Gretzky the Gambler

• #1 I'm not a hockey fan.
• #2 I don't have any real positive or negative things to say about Wayne Gretzky, because I don't know him.
• #3 I could care less if some multimillionaire decides they want to gamble.

Now, with the disclaimers out of the way, let's face up to a blossoming reality: Wayne Gretzky probably bets money on sports. He likely does (or did) it illegally. He's going to try everything possible to plead innocense. His wife is going to take the rap.

The story as reported thus far .... Retired hockey great (now team owner) Gretzky appeared in the news this week when his wife was implicated in an illegal sports betting ring, organized by one of Gretzky's assistant hockey coaches. Apparantly, the Mrs. bet several hundred thousand dollars on a variety of sporting events during the last few months, including last week's Super Bowl. And, most unfortunately, her little betting ring happened to be under law inforcement surveillence.

When the story first broke, Gretzky plead innocense, both about his own gambling habits, and about even having knowledge that his wife was betting half a mill on sports. What!

First, wouldn't it be nice to have so much money that your honey can go to the bank, ask for 50 $10,000 bills, and you don't even question the withdrawel? "Nice shoes, dear, how much did those set you back, 15k?" "Like the new wheels, darling, but didn't you buy a Ferrari just last weekend?"

But here's the real item of note. Are we to believe that Mrs. Wayne Gretzky, without her husband's knowledge, made friends with the assistant coach of Gretzky's team, placed big illegal bets, and the bets were on sporting events?

Oh, come on. There are so many things wrong with that statement. At the very least, Gretzky has to have known what was going on, doesn't he? How does his wife and his assistant coach mysteriously hook up and happen to discuss an illegal betting opportunity, on many occasions? Maybe they have a secret handshake and sign language all their own. And I suppose Mrs. Gretzky could be a huge sports fan behind her husband's back, who habitually rolls the dice(because lots of women I know are even more fanatical about sports than their husbands???)

Yeah, that's completely believable.

Much more plausible than, say, Gretzky's honey was betting his money, at his direction, on sporting events of his choosing, and teams of his liking.

There's no doubt that professional athletes bet big money all the time. They've got more money, more time, and more competitive fire than they know what to do with. Some of that betting is likely through legal channels, some not.

The story here is not really the betting ... it's the story behind the story of how much mularky a hockey legend (some would say that's an oxymoron) wants his adoring public to swallow. Stay tuned, and keep your hip waders on.

P.S. Powerball hits $250 million this weekend. If my wife is reading, it's time to go pick the numbers (but I don't want to know about it).