Former University of Nebraska football coach and US Congressman Tom Osborne is emerging as major player in the fight against regulated gambling in Nebraska. Osborne recently testified in front of a hearing in the Nebraska legislature.
In his statements to the committee considering a bill that would allow regulated gambling in the Cornhusker State Osborne spoke of the trauma he was subjected to by aggrieved sports bettors during his tenure at the University of Nebraska. “Most of the really unpleasant interactions I had with fans were people who had lost a bet. I think this will change the nature of the stadium, the nature of athletics, and damage it to a significant degree,” he said.
Osborne was less traumatized back in the 1990’s when he reinstated his star player Lawrence Phillips after Phillips was credibly accused of domestic violence. The good coach balked at the time when a reporter asked him what if the victim had been his daughter. Not surprisingly, Osborne went on to serve Nebraska as a Congressional representative.
The good coach also skipped any substantive discussion of the tax revenue his state was losing from gamblers heading across the border to enjoy legalized gambling in neighboring Iowa. “There are all sorts of research that show the social costs created by gambling and the speed of gambling with double and triple the social costs involved.”
Coach Osborne, as he’ll always be known, was joined by 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers who also mentioned the social costs of gambling. “There are all sorts of research that show the social costs created by gambling and the speed of gambling with double and triple the social costs involved.”
Neither of the former football greats mentioned the social costs of domestic violence, but perhaps they were saving that for another day.
Whether Osborne or Rodgers care, a recent report in the Nebraska Journal Star suggests that approximately 80 percent of cars parked in an Iowa casino on a recent weekend were from Nebraska.