The Josh Innes Show - Should Prop Bets On College Athletes Be Banned?

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

Some politicians are not pleased with how college athletes are being treated as it relates to prop bets. These players are getting hate messages when they don't come through for bettors. To me, once you start getting paid to play college sports, you're a pro. Pro's deal with this type of stuff all the time. Should something be done? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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All righty, everybody. As we talked about, we're in the throws of bowl season right now. And last night, what did I tell you what happened last night with Memphis? I told you that you needed to take my boy, Seth Hennigan, to throw for over his total yards, which I think by the time I got in on it was over 270. He ended up throwing for 295 or 294 in two touchdowns. But he started slow. They had a bunch of short fields, but then the game got hot back and forth.

I took both quarterbacks to combine for 500, which they did easily. It actually turned out to be a fun back and forth game, but it didn't start out that way with Memphis up like 17-0 after a couple of short fields. It looked like I had no chance to hit my total, but then I did. But you want to talk about a real ball buster in that game last night. I told you that Seth Hennigan was going to be huge because it's his last game ever with Memphis. He was the only quarterback to start for the same school for four consecutive seasons in that same stretch. He was playing in front of a lot of hometown fans because he's from Texas, so it was a perfect storm for this dude to go out and sling.

Memphis still kind of felt like they had something to prove because of the fact they had really blown their opportunity to be that kind of sleeper team to sneak into the playoff because they blew a couple of games early this year. So they fucked up. I told you to take Seth Hennigan and it worked out. But I also did a play with Seth Hennigan to throw for over 262 yards and three touchdown passes. And I'm going to tell you about maybe the greatest ball buster of all time. And there are a lot of great ball busters, particularly when you're doing prop bets. Like example of a real prop bet ball buster is you take a a quarterback's rushing yards like

sometimes we like to screw around and take a really low rushing yard total for guys who don't run a lot so like Aaron Rodgers over one and a half rushing yards in a game something like that and if he scrambles once he might get it you know so it's kind of fun to see if that'll ever happen guys with low totals not guys like you know Baker Mayfield who's in like usually in the teens or Pat Mahomes who's somewhere in like the 15 to 20 range or Lamar who's like 50 to 60 not guys like that but dudes who have like is he gonna run one fucking time because sacks don't count against that so is he gonna run one time or is he gonna quarterback sneak one time to get it right so those are fun A ball buster would be you pick one up, guy's over one and a half,

he runs for three yards, but then takes two knees at the end of the game and you lose two yards and you don't get your hit. A real ball buster. And you get a lot of those in prop bets. As I told you, I don't really take a lot of side bets or over under bets, right? That's just, I don't really do that anymore. Um, sometimes I like to build money line parlays. Those are fun, but like ultimately my favorite thing to do is prop bets. And since we're in Illinois, I'm in Missouri, but I drive across the river to go to Illinois. Prop bets are legal for college players in Illinois. So I get to see, you know, shitter Sanders over 340, you know, like that type of shit. And I enjoy that. Not every game has those, but they have a good number of them. And I enjoy

taking prop bets. That's where I get my joy as it relates to the college side of things, right? So I love prop bets. That said, last night, you talk about an ultimate ball buster of a prop bet. I had Seth Hennigan to throw for 262 yards and three touchdowns. At the time, he had 205 yards. They run kind of a play-action, fake-read option. He rolls out to the right, has a dude wide open. Mind you, this play started at the 10-yard line on their own 10. So Hennigan goes

out, rolls right. They think he's going to throw a little dump off. He's got a guy wide open on the sideline, delivers a laser. This dude's off to the races. As I'm watching him go 35, 40, 45, 50, I'm like, well, I've hit my yards. That's good. And then it dawns on me during this long reception and run that this guy could score a touchdown and if he scores a touchdown that'll be the third passing touchdown for Hennigan that would be another hit so not only was I hitting the 500 combined passing yards on this play not only was I hitting Seth Hennigan's individual passing yards on this play I was about to hit the third touchdown pass from Seth Hennigan and that was going to be another hit on its own we celebrate

it's awesome let's all go to bed this was about 10 minutes to go in the game and West Virginia just scored to cut it to four or five something like that so as I'm watching this I'm like yes go you son of a bitch go he's off to the races somewhere around the five yard line my man gets I mean I'm talking when they say a shoestring tackle, a shoelace tackle, when they say that, this is exactly what they meant by it. The dude was literally not even grabbed by the ankle, just nipped at his big toe and stumbles down at the fucking one yard line.

