Columnist Dean Juipe: Hatch leads misguided bandwagon

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1999 | 10:40 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@vegas.com or 259-4084.

Nevada's relationship with the federal government has always been a little prickly.

Aside from the fact that 87 percent of the state's acreage is controlled by the feds, there are issues such as nuclear testing and safety to assure no shortage of endless confrontations. Even at a lesser level passions run deep, as proven by the ongoing dispute between residents of Elko County and the federal government regarding a washed-out road near Jarbidge.

Anti-Washington sentiment is less prevalent in the more cosmopolitan Southern Nevada, yet just in the last week the bureaucrats in D.C. gave Clark County a dig in the ribs that has hardly gone unnoticed.

The U.S. Congress is organizing its interested members into a crusade to abolish legalized gambling on collegiate sports, specifically football, at least at the outset.

It's an absurd notion and one that reflects very poorly on its high-profile instigator, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.

Doesn't this man ski or have something better to do?

What would cause him, or even the most diligent anti-gambling advocate, to feel the need to eradicate a considerable source of income for Nevada? Better yet, why not target illegal sports gambling if he feels the need?

The people of this state, whether they're employed or affiliated with the gambling industry or not, look at Hatch and wave off his misguided views as pure bunk. Yet there's a criticalness to what he proposes, as Nevada is the only state with legalized sports gambling and that's a 49-to-1 minority if the item ever comes up to a state-by-state vote.

As a result, Hatch and his movement have to be taken seriously and Nevada's Washington lobbyists are already hard at work trying to negate his advances.

It was bad enough last week when National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern positioned gambling as a blockade toward Las Vegas ever obtaining a franchise in that league. Now here's Hatch trying to one-up the commish with an even more outlandish edict that reeks of either jealousy or simple ignorance.

Had Hatch come forward and said "let's go all out to eliminate street-corner bookies and the supposed $103 billion they handle every year" he may have been applauded even here for his good intentions. Instead, he targets Nevada's annual $2 billion take from collegiate sports wagering and he's not only despised here, it's feared he may have enough support to put the issue on the congressional calendar.

Of course going after a single state is easier than tackling 50,000 illegal bookies, so credit Hatch for simplifying his mission. But where he makes his mistake is in believing the bookies would be negatively affected if Nevada sports books could not post betting lines on collegiate games.

The truth is, the bookies would prosper all the more -- or certainly no less -- if legalized sports wagering in Nevada is eliminated.

From a distance, it appears as if Hatch is merely an attention-seeking politician who is sorrowfully lacking common sense. He has, however, managed to throw a scare into Nevada's primary industry.

Traditionally in these instances, Nevadans fight back. In Jarbidge, they're doing it with picks and shovels, while in Las Vegas it's with old-fashioned financial muscle.