, and I cant’t imagine the strains it would face if policing the ties between amateurs and more powerful, more nationalized gambling interests were part of it’s charter.
It’s worth examining the question of why the current regime of legalized sports betting in a few jurisdictions doesn’t pose the same risks. In fairness to Jason Grill’s case, there are enormous sums of gambling money at work today, and it’s been over 25 years since there was a bona-fide betting scandal in college sports. The true answer is that we don’t know what changing the scale of sports betting would do to incentivize corruption; in my mind, however, that’s a strike in it’s own right. If we guess wrong, the likelihood is an irreparable stain on amateur athletics. It’s also likely that, as I have argued in the context of legalizing marijuana, criminals are far more likely to bend their business model to profit from looser regulations, than they are to forfeit a lucrative market altogether.
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The RPs Debate Gambling: Artur Davis Responds
By Jason Grill, on Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET  Jason Grill‘s First Response
[The RP’s Provocation, Artur Davis’s Rebuttal #1; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #2; Natasha Dow Schüll’s Analysis; Spectrum Gaming Group’s Analysis; Jason Grill’s Rebuttal #3; The RP’s First Defense]
Sports gambling & betting is widespread and common place in our country and it’s being done illegally every minute.
It’s immoral not to legalize it and give states the option to reap the economic benefits of it for all of its citizens and visitors.
On Jonathan’s college argument:
The FBI estimates that more than $2.5 billion is illegally wagered annually on the NCAA basketball tournament each year. However, Nevada sportsbook operators estimate close to $90 million or less than 4 percent of illegal betting on March Madness is wagered legally on the tournament in their state.
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The RPs Debate Gambling: Jason Grill Responds
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 1:00 PM ET The RP‘s First Defense
[The RP’s Provocation, Artur Davis’s Rebuttal #1; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #2; Natasha Dow Schüll’s Analysis; Spectrum Gaming Group’s Analysis; Jason Grill’s Rebuttal #3]
I guess it’s fitting that the guy who opened up this can of worms will be the first to try to shut it a bit.
I’m agnostic about Jason’s idea when it is applied to professional sports. I think players are paid too much these days for the threat of Black Sox-era thrown ballgames return. Pete Rose’s stupidity is the modern exception; when most professional players cheat today, it is in reference to the substances they ingest or inject, not the influence of gamblers and loan sharks.
My problem with Jason’s argument is how it applies to college athletics. I’ve written at this site — and more recently both Taylor Branch and Joe Nocera have written brilliant searing, substantive essays — about corruption in college sports, particularly of the extraordinary unfairness towards the unpaid athletes who are earning universities and their coaches millions of dollars.
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The RPs Debate Gambling: The RP Defends
By Jason Grill, on Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 11:30 AM ET Jason Grill: Rebuttal #3
[The RP’s Provocation, Artur Davis’s Rebuttal #1; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #2; Natasha Dow Schüll’s Analysis; Spectrum Gaming Group’s Analysis]
Lets change the direction of this debate a little bit.
It’s all about sports gambling ladies and gentlemen.
As a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, I sponsored a resolution calling on Congress to repeal the Federal Professional And Amateur Sports Promotion Act of 1992 (PASPA). The 1992 law prohibited all but four states from offering sports gambling. The four states exempted from this act were Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon.
Missouri currently allows twelve gambling casinos in the State. They should have the option to put a sportsbook in each one of them. The federal law is outdated and is truly discriminatory towards 46 other states. These states should have the option to share in the major economic and revenue benefits that sports betting can provide.
Guess what…The Super Bowl is this week. Lets take a look at a few stats…
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The RPs Debate Gambling: Jason Grill Rebuts
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Fri Jan 27, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET The coaching carousel keeps on moving in the NFL – the latest hire was made by the Tampa Bay Bucs. They ending up signing Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano over Mike Sherman. The Bucs organization has made quite a few rounds while searching for a new coach, but Schiano outlasted the other candidates (including the ones that took other positions). [ESPN]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
The best day of football all season, Championship Sunday, is in the books and we were treated to two outstanding games. The Giants edged out the 49ers in overtime and the Patriots narrowly avoided going to overtime with the Ravens when Billy Cundiff missed a relatively easy 32 yard field goal to tie the game. Here are some judgments to help you break down what happened this past weekend. [CBS Sports]
Here is Peter King’s weekly analysis in his MMQB column. See what he thought about Sunday’s games and his impressions of the matchups going forward. (Pro-tip: there are some links on the first page to other quality analysis) [Sports Illustrated]
John Clayton plays Q&A on the Super Bowl XLVI matchup. [ESPN]
Joe Paterno passed away this weekend. The legendary coach lost his battle with cancer. No matter what you may think about his actions and what transpired at Penn State during the Jerry Sandusky years it is always rough to see someone die in disgrace. [Yahoo! Sports]
As is common around this time of year players are getting added to the Pro Bowl roster to replace injured players and others that might be playing in the Super Bowl. One of the big names that was added was rookie QBs Cam Newton. [National Football Post]
After a disappointing first round exit from the playoffs Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians announced his retirement. Or did he? There are some reports that the OC that helped the Steelers to two Super Bowls was let go so that the team could go in a different direction on offense. [ESPN]
By Jason Grill, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 4:00 PM ET  Jason Grill: Rebuttal #10
[The RP’s Provocation; Artur Davis’ Rebuttal #1; Rod Jetton’s Rebuttal #2; John Y. Brown, III’s Rebuttal #3; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #4; Robert Kahne’s Rebuttal #5; Artur Davis’ First Response; Michael Steele’s Rebuttal #6; The RP’s First Defense; David Host’s Rebuttal #7; Zack Adams’ Rebuttal #8; Artur Davis’ Second Response; Rod Jetton’s First Response; Ron Crandall’s Rebuttal #9]
Looks like this issue has almost been completely hashed out. Interesting responses and creativity throughout this entire debate on the RP.
