I idolized Pete Rose growing up. Charlie Hustle. The Hit King. The way he dove headfirst into bases, the way he played every game like it mattered. His drive to win.

That was baseball at its best.

In 1989, the MLB banned Rose for life for betting on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. The message was clear: gambling destroys the integrity of competition. Sports exist to showcase human excellence and fair play. Introduce betting, and you introduce doubt. Did that player try his hardest? Did he have money riding on the other side? Did that decision by the coach support his strategy to win, or did he have a secret incentive to lose? What about the refs?

That lesson held for decades. Until it didn’t.

When Greed Trumped Integrity

Last week, federal prosecutors arrested Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier as part of a sprawling gambling and match-fixing scheme involving more than two dozen defendants, including members of New York organized crime families.

Rozier allegedly pulled himself from games to fix over/under wagers. Authorities also believe Billups leaked confidential lineup information for betting purposes. This disaster arrived just six years after the NBA opened its doors to legalized gambling; exactly the scenario former Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini and his colleagues tried to prevent.

In 1992, DeConcini introduced the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which encouraged states to prohibit sports betting nationwide. The law passed for good reasons: the Pete Rose scandal had shown how betting corrupts competition. Proponents argued legalized sports betting would lead to bribery and point-shaving scandals that would destroy game integrity and public confidence. The goal was to stop the tide of legalization before it spread, and to protect young people from gambling’s harms.

As former NBA Commissioner David Stern prophetically warned Congress:

“Sports betting places athletes and games under a cloud of suspicion, as normal incidents of the game give rise to unfounded speculation of game-fixing and point-shaving.”

A representative of the NFL was even more clear:

“Simply put, gambling and sports do not mix. Sports gambling threatens the integrity of our games and all the values our games represent—especially to young people. We don’t want our players used as poker chips on-line or off-line.”

PASPA worked…for 26 years. Then in 2018, the Supreme Court struck it down. Not because widespread sports gambling was good policy, but because the federal government cannot compel states to enforce federal prohibitions. States hungry for tax revenue and professional leagues eyeing licensing fees rushed to embrace what they had once opposed.

The results were predictable. And catastrophic.

What Our Children Are Learning

Today, whenever sports appear on screens, betting platform advertisements follow. Children who tune in to watch their heroes no longer see only athletic excellence. They see gambling ads on repeat. They’re learning that betting is just part of sports, just part of being a fan.

Parents involve their kids in sports to build character—to teach them about effort, teamwork, and playing by the rules. Gambling restrictions for sports were put in place partly because children watch these games and are influenced by what they see on the screen. By introducing betting into sports broadcasts, we undermine these very lessons.

When I watched Pete Rose play, I saw someone who gave his all every single time. His lifetime ban taught my generation that some lines cannot be crossed without destroying everything the game represents.

What are we teaching this generation?

A Biblical Perspective

Theologian Albert Mohler addressed the NBA scandal this week, noting that “government is supposed to restrain sin, not profit by it.” When states become partners in vices through legalized gambling, they abandon their mandate to uphold justice. They prey on those who can least afford to lose the money.

Scripture celebrates honest work and wise stewardship. Gambling is neither. When profit becomes the true north of the moral compass, corruption is inevitable.

“There is simply no evidence whatsoever that gambling, whether legal or illegal, leads to anything other than just this kind of scandal,” Mohler observed. The presence of Mafia families in this story should surprise no one. Organized crime thrives wherever vast profit meets moral vacuum.

Arizona—and the nation—learned this lesson once when Senator DeConcini helped pass PASPA. It is past time we remembered it, before another generation learns that integrity is for sale.

Prop 409: The Bad Deal Behind Bond

We heard your frustration about receiving our Proposition 409 analysis earlier this month—after early voting had begun.

We share that disappointment.

Here is what happened: the information we uncovered about Valleywise Healthcare’s practices connected to Prop 409 was not exactly shouted from the rooftops by the proponents of the bond. We sent our analysis the moment we could confirm the details and complete our research.

Frankly, we believe this was by design. Prop 409 appears to have been deliberately structured to keep the expansion of Valleywise’s controversial transgender practices out of the spotlight, making it difficult for voters to access critical information before casting their vote.

We are committed to providing accurate, timely updates, and we regret this did not reach you sooner. Your voice matters, and transparency in elections should never be this hard to achieve.

We are developing a plan to ensure that taxpayer dollars from Prop 409, or any other source, do not fund harmful services based on gender ideology rather than reality. We will let you know how to join this effort soon.

A Valleywise representative did reach out and confirmed that the facility performs no transgender surgeries and fully complies with President Trump’s January 28 Executive Order, “Protecting Children from Surgical and Chemical Mutilation.” We have updated our October 17 FMF accordingly, but we remain deeply troubled that Valleywise—a taxpayer-funded public healthcare system—continues to promote harmful gender ideology, including the administration of hormones to suppress or alter the biological sex characteristics of adults.

Questions or feedback about Prop 409? We’re here to help.

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