And I'm going, okay, that's fine. Still throw it. Reward your boy. It's his last game of his career. Let Seth Hennigan throw the touchdown. But alas, Seth Hennigan did not throw the touchdown. They handed the ball off. And that was the end of that dream. We missed it by one yard from hitting another parlay because we had a couple of good hits last night in the college football world there's a couple of college football games today there's a game at like 4 30 in the afternoon central time so uh we got that we got another game tonight we got nba tonight there's a bunch of stuff but speaking of prop bets involving college players

not every state allows you to take prop bets with college players. And there's some politicians who do not like prop bets for college athletes. And we will tell you why those folks are total frauds after these words from our sponsors. All right, if you're ready to win some real cash during the basketball playoffs, got to check out pick six from draft kings when it comes to basketball payouts draft kings pick six posterizes the competition including price picks it's a very simple concept hit all your picks and score higher minimum payouts on pick six plus even more cash if you outscore the competition. Pick 6 is available in most states, including Missouri, California, Texas, Georgia, and more, and I absolutely love it. Look, every night we're going to be having playoff basketball.

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six dot draft kings dot com slash promos so i'm reading this story and this story is from wherever the hell it's from central texas is where i'm reading this story abc 25 central texas ncaa head warns of the dark side of college sports gambling. A Tuesday hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee was part of an effort by Congress to examine the impact of legalized sports betting. All right, let's read. Being able to bet on how many touchdowns your favorite college quarterback throws for, like I did last night, or the number of points a star point guard scores is causing major problems for college athletes, NCAA President Charlie Baker said Tuesday. There's no doubt that the rise in sports betting has impacted the NCAA and its student-athletes

in a significant way, Baker told the Senate Judiciary Committee, but none of the consequences are as challenging as the harassment and coercion student-athletes are experiencing. Then they break down what a prop bet is. We know what a prop bet is because we're all well-versed because that's all I fucking talk about. Quote, in a victory over Michigan State during last year's NCAA men's basketball tournament, North Carolina star Armando Baycott had a great game,

scoring 18.7 rebounds, but he didn't have enough rebounds to make a certain gambler's best payoff senator dick durbin a democrat from illinois said baycott reported receiving over 100 messages from gamblers after the game berating him because they lost their bets now those are stupid people those are dumb people i am not dismissing that although I have sat here and I have yelled at my tv and said some fucked up shit about dudes who've blown prop bets so look I'm a gambler that's what I do Jilly's a gambler we all get mad at people fine I've never felt compelled to send somebody a dm and tell them they're a piece of shit for missing out on their rebounds fine but

before we start talking about Armando Baycott, like he's some poor middle school kid whose degenerate parents are gambling on his touchdowns at his middle school Pop Warner game, right? Let us not forget that in this era, college athletes are professional athletes. The only thing making them college athletes is that they play at a college. Other than that, many of them are getting paid.

Some well more than others, like Bryce Underwood, who's never played in college. Bryce Underwood is getting paid a shitload of money. But other people, all these dudes signing in the portal, do you think these portal guys are coming to these schools because they just want to play there? No, they're getting paid. These guys are professionals, and they should be treated like they are professionals. We've got to stop talking about them like they're at your local high school,

your local 3A high school playing on a Friday night under the lights. They are not. And oh, by the way, that's also some corrupt shit, because there's a bunch of people there trying to get to college from high school. There's a bunch of bad shit going on in this world. So the idea that Armandoando baycott this poor guy getting a hundred shitty messages from people about how he missed the prop bet well you want to swim with the professionals you want to live in professional world you want to play in big boy

world well this is big boy fucking world do you think that uh kevin durant doesn't get this shit 500 fold you think lebron doesn't get this you think that pat mahomes doesn't get this of course these people get this does that make it right no but you've decided to swim in the bed of allowing and legalizing betting on college sports in a lot of these states and by doing that and legalizing prop bets in these states what you have done is you have turned these dudes into pros and you've done it for your own gain in many of these states. So when I see these politicians swinging their dicks around about how this is terrible and terrible, newsflash, Dick Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, Illinois allows prop betting on college athletes.

