Monday, March 30, 2009
Marcus Morris has a message for you: Don’t bet on me.
One day before the forward injured his ankle in the final minutes of his freshman season, Morris was playing with a miniature basketball in Kansas’ locker room. Marcus and twin brother Markieff were dribbling the squishy toy when I noticed the slogan, “Don’t Bet On It,” emblazoned over its tiny orange bumps.
Gambling education is a top priority to the NCAA, which is why it hung anti-gambling posters in the locker rooms at the Metrodome and Lucas Oil Stadium.*
*The poster shows an orange prison jumpsuit hanging in a locker and tells student athletes they will don this new uniform if they gamble on sports. I actually had the same poster in my high school locker room, though I doubt there’s a bookie in the country putting odds on high school cross country.
Marcus said the ball was his reward for listening to a speech about gambling in college athletics. Topics included odds, point shaving and the consequences for any student athlete caught in a gambling allegation.
A woman held a box full of the children’s toys and after the lecture Marcus wanted one.
“I asked her for a ball and she said, ‘All right, you’ve got to answer a question. What year was coach Self born?’” said an amused Marcus. “I said 1960, and she just threw me the ball.”
The correct answer is 1962, but the woman’s arbitrary question was intended to simply get a response, not necessarily the correct one.
So he got a souvenir, but Marcus also learned about an aspect of sports he never considered before.
“I never thought about it, but I think about it now and I just think about how many people are losing money,” Marcus said. “Definitely if they’re betting on how many points I had.”
Wait, what?
“If they’re betting on how many points I’m going to score, they’re losing a lot of money.”
While most athletes live on confidence, this was Marcus’ response when asked to set the over/under on his points:
“Pssh, hopefully I get 10,” he said. “But if you want to win I’d say six. Yeah, take the under.”
Considering Marcus scored a combined 12 points in the tourney, it seems like sound advice.
UCONN DO IT
The University of Connecticut will win the 2009 NCAA Championship because it defeated Purdue, which defeated the University of Northern Iowa. Let me explain.
From 2004-06, UNI made the tournament each season and lost by five points in the first round each time. After ’06 my dad pointed out this unique coincidence: In all three postseasons the team that defeated UNI lost to the eventual national champion.
2004: Georgia Tech defeats UNI 65-60, and then loses to UConn in the title game.
2005: Wisconsin defeats UNI 57-52, and then loses to North Carolina in the Elite Eight. UNC defeated Illinois in the title game.
2006: Georgetown defeats UNI 54-49, and then loses to Florida in the Sweet Sixteen. Florida defeated UCLA in the title game.
2009: Purdue defeats UNI 61-56, and then loses to UConn in the Sweet Sixteen.
Could this all mean absolutely nothing? Of course, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
— — Edited by Casey Miles
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