College betting bill still smoldering

Benjamin Grove

Sunday, May 14, 2000 | 1:37 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The bill that would outlaw betting on college sports in Nevada is still breathing in Washington despite some predictions it would quietly die this year.

Keeping the measure alive are three lawmakers of different backgrounds and motivations, doggedly committed to passing the bill as early as this year.

The three aim to close the "Las Vegas loophole" that allows student bookies to thrive on campus, they say. They want to insulate athletes from corrupt game-fixers. Their loftiest goal: to preserve the integrity of college sports.

The lawmakers who have emerged as champions of the legislation:

"Those three are very formidable," Nevada Resort Association lobbyist Wayne Mehl said. "They're being very articulate. They're staying on top of the issue. They're releasing documents that describe why they think this needs to be done. If a vote came up today, I'm afraid we'd be overwhelmed."

But why are they pushing this legislation?

McCain: The catalyst

McCain is the author of the gambling ban bill. He is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, where his bill originated.

McCain's interest is rooted in several places, aides say. Most notably, he was influenced by the findings of the National Gambling Impact Study, released last year. The report recommended a college sports betting ban.

Since then college presidents, coaches and NCAA officials have had McCain's ear. They argue that legal gambling on college games -- available only in Nevada -- leads to game-fixing, McCain said in an interview with the Sun earlier this month.

"When (Penn State coach) Joe Paterno calls, you really don't need a lot more persuasion," McCain said.

McCain also reportedly was sickened by a 1994 basketball gambling scandal at Arizona State University. Bets on the fixed games were placed in Las Vegas.

McCain is a combination sports fan and reformer, observers say. He has led fights to reform how Olympic host cities are chosen and pushed for stiffer drug-testing for Olympic athletes. He teamed with Nevada senators to reform boxing laws.

"This is consistent with his reform-type legislation that points to stamping out corruption and improving sports," Commerce Committee spokeswoman Pia Pialorsi said.

The blunt-speaking senator, an occasional gambler who has joked about losing money in casinos, said the bill puts Congress on a "moral highground" to take on illegal betting.

Nevada officials "have been less than persuasive" in arguing the bill will not curb illegal gambling outside Nevada, McCain said.

He repeatedly points to Nevada, where betting on Nevada universities is illegal. Legal betting in Nevada puts young athletes in other states at the mercy of "bookies and bettors," McCain has said.

Critics say McCain is an opportunist who latched onto this legislation because it's popular in Congress and pits kids against casinos.

Bull, McCain staffers say.

"John McCain doesn't need a slam dunk," said Commerce Committee staffer David Crane, who handles the gambling ban bill. "His history is one of taking on extremely difficult issues ... It's been the deft handling of Sen. McCain that brought this to the floor."

McCain grabbed the bill with no coaxing from the NCAA, said Doris Dixon, the chief NCAA lobbyist in Washington.

"He's an avid sports fan," Dixon said. "He's worked with us on several other issues. It's consistent with his philosophy. We've said all along this has nothing to do with the gambling industry. It has to do with gambling on teenagers and college kids."

McCain plans to bring the legislation to the floor again in June, and has the blessings of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, Nevada sources say.

McCain is a tenacious opponent and the "hottest property in the Senate," Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said.

"Right now McCain is operating in a different atmosphere since his presidential campaign," Bryan said. "He's kind of a cause celeb and much more difficult to cast aside, especially when it comes to Republican politics."

Brownback: The conservative

Brownback's attraction to the issue -- he authored a bill similar to McCain's -- likely is rooted in his complex conservative agenda.

The 43-year-old lawmaker since 1996 has made a name for himself as one of the Senate's most conservative Republicans. The staunchly pro-life Brownback was at the forefront of the debate over a controversial "partial-birth abortion" issue.

Brownback also pushed legislation to require employers to allow more religious freedom in the workplace. He strongly believes in the power of the family to heal the nation's wounds, denouncing divorce. And he repeatedly calls on Hollywood to decrease violent and "perverse" material.

"He supports the Christian right movement and the moral movement, if you want to call it that," Mehl said. "It's not out of character for him to take on this kind of legislation."

In an interview with the Sun, Brownback said gambling is eating away at society in the form of gambling addiction and youth gambling.

"The proliferation of gambling in this country has been exponential," Brownback said. "There has been a high number of problems that have been linked to gambling.

"It really is threatening the integrity of college sports. Look at how united the coaches are on this issue. They don't want their teams on the (odds) boards."

Brownback's support includesKansas University basketball coach Roy Williams and KU athletic director Bob Frederick. Those two have joined college officials in every state who support the legislation.

"The greater the involvement of the student body on campus in general, the greater the chance that one of our athletes is going to get involved," Frederick said.

Brownback said he was struck by the words of Kevin Pendergast, a former Notre Dame student who said he never could have orchestrated a game-fixing scheme at Northwestern University without the freedom to walk into a Las Vegas casino and place a $20,000 bet on a fixed game.

Brownback was horrified at a recent University of Michigan study that reported referees have bet on games.

"That really inflamed me," Brownback said.

Roemer: The moderate

Like Brownback, Roemer is floored by the spread of gambling in America.

"We have gambling on dogs, you can gamble in casinos, on boats, in lotteries," said Roemer, who sponsored a gambling ban bill in the House. "Let's not gamble on teenage kids in college sports."

Roemer's fervor on the issue can be traced to Notre Dame, which sits in his northern Indiana district, and where he earned a Ph.d. in international affairs. Roemer's father went to Notre Dame; his grandfather taught at the school for 30 years. So when the Rev. Edward Malloy, the school's president, strongly supported the idea of banning gambling, Roemer noticed.

And Notre Dame basketball coach Matt Doherty told Roemer that bookies have been hanging around practices, pumping him for information about the condition of players since his early days as an assistant coach.

"Doherty said if it was going on in the 1980s, there is a lot more of it going on now," Roemer said.

Well-spoken and energetic, Roemer, 43, has become the most vocal House member on the issue by hounding his fellow members and the press.

"We'll talk to anyone who wants to listen on this issue," Roemer's press secretary Chris Mehl said.

Roemer took center stage during the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in Indianapolis at a highly publicized event with notable coaches. In an April letter to the Washington Post, Roemer picked apart Nevada's arguments against the bill.

"Perhaps most amazing, the gambling industry defends Nevada's decision to prohibit legal sports betting on Nevada college teams -- on grounds that it threatens the integrity of their sports programs -- while allowing such betting on all other colleges," Roemer wrote. "Nevada's own action undercuts the notion that this is a states' rights issue and sets a double standard that defies logic."

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she has spoken with Roemer, a fellow member of the House's New Democrat Coalition.

"I told him in very pointed terms that he ought to deal with bookies in his own state and leave the legal gaming in my state alone," Berkley said.

Roemer said he agreed illegal gambling is a problem. He wants to tackle that, too.

"We need to do both," Roemer said. "The first step is closing the loophole on legal betting."

Benjamin Grove covers Washington for the Sun. He can be reached at (202) 628-3100 ext. 269 or by e-mail at grove@lasvegassun.com.

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