Our sports have become so warped, so twisted and denuded by blinding greed that the natural moral outrage that should shame the perpetrators has been replaced by a distant whisper.
In what still seems a ghoulish impossibility, this past Monday, Sept. 11, the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks that murdered nearly 3,000 innocents, the sportsbook, DraftKings, ran a 9/11 “Never Forget” New York special. It pitched a three-team parlay with the Jets, Mets and Yanks.
Parlays are strongly urged by bad-odds gambling operations as they promise suckers a fortune but are so tough to win that these businesses, predicated on investors losing their investments, pocket far more on parlays than any other kind of bet.
To have exploited the 9/11 mass murder in the quest for more stacked-deck profit, is beyond all boundaries of what might still include boundaries.
But where was the outrage?
DraftKings’ partners include the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, pro tennis and NASCAR. Celebrity endorsers include or have included Kevin Hart, David Ortiz, Emmitt Smith, Lisa Leslie, Julius Erving and gambling hound Michael Jordan.
Yet not one spokesperson — heaven forbid a commissioner! — stood up to publicly condemn DraftKings for this nauseating “Never Forget” come-on to empty pockets in the name of the air attacks that staggered the free world.
DraftKings turned the pain of our city and nation into a cheap “Never Forget” parlay special for the Jets, Mets, and Yankees on Monday. There was not one word of protest from any of the sports leagues — NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL — or any of their celebrity endorsers like Kevin Hart, David Ortiz, Emmitt Smith, Julius Erving or Michael Jordan writes The Post’s Phil Mushnick. AP
What prevented a strong rebuke? Were leagues afraid DraftKings might cancel their deals? Fat chance. DraftKings — which escaped with an apology — pays the leagues for licensing rights, using the league and teams logos designed to heighten the credibility of a business that targets the young, naive and vulnerable.
Or has cash complicity, again, ensured silence?
Boundaries? What also seemed out of the question as a matter of minimal decency — betting on international competitions in the Special Olympics, for crying out loud — this spring became a reality. Now mentally and physically impaired athletes can receive hate-filled emails from losing bettors.
But 9/11. Never Forget? By now — four days later — we’re to have forgotten that DraftKings’ offered bad bets to salute the memories of nearly 3,000 murdered Americans. Warped and twisted. Never forget? I won’t. It’s a lock.
Never forget? New York Times sure did
The New York Times displayed similar 9/11 “Never Forget” thoughtlessness on Monday, Sept. 11. It ran a story about Saudi government money buying into more sports with an eye on women’s tennis. The authors considered how Saudi dough could benefit players by increasing tournament purses and “bargaining power.”
There was a not a word — not even a hint — that on Sept. 11 22 years ago that day — 15 of the 19 suicide murderers were Saudi citizens or that the Saudi monarchy remains, through Saudi-linked officials, the primary suspect for planning and financing the missions.
Perhaps, as in pro golf, Saudi Mullah moola can force a merger.
And not a word about Saudi blood-bather Osama bin Laden. Was he a big fan of women’s pro tennis? Remember: never forget.
The “NFL Experience” Play and Player of the Week:
Monday night on ESPN. Bills, up, 10-7 at Jets, second quarter. Buffalo LB Matt Milano intercepts a Zach Wilson pass, returns it to the Jets’ 35. Milano, a seven-year pro, is then flagged for taunting.
ESPN next cuts to a close-up crowd shot just in time to show a Jets fan, seated beside a kid — perhaps his son — giving the finger.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman just let it go, as if we hadn’t noticed Milano’s foul or that boob in the stands.
ESPN announcers Joe Buck (left) and Troy Aikman didn’t have a discouraging word to say about Bills linebacker Matt Milano drawing a dumb taunting penalty after intercepting a Zach Wilson pass, or about the Jets fan who was caught on camera giving the middle finger after the play. FOX
The Bills, playing from the 50 instead of the 35 as per Milano’s game-changing childish play, settled for a field goal, then lost, 22-16 in overtime.
Then there was Buck and Aikman’s celebration of the career and presence of new Jets’ RB Dalvin Cook. What a guy! That the woman he allegedly beat to a bloody pulp turned down his $1 million settlement offer and that Cook had sent her an incriminating email, well, that didn’t make the cut. Cook is scheduled to go to trial next year.
Naturally, ESPN had a difficult time staying on the field when that most counted. On a third-and-15, ESPN rewarded a couple of knuckleheads by cutting to one of those shots of patrons banging on the down-low padding. Thus, what makes absolutely no sense continues as standard, no-better-idea coverage.
The shame of it all is that Fox’s for-now No. 1 NFL analyst, Greg Olsen, could be so good. He sees and says what’s going on.
If only someone in Fox’s production hierarchy could prevail upon him not to deliver windy speeches after every play, making him easy to ignore. But with the likes of Moose Johnston and Mark Schlereth on Fox’s roster, that’s not going to happen.
Fox’s No. 1 NFL analyst Greg Olsen (right, pictured with Kevin Burkhardt), has some good insights, but it’s often drowned out by his windy speeches between plays, Phil Mushnick writes. AP
Sunday, the Bears had a third-and-9 versus the Packers, when Olsen, rather than silence, said, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Justin Fields drop back here to throw a traditional pass.”
Actually, it might have been surprising had he not. He did.
Pandering to the preposterous: NBC’s Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth, Sunday night, apparently thought it was pretty neat that Dallas QB Dak Prescott was sedated for 11 hours to have his autobiography tattooed down one of his legs.
I’m guessing that a vast majority of NBC’s audience now wonder if Prescott is nuts.
How can he see his tattoo? If he looks down, it’s upside down. If he looks in a mirror, it’s backwards. Or does he plan to donate his leg to the Museum of Modern Body Art?
Gotta think injury keeps Jets off prime time
Aaron Rodgers, 39, tweets: “I will rise again.” Achilles tweets back: “Do you know who I am?” Incidentally, does this mean the Jets won’t be “flexed” to prime time? Will an ESPN graphic read, “Rodgers 1-0 as Jets’ starter”?
CBS’s Tony Romo early in Sunday’s Eagles-Pats: “The Patriots will be in every game this year.” Later in the first quarter with the Eagles up, 16-0, Romo: “You’ve got to stand up on key downs, Jim [Nantz], for the Pats to stay in this game.”
Though Collinsworth knows and sees everything, he failed to mention during Sunday’s Cowboys-Giants that mean-mugging, showboating Giants DE Kayvon Thibodeaux was missing in inaction. He sat out a lot and seemed to avoid contact when he was in.
Happy 93rd to columnist/mentor Jerry Izenberg, still at it, strong as ever.
Reader Darren Leeds giggled at ESPN’s grasp of football, Saturday, when it noted that Tulane held Ole Miss to just one-for-13 on third downs. Not that it mattered, but Ole Miss won, 37-20. Ole Miss is now last — 132nd — in Div. 1 third-down conversion rates. It’s also 2-0, outscoring opponents — pay-to-slay Mercer came first — 110-27.
When Giants’ WFAN radio voice, Bob Papa, Sunday reported that Queen Latifah had just performed a stirring rendition of the national anthem, we had to take his word for it. While she sang, WFAN was in commercials.
You know you’ve lived long enough when you’re around to hear a new tune attached to the Kars4Kids jingle. Same words, new music. I’m a-comin’, Mama!
DraftKings desecrates memory of 9/11, and their partners are silent
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