alt Hacker News< entertainment as opposed to something more heated like war.>
As an avid sports fan, I've always thought this. All the emotion and anguish I feel during the seasons for the teams I support is sort of cathartic. But I can't help wonder what the effect legal online gambling will have. Yes, I know gambling and sports has been around since Methuselah, but now regular "Joe's" are in the act, who would have never gambled in the past because of the legal aspect. The heated like war will most likely become heated like costly regret.
We’ve had the public gambling on sports off-and-on since Roman chariot racing.
People don’t have to feel any certain way, but I find many of the comments seem detached from the fact there’s millennia of history about sports, gambling, etc; with many of the same concerns articulated by contemporary authors preceding you by that vast time.
I’m just glad sports mobs don’t burn cities as often as they did in Rome — but I don’t have nearly the panic that more of the same will be the downfall of humanity or civilization.