Ty Lawson Got Paid

Ty reacts to seeing 'Little Joe' after betting 'Hi-Lo-Yo'

North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson has dominated headlines the entire NCAA tournament.  First, all anyone talked about was how he missed the Tar Heels’ first game with a toe injury, then they wanted to talk about how he came back from that injury, then they wanted to talk about him being the best player in the tournament.  None of that talk has stopped really, but at the Final Four there are many stories to uncover.  Tywon evidently started feeling a little left out and forgotten so he found a way to get back in the news.  He walked around flashing his giant wad of bills he won from a Detroit casino. 

Lawson arrived in Michigan with his team Wednesday night and immediately headed for the Greektown casino to play some dice.  A short time later, he walked out with $250.  And somehow, this isn’t an NCAA violation. 

Someone might want to check the rulebook again.  It was my understanding that anytime a collegiate athlete came out ahead on anything, they were violating NCAA rules. 

Get paid for a job you didn’t show up to?  That’s a violation.

Get a winter coat from your coach?  That’s a violation.

Get to sit next to Toby Keith at a basketball game?  That’s a warranted violation. 

And those are just the University of Oklahoma’s infractions.

Lawson is of age and he wasn’t gambling on college sports, so I don’t have any problem with what he did, but it amazes me that the NCAA agrees with me. 

Lawson says he’s gambled on many of his teams road trips and won nearly every time.  There’s no chance he’s winning legitimately, right?  I mean, either he’s the luckiest bastard greatest gambler of all time or the casinos allow him to “win” and take home cash in exchange for him showing up. 

It’s an under the table appearance fee.  It has to be because based on an extensive amount of research, I can tell you that no one wins at craps.  I’ve done the leg-work on this one.  All the “very special episodes” I’ve watched have taught me that gambling is evil, especially craps.  You’ll start out winning and everyone will be cheering and somebody will be telling you to quit while you’re ahead, but then you’ll play one more time and lose everything.  Also, you may learn a lesson about the dangers of sex and alcohol.

Anyway, NCAA President Myles Brand says while gambling isn’t against NCAA rules, he’d like to discourage it.  You should probably translate that to: ‘gamblers, take Villanova because I’m not letting Lawson get away with this.’

Tags: basketball, Final Four, NCAA, North Carolina, Ty Lawson