06-03-2009 12:44 PM

The CSN Way: Hail-Mary Passes in Delaware

By Chuck Burton, The CSN Way Columnist

February 24th, 2009 saw Delaware governor Jack Markell announce a long-awaited event for the first state: the scheduling of a football game between the two Division I schools in the First State, the University of Delaware and Delaware State University. “This is a significant day for these two outstanding institutions,” said Markell on that day. “And we certainly cannot forget the sports fans in Delaware who are big winners in this as well.”

Governor Markell must have known that down the road he would make another decision that would be a “significant day” for these institutions and the “sports fans of Delaware”, though in a much different way. It would be the day that Markell offered gambling on professional sporting events as a way to close a huge hole in the state budget for the 2010 fiscal year.

While the sports betting proposal for Delaware would not involve gambling on the outcome of Blue Hens or Hornets games, Markell is certainly making a big gamble concerning those schools – that the NCAA will not ban the Delaware or Delaware State hosting postseason competition, including FCS playoff games, over the issue. And it’s far from certain that Markell’s hail-mary pass will help Delaware, Delaware State, or the sports fans of Delaware.

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