New Jersey to Allow Sports Gambling This Fall, Who's Next?

New Jersey governor Chris Christie made a bold move by announcing that his state will allow sports gambling this fall. He will disobey a federal law that only allows sports gambling in a few predetermined states. Those states had to opt-in back in 1991.

A federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act limits sports betting to four states that approved it by a 1991 deadline: Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana. At the time, New Jersey was given the chance to become the fifth but failed to act during a prescribed window.

With New Jersey's bold move, which states could benefit from sports gambling and follow their lead?

I do believe that this is my first political article on this blog, but it pertains to sports gambling, so I had to chime in. America's White Boy is a big advocate of sports gambling and I run many posts about the subject. A large portion of our revenue comes from sports gambling ventures or sports handicapping businesses. My articles are "for entertainment purposes," but I would love to not include that phrase in the near future.

Atlantic City, New Jersey is the second most traveled to city where gambling is one of the main attractions. Over the last twenty years, the city has taken a big hit and their twelve casinos and four horse racing tracks are losing money. A lot of the former gamblers are now traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada, a state where sports gambling has been legal since 1992. New Jersey would earn billions in revenue from sports gambling and would revitalize Atlantic City.

Governor Christie is a Republican vice-presidential candidate in this year's election. He could have even been a presidential candidate if he chose to throw his hat in the ring. He is known to be bold and to take center stage. He announced that he doesn't care what the feds have to say about disobeying the law, because this would greatly benefit the state. He mentioned that 50% of the revenue would go towards fighting gambling addiction.

Many European countries allow gambling on sports and regulate it. An addiction to gambling is a grim predicament, but should it be the government’s business if someone wants to place a bet on a football game in New Jersey or anywhere else? It's a moral question that will be on the forefront of this issue.

The federal government has yet to comment on New Jersey's proclamation.

New Jersey could find themselves in hot water with the NFL. The new Meadowlands is due to host a Super Bowl in a few years and the NFL has been strongly against sports betting. They could force the hand of the governor by threatening to pull out. The NY/NJ area would lose close to a billion dollars in revenue from hosting a Super Bowl. The NFL has yet to comment on Christie's proposed sports gambling initiative. It would be a tough choice for him. A decision that would cost the state from hosting a Super Bowl would be very unpopular with the voters.

If everything in New Jersey works out, which states could also benefit from legalizing sports gambling? Any state that has a few casinos in their state. The tax revenue created by this could turn around many states' bottom lines. California, Michigan, Missouri, Connecticut, New York, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, and New Orleans all have casinos and would be other states that would best benefit from following in New Jersey's footsteps.

This move would hurt Las Vegas, a city that has been hit with an economic issues of its own over the last five years. A lot of patrons come from the east coast and could direction their trip to Atlantic City.

I'm all for sports gambling and it would benefit the U.S. economy. This could be the surge of revenue that rivals the end of Prohibition. After this issue passes and states see all of the new income, the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana could be one step closer.

Snoop Dogg would be ecstatic!

The Post Where I Predict Super Bowl Things

Super Bowl XLIV or Super Bowl 44 for those who hate Roman numerals, is set to take place this Sunday. The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints have both went through the hype machine, survived media day, was able to fight through all the taping of the video montages sure to take place during the 15-hour pregame. The table is set and they are ready to eat. I'm here to predict some prop bets that you can wager, if that's your cup of tea.

First, let's explain something first, I can't say that I am unbiased when it comes to this Super Bowl. As I am writing this, I am wearing an Indianapolis Colts sweatshirt that I picked up the last time I was in my homeland of Indiana. I can look past it while picking these Super Bowl Prop Bets, but let's start out with predicting the score.

Colts 31 - Saints 21 - As I am writing this, most sportsbooks have the Super Bowl Odds somewhere around 5 points, so you should take the Colts.

Now for the more odd props that you could wager on this Super Bowl.

Heads vs. Tails - I'm more of a Heads man myself, so I'll pick that.

Coin Toss - The Colts have been pretty luck this year, so I'll say that they will win the coin toss

Team To Receive Opening Kickoff - The Colts will win the coin toss and I think that they will defer to the second half, the Saints will get the ball first.

Team To Commit The 1st Penalty - The Saints are favored (-140) and I think that's the smartest bet

Team To Score Last In 1st Half - The Colts are favored (-140) and Peyton Manning loves those last minute 1st half drives

Will There Be A Safety - The sure bet would be No, but at (-1400) odds, you could probably put a few bucks on Yes at (+800) to hedge a few bets.

Will The Team That Scores First Win The Game - Yes is at (-195) and No is at (+155), I actually like NO here.

Total Interceptions Thrown By Both Teams - I like the Under 2.5, which is currently (-200)

First Turnover Of THe Game, Interception vs. Fumble - I like Interception here at (-170), Adrian Peterson isn't playing in this game

Total Number Of Colts Players To Score (Including Kickers) - It's currently at +/- 3.5, I like the Over on this one, a lot.

Longest Touchdown Of The Game +/- 49.5 - I like the over on this one, it's at (-115), I feel that someone will bust at least one big play.

Over/Under Jersey Number Of Player To Score First TD +/- 25.5 - I LOVE the over on this, more of the receivers have a number higher than 26, expect Marques Colston

I'll write another post about more individual prop bets during the Super Bowl

Why Your Team Didn't Win The Super Bowl - NFC

Everyone has a team that they are loyal towards and most fans had their dreams crushed at some point this season. Some teams had a tough defeat in the playoffs and some teams never really had any shot at the Super Bowl. It was a long season with many ups and downs and some team's seasons could have been salvaged by one single play that didn't go their way or a string of bad GM decisions. Here are the reasons why your NFC team didn't win the Super Bowl.