You guys legalized it and passed it. Louisiana, you can't do that. Arkansas, you can't do that. I don't know if you, maybe in Mississippi you can, I'm not sure. But in some states you can. In some states you can't do that. I don't know if you, maybe in Mississippi you can, I'm not sure, but in some states you can, in some states you can't. But let's go back to Armando Baycott, who again, I don't think anybody should be getting death threats or hate over fucking up prop bets, but these leagues have decided to swim in these shark infested waters of gambling. They've gotten in bed with it. They're making money off of it. Just like they're making money off of alcohol, just like they're making money off of everything that's a vice that they're making money off of it just like they're making money off of alcohol just like they're making money off of everything that's a vice that they're making money off of they chose

to do it and then they want to judge people for how they use these vices well tough shit you gave them the vices and some people are not going to handle them properly but let's look at armando baycott of course he played at north carolina former north car Carolina star Armando Baycott reveals he netted over $2 million in his NIL earnings. Life-changing money just in college playing basketball. That's Armando Baycott, who playing a couple years at North Carolina, made $2 million. Right? Two mil. So when you come to me and you say, well, these guys are, they're kids. Yeah, maybe mentally. Sorry, you're in the workforce. Sorry, you have a job and you're getting paid big boy money to go out and play big boy athletics.

And then sometimes you have to deal with the bullshit that comes with being a pro. The only thing separating a 22-year-old NFL player and a 22-year-old college player is one plays in college, one plays in the NFL, and maybe the money is higher in one case. But you look at where these guys are. We treat pro athletes like we can say anything about them. Any fucked up thing we want to say about a pro athlete when he's 21, he's a pro. Guess what, motherfucker? These are all pros. Every one of these guys at this point, because that's the world they want to swim in. The only difference is they're pros and they don't get treated like pros in many aspects. Like something we talked about yesterday. They don't get treated like pros in the contracts.

Like they can just leave anytime they want. You sign a five-year deal with somebody, doesn't mean shit. You're out, you can leave. And the pros can't do that we're essentially giving 18 19 20 year old dudes carte blanche to have zero restrictions and zero guardrails and they can do whatever the fuck they want which okay cool but then stop treating them like they're fucking children when it comes to this kind of stuff like oh poor kid he's out there he didn't get enough rebounds for someone and now he's getting hate mail that's life in 2024. Fucking deal with it.

I'm not going to be the one doing it. I'll stew over to my house. I'll say you look like a fucking alien from Predator. I'll say all that shit about you, Armando Baycott, but not to your face. I'm going to stew over to my house and I'm going to pound the couch and drink another Bush Light. I'm not a fucking Neanderthal that's going to send you hate messages. But when you want to swim in big boy world and you want to make make two million dollars to play at north carolina and the states are legalizing betting on your games and your prop bets tough shit you have to deal with that they're forcing you to grow up faster but at least you don't have to grow up faster in the way that dudes who were 17 in 1941 did which means you have to go over and fight the fucking Germans. So at least you're not doing that. Let's continue this story.

Let's see. The hearing was part of an effort by Congress to examine the impact of legalized sports betting. The sports betting industry has exploded since 2018 when the Supreme Court paved the way for states to adopt betting with minimal oversight from federal government. Quote, It is clear gambling problems have grown over the last six years. I

would agree with that. Especially among young online male sports bettors, Keith White, W-H-Y-T-E, Keith White of the National Council on Problem Gambling said, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, has introduced legislation that would put federal guardrails on sports betting. It would require states get approval of the Department of Justice, ban prop bets on college athletes, and limit advertising for betting platforms and promotional offers. Why? Why? See, instead of trying to keep people from having these things, we need to have restraint among things. Like, look, you could argue i would that i don't think i have a problem at this point now right like i don't like i like to bet a lot but i'm fine right says that's what everybody's i look i i can have one or two beers and i'm fine

okay but like look i haven't lost anything over the fact that I like to sports bet, right? But there are people who do. But I do bet a lot, and I've bet way too much over the last six years, particularly when we moved to Nashville and I would just sit there all day and do shit, right? So I've lost money on that. Dumb on my part, but I'm not broke or anything. I could just have a lot more money in savings had I not been a fucked up degenerate gambler. but I enjoy doing it. Fuck. I've become my grandma. Shit. It's fun, son. But I don't think other people who don't have an issue with it, who can do it however they

