The Staggering Problems of Online Sports Betting

When the state of Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, I was fairly certain it was a bad idea that would have far reaching residual effects that few proponents or voters expected. While I understood some of the reasoning behind the law, I thought decriminalizing weed would have been better and was likely as far as governments should go. In terms of vice, laws of prohibition are never quite as effective as they are hoped or touted to be, and they also have unforeseen residual effects that extend or exacerbate a problem rather than resolve it.

Legalized sports betting seemed to be less of a red flag when the Supreme Court paved the way by ending the ban in 2018. While I'm not a big gambler, I have certainly wagered on sports, participating in Super Bowl prop bets and, of course, March Madness with the ubiquitous world of "bracketology." And, even when I first started noticing ads for Draft Kings and Fan Duel, I had no serious unease about the legalization, as I did with weed. 

Alas, the gambling vice might be just as bad. 

Last week, writer McKay Coppins dropped a bombshell of an investigative report in The Atlantic with his article "Sucker: My Year as a Degenerate Sports Gambler."

Since 2018, Americans have wagered more than half a trillion dollars on sports, and roughly half of men ages 18 to 49 have an active account with an online sportsbook. Throughout most of America’s history, gambling was heavily regulated and generally discouraged. In 1631, Puritans banned games of chance in Plymouth Colony “under pain of punishment.” In 1794, a Pennsylvania law prohibited “cockfighting, cards, dice, billiards, bowling, shuffleboard, horse racing, or any other type of gambling.”

Laws varied by state and century, but the practice always came with a healthy social stigma, one rooted in millennia of accumulated wisdom. To humanity’s great thinkers and leaders, gambling was an impediment to an ethical life (Aristotle), an invention of the devil (Saint Augustine), and a tax on the ignorant (Warren Buffett). It fostered selfishness and a something-for-nothing ethos that was poisonous to the soul. George Washington went so far as to warn that “every possible evil” could be tied to gambling: “It is the child of avarice, the brother of inequity, and the father of mischief.” As a result, gambling was largely contained to certain disreputable corners of society, such as riverboats, red‑light districts, and Nevada. For a time, it was the near‑exclusive province of leg‑breaking bookies and pin-striped criminals. Later, Native American reservations and offshore bookmakers got in on the action.

But professional sports leagues remained determined to keep gambling at a distance. High-profile scandals—the White Sox World Series fix in 1919, the Mafia-instigated point-shaving scheme at Boston College in 1978—had convinced commissioners that betting posed an existential threat to organized sports. In June 1990, officials from the major U.S. leagues testified before the Senate. Paul Tagliabue, then the NFL commissioner, captured their shared assessment: “Nothing has done more to despoil the games Americans play and watch than widespread gambling on them.”

And, I fear Tagliabue is correct.

It's Pi Day!

What is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and also a delicious dessert?
It's Pi - 3.14159 ...

March 14 is Pi Day, and being the father of a rather math-y kid while also working as a school administrator and sponsor of a positive school culture leadership group, I spent many years organizing a "Pi Recitation Contest" where I worked. It's such a simple, fun, and unique challenge. The winner won a pie, with second and third place receiving a half-pie and mini-pie respectively. 

My own son could rattle off several hundred digits - I think the 600 range was his best - and the school record when I was there was nearly 1,700 digits. That is mind blowing to many people, but not those in the world of mathletes and GT brainiacs. And if you really want your mind blown, get this:  the world record is 70,000 digits.

So, this year, I did it again at my new school, and while it was certainly not the same experience I had at a school filled with mathletes, it was fun. And two of the top three students were a couple boys that no one would ever guess would try the challenge, much less win it. 

How many digits can you recite?

Battle of the Books, March Madness-style

Bracketology takes over every March with the event the NCAA Basketball Tournament. And the idea of bracket competition extends far beyond the world of basketball, from the Grammys to the Oscars to the best tacos in town and more. This year, the world of EdTomorrow brings us a "Battle of the Books" with a bracket-style competition for the best in children's literature.