Arizona Cardinals - They thought the Super Bowl was only 58 minutes long. I can't imagine how it feel to be Kurt Warner. He has been on the sideline while two, almost all three, of his Super Bowls were lost.

Atlanta Falcons - They were just happy to make the playoffs, but when they got there, they didn't give Arizona any credit. The Falcons should be good for years, they won't make this mistake again.

Carolina Panthers - They thought that Jake Delhomme was good enough to still be their quarterback. Like the Falcons mistake, they probably won't make this mistake again.

Chicago Bears - They depend on a quarterback who thinks a neckbeard is fashionable. I know Rex Grossman isn't any better, but they had a chance to trade for Donavon McNabb at some point last off-season and didn't do it.

Dallas Cowboys - Tony Romo met Jessica Simpson. I know this didn't happen this season, but seems like all the tabloid coverage has really hurt his on-field ability to win games.

Detroit Lions - Barry Sanders retired. It has been that long since the words Lions and playoffs have been in the sentence or paragraph.

Green Bay Packers - They let the Brett Favre saga drag on for too long. All the drama that surrounded the Packers was counter-productive to their growth as a team.

Minnesota Vikings - They have no other offense weapons other than Adrian Peterson. I know Visanthe Shiancoe has a weapon, but we can't talk about that on this blog.

New Orleans Saints - They drafted Reggie Bush. That draft choice should have went towards a defensive player, in hindsight, but aren't we all a genius when hindsight is in involved?

New York Giants - Plaxico Burress bought a gun. If Plax didn't shoot himself, I'm sure that they would have beat the Eagles in the playoffs. Hixon couldn't handle the burden of being the #1 receiver.

Philadelphia Eagles - Donovan McNabb's conditioning. It is a trend that McNabb becomes gassed as the game goes on. He can't finish games and needs to lose the extra 20 pounds of Chunky Soup weight he has put on over the last few seasons.

San Francisco 49ers - Mike Nolan was their coach at the beginning of the year. Mike Singletary proved his worth as a coach and will be the best sound bite in the NFL over the next few years.

Seattle Seahawks - Their entire offense was in the hospital by Week 3. Not only was their entire receiving squad on injury report, but Matt Hasselbeck barely played.

St. Louis Rams - Orlando Pace retired. Pace was a major reason for all the success the Rams had during their prime. He kept the quarterback upright and once he was gone, Bulger was eating more grass than a cow.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - The team was distracted by Jeff Garcia's hot wife. I can't think of any real reason why they didn't even make the playoffs, but they collapsed the last few weeks of the season. Jon Gruden wished he knew the reason too, he may still have his job.

Washington Redskins - They hired Jim Zorn. The first game of the year, they were killed by the Giants, then they went on a run, but then they hit a wall. Zorn is probably the least qualified to be a head coach and his play-calling was mind-boggling at times.

Why Your Team Didn't Win The Super Bowl - AFC

Everyone has a team that they are loyal towards and most fans had their dreams crushed at some point this season. Some teams had a tough defeat in the playoffs and some teams never really had any shot at the Super Bowl. It was a long season with many ups and downs and some team's seasons could have been salvaged by one single play that didn't go their way or a string of bad GM decisions. Here are the reasons why your AFC team didn't win the Super Bowl.

Baltimore Ravens - Their offsense was too erratic and relied solely on their running game to score points. Joe Flacco will end up being a good NFL quarterback, but they just asked too much of him in his rookie season.

Buffalo Bills - They drafted Trent Edwards. Edwards spent most of his college career injured and can't seem to stay healthy.

Cincinnati Bengals - Carson Palmer's injury made the Bengals regress in 2008. I'm not sure if they would have been a playoff team if Palmer stayed healthy, but his injury made them look like amateurs.

Cleveland Browns - Romeo Crennel was their head coach. I know that most of the Browns recent draft picks haven't lived up to the hype, but a coaching change will do them well.

Denver Broncos - A Pop Warner team could pass on their secondary. A team with Dre Bly and Champ Bailey shouldn't be this bad.

Houston Texans - They are in the same division as the Colts and Titans. If doesn't help their record or confidence when you face two of the best teams twice a year.

Indianapolis Colts -They can't beat the Chargers in the post-season. They had a long winning streak going into the playoffs, but San Diego has their number.


Jacksonville Jaguars - They let Marcus Stroud leave. The Jaguars defense wasn't the same without Stroud clogging the running lanes.

Kansas City Chiefs - I'm not sure if they have rebounded from being on HBO's "Hard Knocks" two years ago. An injury to Larry Johnson didn't help, but their season was derailed long before training camp.

Miami Dolphins - Having Chad Pennington as their quarterback finally caught up to them. Pennington may have had a much better season than expected, but he can only get you so far in this league and the first round of the playoffs seems to be the limit.

New England Patriots - This one is easy, Tom Brady's knee. Brady is the one player on the Patriots that they couldn't overcome losing. Matt Casell did a spectacular job, but he wasn't Tom Brady.

New York Jets - They traded for Brett Favre. I don't think the Jets would have won the Super Bowl with or with Favre, but he didn't help the cause.

Oakland Raiders - Rich Gannon retired. I could have chosen many reasons for this, but seems like all their problems started a few years ago when their team got really old within a few months of going to the Super Bowl.

San Diego Chargers - They didn't retain Lorenzo Neal. LaDainian Tomlinson needs a fullback to lead the way for him. Jacob Hester didn't cut it and Tomlinson had one of his worst years.

Tennessee Titans - They stomped on the towel. I do believe in karma and Big Fat Lendale White didn't earn the Titans any extra points by stomping on a Terrible Towel.

Springsteen Delivers His Finisher

I do believe many a lady have felt The Boss's finishing move.

I love the random commentary on this short video clip.