see fit to do it should be punished because of somebody like me. I don't think people should have, you know, there shouldn't be restrictions on alcohol because some people are alcoholics. You know, like I don't feel there shouldn't be restrictions on pot because some people have problems. I'm just not a believer in that. For the most part, all these things that are vices out there, a lot of people can handle them and handle them fine. Some people cannot. Why do we look at the people who cannot handle them and say, well, we need to change rules because of the people who can't handle it? Why do we change rules for the outliers when there's tons of other written. I know it sounds like I'm reading this terribly. I think this thing's just poorly written. The normalization of gambling, which is a known

addictive product and making a part of sports is, that is incorrect, horribly written story. One of the most long-term problematic aspects, Harry Levant, a gambling counselor said, the gambling industry has resisted calls for more federal uh for more federal more oversight this is the worst written fucking story ever like what i understand that local news channels suck and i understand that most of these local news channels have a handful of employees and the reporters have to go out and like write their own shit and film their like like it's sad when you watch these local news guys in these smaller towns who bring out their own camera set it up hit record run to the other side do their stand-up shot and then turn the camera off on the other side like i feel bad for these people but for the love of christ this is a terribly horribly written story kxxv.com

uh the gambling industry has resisted calls for more federal, more oversight. For more federal, more oversight. That's not a thing. Arguing states and local jurisdictions are better suited to govern and implement betting. And there has been only limited appetite on Capitol Hill for new legislation. 38 states and the District of Columbia have approved sports betting, with the list expected to grow in 2025. Baker says 19 of those currently allow prop betting on college sports, as they should. These are not children. If you want them to be children, do not pay them. Let them suckle off the teat of their mommy and daddy like I did when I was in

college. But like, I just, when people love to use this whole, oh, those are kids, bullshit, Armando Baycott made $2 million playing basketball at North Carolina. Did your kid make $2 million working at Pizza Hut? I don't think so. So fuck that. At some point, this idea that,

basically you're letting these young dudes play dress up that's what you're letting them do like when you know a kid used to put on his dad's suit and say i'm going to work with dad you're letting these dudes play that world they're playing the world of professional athlete except they're getting paid to do it and not just in a college education and not just in paper bags under the table. They're getting legit money to do this. So cut the bullshit about how they're just kids. I'm never going to fault a college kid for this. Why?

If that college kid were not in college and he were 18 and he were out committing crimes, you'd probably hold it against him. Why do we choose that? Because there's this idea of amateurism in college sports and that these guys aren't getting paid and like why like it's like a mental block that you have because if there were a 19 like let's just take armando baycott when he's 20 years old he's making two million dollars to play at north carolina if there was another 20 year old guy who wasn't going to college but was out committing crimes you'd say well that guy's a fucking criminal fucking i don't care if he's a kid but because

he's 20 years old and he plays at north Carolina, he's a kid because in your mind, he's in college and that makes him a kid. Well, in my mind, that makes it bullshit. And too many people think this way. Too many people have this mindset that these dudes are kids. Sorry, they're growing up faster than ever. Look at the shit these kids see on their phones when they're kids. Back in my day, you had to get the Sears catalog if you wanted to crank one out, or you had to hit play and record on your TV-VCR combo and record Hot Springs Hotel or hope your dad left a nudie mag laying around somewhere. These dudes now go to their phone and they look up hardcore shit like, lady fucks a donkey, hey mom, I'm seven, this is good shit. Like, kids are exposed to more shit than ever.

And hey, if you want to ban something, ban social media for kids until they're 16. That I'd be in favor of. That's where these kids are getting warped. But, back in my day, you didn't have access to all this shit. Now these kids have access to everything. We're turning them into adults well before they should be turned into adults.

Especially by these Democrat people who want them to be able to vote when they're like six. But that's the problem we're running into now. So don't tell me that these are kids. Stop using the term kids. When I hear people say, oh, I'm not going to fault a college kid. Bullshit. They ain't kids. If you're making $2 million to play football and you're the same age

as another dude who's making $2 million to play college football, except he plays in the NFL and you play in college, why is that guy a pro and you're an amateur? It doesn't make any fucking sense to me. It's complete hogwash, I say. All right, anyway, make some prop bets tonight. I like Haj Malik while we're talking about it. I kind of like Haj Malik Williams. I got to see if Haj Malik Williams, the quarterback from UNLV, mind you, they lost their coach, but Haj Malik Williams, I need to see if he has a passing and rushing combo. He doesn't throw for a ton of yards, but his passing and rushing combo

is usually in play. So Haj Malik Williams of UNLV is a guy maybe to take a look at. All right, more to come.