janet_jones.jpgTroJan Horse

I love a good gambling scandal as much as the next guy but this stuff going on in New Jersey just adds to the problems I have with law enforcement in the Tri-State area.

What’s with police enforcement in said area and this obsession with parading “celebrity” names, even prior to a fair trial, for gawking media cameras? I’ll cut to the chase to make my editor happy – Martha Stewart was a hose job from day 1. And I don’t two hoots what Russell Crowe really did with that telephone but parading him up the stairs in front of the precinct for an arraignment hearing was an absolute disgrace.

Now, for the six people in the United States that actually watch the sport, there’s a gambling scandal in the world of professional hockey. Mind you, not that there’s been any evidence to say that there are hockey people betting on hockey games. No, we have a football bookie ring that happens to involve hockey people. The only known name being charged at this time is Rick Tocchet, a former hockey player who is now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes.

The interesting part, from my take, in all this is what authorities are conjuring up in terms of bettors. That they even want to mention bettors, unless they are actively employed in the sport they are gambling on, is reprehensible enough. What verges on absolutely sick is that they are identifying bettors using terms like “an owner”, “players”, “movie celebrities”…..and “Janet Gretzky”.

I guess the good part is that by naming the former c-list actress known as Janet Jones gives me a petty excuse to write a column here. Why single her out? Is there some kind of rampant sexism going on in law enforcement in the tri-state? Or does slapping a cute blonde on the front cover of the New York Post make for more attention-getting headlines than some hockey player with two missing front teeth (thus making it better for authorities to get a bigger cut of the taxpayer pie the next time they put out their palms during budgeting time)? Or does this also happen to do with the fact that Janet’s husband is less importantly, a legend in the sport, or more importantly, the general manager of the team favored to win the gold medal in the Winter Olympics which start in less than 48 hours?

And what’s the crime here? Gambling? If the owners of the ring are not declaring the revenues to evade taxes that’s one thing. What crime did the bettors commit if not directly associated with their sport? Gambling is not an illegal act. Governments across North America have promoted and sanctioned it for years (and taking substantial pieces of the action with it, typically from the poor who are, handily, the largest consumers of the product.) But, let’s get Janet Gretzky. Yeah. That’ll show ‘em!

Maybe somebody should worrying less about racial profiling and more about “celebrity” GENDER profiling….

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