Laughable Gazette 'editorial' decries Toga college day

[2MinsToPost]

Originally Posted by geeker2

Clearly someone lacks an understanding of Addiction.

I love the reference to Art Schlichter in the comments section as if his childhood was a perfect example of child rearing.

He now covers college football for a local radio station, it appears he has really turned his life around.

[geeker2]

Originally Posted by 2MinsToPost

He now covers college football for a local radio station, it appears he has really turned his life around.

That is fantastic news -

[GenuineRisk]

What's infuriating to me about the sanctimonious "but think of the innocent children" tone of the article is that far more financial damage has been done to college kids by the credit card industry aggressively marketing to incoming freshmen who don't understand what they're getting into. Gambling at the track is much simpler- make the wrong choice, you lose your money. But let's pick on the racing industry instead, because that's easy and safe.

And yeah, as someone posted earlier, clearly the writer has no understanding of addiction.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

What's infuriating to me about the sanctimonious "but think of the innocent children" tone of the article is that far more financial damage has been done to college kids by the credit card industry aggressively marketing to incoming freshmen who don't understand what they're getting into. Gambling at the track is much simpler- make the wrong choice, you lose your money. But let's pick on the racing industry instead, because that's easy and safe.

And yeah, as someone posted earlier, clearly the writer has no understanding of addiction.

What's infuriating to me is that the Gazette just got 100 times more web hits than they do in a normal week by posting this rubbish. So what does everyone think they will post more of?

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

What's infuriating to me about the sanctimonious "but think of the innocent children" tone of the article is that far more financial damage has been done to college kids by the credit card industry aggressively marketing to incoming freshmen who don't understand what they're getting into. Gambling at the track is much simpler- make the wrong choice, you lose your money. But let's pick on the racing industry instead, because that's easy and safe.

And yeah, as someone posted earlier, clearly the writer has no understanding of addiction.

I hear you. Those poor innocent babes are binge drinking like there's no tomorrow. They have less healthy habits than gambling already.

It's been a problem for me for years. My state figures we'll all end up in the gutter if we have gambling (nevermind that there's a Harrah's down the street on the reservation). Since I can't get TVG or HRTV (again, cable company doesn't want me to use it as a gateway to, I dunno, heroin) I have to scrounge around the internet as best I can nowadays. Can't have a satellite dish in my current situation. I'd probably have trouble hanging out at a racetrack, even if we had one, without folks thinking I was a degenerate. They freak about poker as it is. I'm wary about telling people horse racing is my favorite sport because they flat out judge you, even as they plunk down cash for the NCAA tournament.

It's hard to dispute how integral betting is to the sport and how fun it can be to have an "I told you so" where you earn money, but then amongst ourselves we talk about improving the breed and things that are chalk full of romantic ideals for this sport which to me could use a different pitch maybe then strictly 'hey kids come gamble!' Is there a way we could romanticize it just a smidge? For me? I want them feeling something more than 'yes! I won $500!' when they watch something incredible, e.g. when Tiznow won the 2001 BC Classic. Something should stir in there. Let them know it will, that we don't just want their money (even though we could really use it and who are we kidding we do really really want their money). Tell them there's magic to be had, or at least mention it a bit instead of expecting them to stumble on it once they get there. Of course sometimes I wonder if enough people are into that as much as they are just getting the cash out of the college kids' wallets.

[Linny]

All those kids are betting on sports and poker but racing is a no-no.
The attitude is the same as the state's which encourages lotteries (I think there are about 5 different lotteries in NY) and is happy to have slots revenue and racing revenue, but which then passes legislation restricting tracks and OTB's. For example, the slots were humming along on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday while tracks and OTB's are forced to be closed.