What would you choose in a contest between the contemporary blockbuster of Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone in a head-to-head read-off with the legendary Little House on the Prairie?

Is the NBA becoming the NBE?

The National Basketball Entertainment league -- that's what it kind of feels like these days.

Bam Adebayo's "record-setting" 83-point game the other night is just one more example of a league that is increasingly criticized for spectacle and flash over substance and standards. Traveling seems to no longer be a rule at all, carrying the ball has replaced the dribble, "load management" is standard practice for taking a night or week off, hand checking by the defense is still a no-no while star players can push and shove defenders with their free hand, and the theatrical flopping by some of the biggest stars has reached a level that puts European soccer to shame. 

For basketball fans who remember earlier eras like the 90s with Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, Olajuwon, Malone and more, the 80s with Magic and Kareem battling Bird and Parrish with the Pistons playing the bad boys, and 70s with the legendary Dr. J, the current loose game and lax standards for the fundamentals of roundball just feels like a superficial, over-commercialized video game in real life. Granted, it's always the case that the older generation criticizes the younger one as "not as good as it used to be." And that may certainly be a subjective reality. Yet it's difficult to argue today's game isn't different. 

Personally, the record by Bam holds little weight with me because it seemed so contrived. A center tossing up 22 three-point shots is absurd, as is that same player going to the line for 43 foul shots. The Wizards are a team that is clearly tanking a season, so the competitive edge was lax at best. And fans can literally see Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra laughing on the sidelines toward the end, leaving a player in as his team blatantly fouls to extend the game time. While Bam is certainly a solid NBA player and even an All-Star selection, he is nowhere near the caliber of talent and impact of the legendary Kobe Bryant, whose record he supposedly just surpassed. 

So, for this NBA fan, that NBA record is certainly one with an asterisk, as are many of LeBron's longevity awards. The game is what it is, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver, as well as the players association clearly want it that way. They'll continue to make their billions, and I will still watch the game. But I am less than impressed.

The Return of the Mall Rat, Gen-Z style

The mall is not dead. In fact, it's not only not dead - the mall is back!

As a 56-year-old Generation X male, I grew up at the mall in the heyday of the mall. Even in my small town of Alton, outside St. Louis, the Alton Square Mall was a vibing place with numerous options for tweens and teens to hang out. Playing Defender at Tilt, browsing concert posters and somewhat racy items at Spencer Gifts, flipping through record/cassette/CD collections at Record Bar and Musicland, trying on endless pairs of sneakers at Foot Locker ... there was no shortage of crass commercial consumerist indulgences. It was the 80s, and honestly the classic mall film Fast Times at Ridgemont High captured the spirit quite well. 

Alas, we've all noticed, noted, and occasionally lamented the demise of the shopping mall in the twenty-first century. Countless abandoned mall properties sitting like industrial graveyards across the United States remind us of how online shopping decimated many local economies. No matter how many times properties try to rebrand and remodel, the golden age of malls has certainly passed. Yet, there are pockets of thriving mall life across the country, such as Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado, where I've been for the past quarter century. 

In fact, a couple years ago I pondered and pitched a few magazine pieces about Park Meadows and how "the mall is not dead." I proposed spending a weekend at the mall as a "mall writer in residence" to spotlight and capture the spirit of what has enabled Park Meadows and mall culture to continue thriving in a southeast Denver suburb. Unfortunately, I had no takers on the feature and quietly moved on to other writing projects. However, it appears I'm not the only one noticing and writing about the mall.

For Gen Z -- the obvious offspring of Generation X -- the mall is still the place to be, as A New Generation of Mall Rats Has Arrived.  According to this recent Wall Street Journal feature, there is a new group of young people living the mall rat life, but in an update for the digital age and twenty-first century, this group is filled with social media mavens and influencers who are documenting the experience:

Savera Ghorzang scrolls through her phone all the time. But when she needed an outfit for her Valentine’s Day date, the 24-year-old went to the mall.

