Is gambling in college sports going away? Don't bet on it.

It's hard to imagine someone that has followed sports over any of the past 80 years NOT being able to recall an incident where gambling reared its ugly head and brought about the ominous specter of shame for those involved.

The rap sheet of such incidents is long indeed, including the Pete Rose ban from MLB, the Art Schlichter implosion beginning in the 80's, Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions and Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers being suspended for a year for betting on NFL games (including their own teams), five different point shaving scandals involving 38 different NCAA schools going back to the late 40's, including the vaunted University of Kentucky, six separate events where players were either suspended or jailed due to gambling on college games, and perhaps the most infamous of all -- the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, where an entire World Series was alleged to have been compromised, costing eight players their careers, despite all being acquitted in court. And these are just where the athletes are involved directly.

It's hard enough to simply report these facts, but the stories behind the stories are typically a sordid tale indeed.

Case in point, at Boston College in 1996, thirteen football players are suspended for gambling on games, two of which are found to have bet against their own team. Being a former athlete it's sad enough to think I would have teammates foolish enough to throw their money in the direction of one of societies seediest elements, but to have bet AGAINST your own team? That is unconscionable. That is mutiny. That rots the core of the "team" concept itself.

Another classic example of how pitiful this situation can become was witnessed at Tulane University. For some of the basketball players in 1984-85 mere cash wasn't enough of an inducement to throw games. They had to have some cocaine as well.

And for those naive enough to think this only happens at marginal schools that don't care a whit about academics -- think again.

It's hard to top Columbia University when it comes to education. This Ivy League school on Manhattan is home to the first Medical College in America as well as the best business school in the world (according to a recent survey in "Financial Times"). But it was also home to a $10 million gambling ring that involved a baseball player and former football player, which tarnished the upper crust school in mid 90's.

Another academic heavyweight is prestigious Northwestern University. This institution of higher learning in Evanston, IL is right on par with the Ivy League schools in terms of scholastic reputation and quality of alumni produced. Yet they have birthed not one, but two gambling scandals since 1994. Tulane, itself, is light years away from being a diploma mill.

So indeed, it does happen virtually everywhere on the socio-economic spectrum. But who participates? And who really knows what's going on?

A University of Michigan report in 1998 stated that 14 percent of NCAA officials either have, or had knowledge, about games being officiated with the point spread in mind. Let me restate this in plain language. This report says that out of a crew of six taking the field to referee a given college football game, one of them let the point spread actually influence his judgment or knew someone that did. This revelation throws acid on the integrity of good sportsmanship, equality and fair play. This report goes on to assert that 93 percent of college football players know what the spread is in their game before they take the field. Well, this is the information age we are living in. And coaches for ages have alluded to what "Vegas thinks of their chances" to try and drum up some motivation if they are a prohibitive underdog. But let's be honest. If virtually every player knows what the spread is before hand, how hard would it be for some shady character to approach Johnny T. Quarterback and give him, say, five thousand reasons why his team shouldn't embarrass the other team by more than three TD's, which just so happens to have been the spread for that Saturday's contest?

Before I go any further, let me state for the record, it is my firm, albeit unscientific opinion, that the overwhelming majority of all college athletes are driven to excel and succeed for their school, their own pride, to keep their scholarship, to maintain their eligibility, and a host of other honorable incentives. For these legions of noble student-athletes that toil in relative harmony with what is good and right in college athletics, I tip my cap.

And it is POSSIBLE to be a person driven to succeed and win for their team on Saturday and turn around and try a parlay on NFL games the next day. And that may seem innocent enough to some of you. But do you really want one of your players having regular contact with guys that consider "breaking people's legs" just a part of their job?! I think not.

Furthermore, this relationship is how point shaving scandals begin. An athlete gets behind with his bookie and then has to throw a game to make it up to Guido. Pathetic? Yes. Shameful? No doubt. Is it happening at your favorite school? It might already be.

A recent study by the University of Cincinnati reported that 25.5 percent of Division I football and basketball players gambled. Another study by the University of Mississippi indicated 27 percent of all athletes gamble and that members of fraternities and sororities are more likely to gamble than other students. Is it that much of a reach to think players wouldn't take the money and run at Your Favorite U? Well maybe run a little slower at least.

So what are schools doing to abate the chronic problem of gambling?

Legislation has been in the works for years to try and put some real teeth into the problem, but the NCAA is far out-spent and out-hustled (no pun intended) by gaming interests. And let's be honest. Is legislation really going to quell the nation's desire for action (translation: to throw its hard-earned money to the wolves)? If that were the case, the Continental Congress in 1774 would have done the trick for us already since they issued the edict that banned "frivolous activities, including horse racing and gambling."

How about educational efforts on the part of the Athletic Department? Believe me, they do try. Every Compliance Director makes the attempt to train the players under their supervision to avoid gambling like the plague. They will bring in former mobsters, former players, counselors, therapists, witch doctors, anything or anybody that might help. But 18-22 year olds will be 18-22 year olds, especially if you keep questionable company.

So where does that leave us? I wish there was a pat answer to that question. Legalizing gambling and taxing it to death has its share of proponents, but I am not one of them. Sports is a microcosm of society. And as long as gambling is a lure to millions of people across the country, it will remain so within the context of "illegal college gambling." There is no realistic hope for saving us from ourselves. Just like the collective drug problem this nation has, changing for the better can only happen one heart at a time. Meanwhile, the efforts of people like chief NCAA lobbyist Doris Dixon continue on, pushing legislation to dam the tide of the brand of poor stewardship called gambling.

I wish her success, but smart money is off the table.