Now, since I am charged with the late two-minute drill, let’s talk football:
Is it Tebow Time?
The Facts…
The Great: Career College Passing: 661 Cmp, 995 Att, 9285 Yds, 88 TD. Career College Rushing: 692 Att, 2947 Yds, 4.3 Avg, 57 TD, Heisman Award Winner (2007), BCS National Championship Winner (2007, 2009), 1st round NFL draft pick.
The Good: 8-6 as an NFL starting QB and 1-1 in the NFL playoffs.
The Bad: 18th QB scoring in Fantasy Football in 2011 (This is important to millions including me), ranked 32nd QB in passing yards (1,729), ranked 28th QB in overall rating (72.9), and ranked 34th QB in completion % (46.5) in 2011.
Tim Tebow is one of the best college QB’s of all time, but he is a below average NFL QB. Tebow will only continue to have a winning record in the NFL if his team’s running game and defense are great. In 2011, Denver finished 4th in the NFL in rushing and 6th in total defense.
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The RPs Debate Tim Tebow: Jason Grill Rebuts
By Artur Davis, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 2:30 PM ET Artur Davis‘ Second Response
[The RP’s Provocation; Artur Davis’ Rebuttal #1; Rod Jetton’s Rebuttal #2; John Y. Brown, III’s Rebuttal #3; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #4; Robert Kahne’s Rebuttal #5; Artur Davis’ First Response; Michael Steele’s Rebuttal #6; The RP’s First Defense; David Host’s Rebuttal #7; Zack Adams’ Rebuttal #8]
He underscores why Tebow’s brand of religiosity has lasting political relevance. The Focus on the Family ad is so effective because it attacks the pro-choice movement in one of its strongest places–abortions related to medical risks for the mother or fetus. Typically, the pro-life cause has dodged this line of attack in favor of a focus on abortions as a fallback when birth control fails, or abortions deep in the third trimester.
That the ad works so well, that it did not even strike many of its viewers as intensely political or even anti-choice, is an adman’s dream. And that’s no slight to Tebow or his mother; its actually a nod to the power of their testimony. But as Zack Adams appreciates, the ad is an argument for restricting or even criminalizing a different choice than Mrs. Tebow made. It’s not a plea for compromise; its a plea for codifying the value of unborn life even in the most morally complex, scientifically ambiguous context. With r espect to Jonathan, calling it something less than that probably understates what the Tebows and Focus on the Family meant to say.
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The RPs Debate Tim Tebow: Artur Davis Responds
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET Zack Adams: Rebuttal #8
[The RP’s Provocation; Artur Davis’ Rebuttal #1; Rod Jetton’s Rebuttal #2; John Y. Brown, III’s Rebuttal #3; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #4; Robert Kahne’s Rebuttal #5; Artur Davis’ First Response; Michael Steele’s Rebuttal #6; The RP’s First Defense; David Host’s Rebuttal #7]
As a liberal with no religion, how I feel about Tebow’s existence in popular culture mirrors how I feel about, let’s say, Justin Beiber. What they do is somewhat annoying to me, but what is far more bothersome is the level of coverage they are given and how much I have to hear about their antics. Of course, I fully respect Tim’s rights to practice his religious beliefs and honestly, he seems like one of the nicest guys in the world. However, like Robert, I find his personal brand of Christianity to be a turn-off.
By RP Nation, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET David Host’s Rebuttal #7
[The RP’s Provocation; Artur Davis’ Rebuttal #1; Rod Jetton’s Rebuttal #2; John Y. Brown, III’s Rebuttal #3; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #4; Robert Kahne’s Rebuttal #5; Artur Davis’ First Response; Michael Steele’s Rebuttal #6]; The RP’s First Defense]
It seems like the overwhelming consensus of the previous posts is that Tim Tebow is a decent, compassionate person who has the right to share what appear to be genuinely held religious beliefs.
In his thoughtful lead-off piece, Jonathan Miller ventured significantly further, suggesting that Tebow’s example might offer a bridge between evangelical Christianity and other faiths.
Notwithstanding the constructive and enlightening commentary that has characterized this debate, I wonder about the identity of the central question we are discussing. From a public policy and sociological perspective, which is more important – Tim Tebow’s personal character or his right to celebrate his faith when and where he chooses? I remain concerned that in focusing so much upon the former, we risk unintentionally imposing “reasonableness” criteria and/or a “sincerity test” upon matters of conscience.
To be clear, I am not implying that anyone has proposed banning or even curtailing individual religious expression at sporting events (though some of the measures that schools have taken to enforce the “separation of church and state” seem to come perilously close).
Nevertheless, the biting and often mocking criticism Tebow has endured in the media seems like it could produce a chilling effect – certainly not upon Tebow himself, but instead upon those who come after him. As other athletes contemplate whether (and how) to express their faith, do we really want them to worry about whether their personal lives can withstand a media probe for hypocrisy?
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