“I don’t really like online shopping,” she said. “I’m an instant-gratification girl. I need it now.” Ghorzang held her phone in one hand and a $29 black lace top in the other as she documented her shopping trip on Instagram.

The first digitally native generation is resurrecting an old-fashioned American pastime: Shopping at the mall.

Gen Z’s retail-spending growth is outpacing all other generations, according to data firm NielsenIQ, with the generation’s global annual retail spending expected to exceed $12 trillion by 2030. The cohort also spends a greater proportion of their discretionary dollars in physical stores than older generations, according to data firm Circana.

Younger shoppers’ mall enthusiasm is a bright spot for a business that has struggled with property closures and declining foot traffic in recent years, in part because the millennial generation never warmed to hanging out at the mall in the same way Gen X had. Gen Z has helped boost a recent recovery, with demand for mall space rising again.

Scrubs reboot is a perfectly updated bit of nostalgia

Dr. Dorian and Turk are back at it in the same ol' adorable fashion, as if they ever really went away.

Scrubs was an exceptional show during its first run that debuted in the fall of 2001. In a long litany of provocative, engaging, poignant, and occasionally humorous medical dramas in the world of American sitcoms, Scrubs offered something different. It deftly balanced the poignant with the whimsical, the serious and thoughtful with the wild and wacky, as viewers experienced the first year of residency for three promising young doctors at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.

Like far too many network shows, it went on for a bit too long, but the first three seasons were pure storytelling magic, and the series from talented showrunner Bill Lawrence was quite innovative in its narrative arcs as well as its adept use of indie music, a quality it shared with other new shows like The O.C. and One Tree Hill. I still have a CD of the soundtrack from the first season, which introduced me to bands like The Shins. That unique quality was a key part of the show's character, and I have a feeling the music was influenced by the musical tastes of Zach Braff whose first independent film Garden State was another sweet example of the incredible indie music in 90s-2000s film and television.

I've only seen two episodes of the new show at this point, but as I watched the end of the second episode last night, I was struck by how perfectly the show has re-captured the magic. As Dr. Dorian narrates the conclusion of several storylines, including the personal and professional struggles of the young resident mirroring his initial role, the line that grabbed me was something like this:  "We try to do as much good as we can every day for one shift, and then we go home." The wise but difficult wisdom could have easily been drawn from an early episode with the blunt Dr. Cox softening just for a moment to counsel J.D.

Ben McKenzie of "The OC" fame, a Cryptocurrency expert & critic

Who knew that Ryan from The O.C. had such range?

I mean, we all remember the incredibly fun character arc of the kid from Chino who is taken in by Sandy and Kristen Cohen, and ultimately finds success in life as an architect and engineer, coming full circle in the final scene of the show. But, I'm not actually talking about Ryan. I recently learned that actor Ben McKenzie is a pretty smart dude as well, and he is also a well-known student of and critic of the world of cryptocurrency.

McKenzie became a "crypto-skeptic" back in 2021 after beginning to learn more about the strange underground currency during the pandemic, and, along with journalist Jacob Silverman, published the book Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud in 2023. McKenzie also directed (in his debut behind the camera) the documentary film "Everyone is Lying to You." A key to McKenzie's interest in and skepticism of crypto is his college degree in economics. Apparently, when he first began looking into the enigma, he thought, "If I can't understand this with an economics degree," then what exactly is this huge new financial monster?

$14,000 a month as a Crossing Guard? Well, not exactly.

Ah, the artists and the writers -- the "creatives" -- who see beauty and meaning where no one else has noticed it, and capitalize on that. They have my awe and respect.

Take for example, Christine Tyler Hill, an artist recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal:

Christine Tyler Hill was working as a designer and illustrator when she decided she needed a fresh way to connect to her city. So she took a job as a crossing guard.

