This is the second year that the NCAA has used their “Draw the Line” campaign during March Madness– the exciting finals tournament for men’s and women’s college basketball. It’s a direct message to all the losers out there (literally, people who lost bets related to college sports)… the NCAA wants you to stop being such a meanie! Take a look then scroll down for more.
I guess what’s happening is that people lose bets and then take it out on athletes, coaches, and referees. OK, yeah, that’s pretty immature. It’s not like they’re all in on a secret plot to make one team win all the time… or one team make it to the Super Bowl every stinkin’ year. *ahem, the Chiefs!*
Bullying is usually frowned upon but let’s be honest, sometimes players need a little healthy trolling. Case in point: Lebron James getting posterized 3 times as the Miami Heat score 9 points to win the game… in the last 12 seconds!
A little poking fun, some ribbing, it’s part of competition. But fans should “Draw the Line,” as NCAA phrases it. Just because Lebron was to blame for you losing your bets in that game doesn’t mean he deserves something bad to happen to him. Of course, some would say that professional athletes should know that harassment comes with the territory. Take your millions and deal with it. Is that true for college athletes as well? They’re willing to play their sport in a public setting so should they be able to take the bad with the good? Honestly, I didn’t think it was possible to measure how much harassment comes from gamblers specifically so that was interesting to learn about in the article from the NCAA.
The real solution, beyond asking people to behave, is to address this graphic from the NCAA website. If there weren’t any states that allowed gambling, the number of bet-related incidences would decrease a whole bunch, don’t you think?
It’s not my job to make bad people good. I realized that many years ago. Only God can do that. The NCAA is attempting, whether it’s working or not, to make bad people a little less bad. They can help athletes be a little safer in a cruel world. Cynics (like me, sometimes) might ask, “Why?” Why does the NCAA care if people behave? Who makes the rules that we are supposed to be nice to one another? Well, on the one hand, it helps the health of the human race to remain civilized. On the other hand and in a religious aspect, it’s how God designed us to be. We are generally selfish, mean, etc… but within us is the desire to be more like God– graceful, kind, loving. We should love our neighbor because we want to be loved, too. We should help because we also want to be helped.
So when you lose your bet… and you will because the house always wins… just let it go. It doesn’t help anyone to lash out even if the referees literally ALWAYS help the Chiefs. 🤬
-Out of the Wilderness
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