I think I’ll listen to Tom

Is there anyone more respected within the boundaries of Nebraska and beyond than Tom Osborne? I don’t think so. The former Husker football coach and founder of TeamMates is someone we can all strive to be more like, and just like the seasoned grandfather he is, someone we should listen to.
    So, I paid attention this week when I read he presented testimony, via a letter to the General Affairs Committee, against  LB 168, which, if passed, would allow betting on Husker home football games and other in-state college and university contests.
    Osborne, who has spoken out against gambling expansion in the past, said in his testimony that he’s concerned that the expansion of this type of betting is transforming college sports into “gambling events” and worries about the pressure it will put on players and coaches. Osborne, unlike the gambling promoters, has the young athletes at the front of his concern, not the money like others.
    Tax revenues raised from home game betting would go into the state’s college scholarship fund, which is nice—but that’s just one of those dangling carrots that tries to distract us from the real intent of the legislation.
    The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, said his bill is just providing consistency, noting that people currently bet on Nebraska teams at casinos located at licensed horse racetracks, but and only when they compete outside of the state, thanks to a law passed in 2021. However, according to testimony from the Nebraska Family Alliance at Monday’s hearing, the in-state betting prohibition was “part of the compromise that helped clear the way for passage of that 2021 law,” according to a story in the Omaha World-Herald. How soon they forget.
    The 2021 law in place now on betting prohibits bets on high school sports, contests with athletes under 18 and minor league teams. But once the foot is in the door......
    I think I will listen to Tom.