Every weekday morning at 7:30, she stands at an intersection in Burlington, Vt., ensuring the safe passage of pedestrians, including children heading to a nearby school. During her 50-minute shift, she also takes in the scene, from the daily rhythms of commuters to the familiar faces to the shape of the clouds in the sky.

Those observations pay well. Very well. The 36-year-old has parlayed interest in her daily musings into a one-woman publishing empire that is bringing in about $14,000 a month.

Hill is part of a small group of creative types who have found healthy demand for analog subscription services in a world of digital screens. They create or curate packets of art prints, stickers, letters and commentary covering topics from architecture to food to their daily routines. They often use social media to find and market to fans but the real connection happens offline.

I've admired (and, yes, envied) people like Christine who have found their niche and have the inspiration, persistence, and work ethic to see their vision to fruition.

It's Casimir Pulaski Day! IYKYK

There's no school and banks and government offices are closed in the state of Illinois in honor of Casimir Pulaski Day. Celebrated on the first Monday in March, Casimir Pulaski Day is in member of the Revolutionary War hero who is also considered the father of the U.S. Cavalry. Pulaski is also one of only eight people to be awarded honorary United States citizenship.

The reason Casimir Pulaski day is celebrated in Illinois is because the city of Chicago has the largest Polish population anywhere in the world outside of Warsaw. Thus, for many years Pulaski was celebrated with festivals and parades around the city of Chicago. And in 1977, the day became a state holiday.

The 'Burbs on Peacock

I vaguely remember the movie The 'Burbs, starring Tom Hanks, when it came out in 1989, and while it was generally interesting, it's not the first thing that springs to mind when pondering a remake or update. And, yet, in the era of un-originality and knock-off marketing, here we are with a limited series on Peacock that explores the idea that even in the finely manicured world of suburban America -- or especially in that setting -- all is not well on Paradise Drive.

I've watched half of the season so far - four episodes - and while the show is reasonably engaging, I'm not overly impressed. In all honesty, from the first few minutes of the first episode, which was clever enough, my first connection wasn't the 1989 movie, but the 2004 television series Desperate Housewives, which had an impressive opening season ... but went on far too long. The Raymond Chandler-esque narrative of a seedy rotten dark side to the American Dream was quite entertaining and unique at the time. But like too many network shows, it was induced to stick around far longer than the original writer's inspiration could take it. 

If The 'Burbs is a single-limited series that exceeds the promise of its premise, I will be impressed. But if it devolves into cliche and cheaply sets itself up for syndication, I will be quite disappointed.

Reminder: School Schedules are not based on farming

It's the myth that won't go away -- American school schedules are based on an agrarian calendar from when "kids need to be out of school to work on the farm."

I've written about this myth numerous times over the years -- as have many others -- in response to education reformers who criticize summer vacation and argue that the reason many students in the United States score poorly on national exams and international tests is because they don't go to school enough. There are many problems with that opinion, not the least of which is that summer vacation and the 180-day school year did not originate from the United States being an agrarian nation. In fact, the counter is true for school -- summer vacation originated for the middle and upper class families to get out of the hot crowded cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago during the summer.

It was more than a decade ago that I first wrote about the myth when school reformers like Arne Duncan and Bill Gates were perpetuating the nonsense of "the agrarian calendar."

The most recent anti-summer fun entry comes from Cristina Evans, a teacher, who took to the pages of Education Week with “A Teacher’s Case Against Summer Vacation.” Like many reformers and summer vacation critics, Evans focuses specifically on the struggles of low-income and mostly urban students who tend to experience academic regression during the months off schools. This is known as the summer slide. To her credit, Evans doesn’t call for a radical end to summer vacation. Instead, she makes a rational argument for shortening it from maybe 10 weeks to six or so. And no one is arguing that we should ignore a summer slide in schools where it is evident. However, a blanket argument that summer vacation should be shorter across all schools is misguided at best. The reality is that summer vacation is embedded in our culture, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The case against summer vacation has been made many times, and the carefree break from school has even been called “evil” by some commentators. The reality, though, is a bit different than the “history” indicates. The biggest problem with summer vacation criticism is that the primary argument is based on myth and misinformation. It’s a myth perpetuated at the highest levels, as even Education Secretary Arne Duncan lacks knowledge of public education’s history, saying, “Our school calendar is based on the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working in the fields today.” This is fundamentally not true. Summer vacation is not a leftover relic of America’s agrarian past, and it is not a result of our farming history or an “agrarian calendar” that released kids in the summer to work in the fields. In fact, the opposite is more likely true, as American students in the 19th century were generally in school during the summer, but often took breaks in the spring and fall.

The history of summer vacation is not unclear to anyone willing to do a bit of research.

I also addressed the issue in a piece for the Denver Post when I responded to critics who believe American kids aren't in school enough. I also followed up with a column for The Villager.

That said, the practice of taking a break from school in the summer has stuck around because it’s actually a good idea. The benefits of summer vacation aren’t simply about increased playtime and sleeping late. Summer breaks are filled with opportunities for growth and learning that extend well beyond the confines of the classroom. Many people cherish the memories and appreciate the value of summer camps, which offer all sorts of experiences for recreation, friendship, and learning. Whether kids attend day camps or leave home to stay for a week or even a month, the independence and camaraderie of camp can be a truly special experience. Summer sports leagues provide similar benefits as young people immerse themselves in their love of the game. Summer vacation is also a time to release kids from regimented schedules, letting them explore, daydream, goof off, and simply play.

Summer employment is an additional benefit of the annual break from school, whether that’s entrepreneurship for young kids running a lemonade stand, doing yard work, or babysitting, or it’s teenagers earning real paychecks at part-time jobs from lifeguarding to retail. And, it’s not just kids who take advantage of summer jobs. Because teachers work on ten-month contracts, many of them supplement their income with summer jobs as well. Often the managers of the neighborhood pools or the directors of those summer camps are teachers.

So, here’s to summer vacation in all its glory. Let us never forget the joy and benefits of summertime. Except for those unfortunate few stuck in the worst idea of all – summer school.

Shakespeare Reimagined

Shakespeare is timeless, his plays a testament to the enduring power of storytelling. 

In his thirty-six plays, running across genres with exquisite balance through 14 comedies, 10 histories, and 11 tragedies, there are few themes, narratives, or even moments of the human experience that the Bard does not address in full. It's a truly stunning output and collection of literary expression, and more than four hundred years later, the drama lives on.

Derivative work from Shakespeare's stories and themes is another rich layer to William's influence, and this year's release of the Chloe Zhao's film version of Hamnet, from the brilliant novel by Maggie O'Farrell, is just the latest contribution to the cottage industry of reimagining Shakespeare. O'Farrell's novel published in 2021 became a true literary sensation, and justifiably so. With layers of subtext, not the least of which is the subtle connection between the name "Hamnet" and "Hamlet," the Danish prince at the center of one of his most revered plays, the story "behind the story" of the untimely, tragic death of the playwright's son was a beautiful and heart wrenching drama all by itself.

Another recent contribution to the genre comes from a Colorado author and teacher who happens to be a former colleague of mine. Joel Morris, Ph.D. from Northwestern, has written a fascinating prequel of sorts to Shakespeare's diabolical Macbeth, telling the story of a young Lady Macbeth ten years before the dawn of the play. The book All Our Yesterdays: a Novel of Lady Macbeth is a USA Today bestseller and was winner of the Colorado Book Award for historical fiction. The highly favorable reviews tout the book for its incredible imagination and deep layers of historical knowledge. As an English teacher, Morris has filled the work with many literary Easter eggs, which add to the inventive story.

Fans of the Bard and of retellings like Hamnet should certainly consider exploring the story behind Lady Macbeth.