'They Would Bet on a Cockroach Fight'

Slightly off topic, but the Wizard enjoyed both of these pieces. The first deals with the hypocrisy of the NFL. The league continues to blackball Las Vegas when it comes to expansion talk and even fights to keep the city's tourism ads off its telecasts. Yet the NFL holds a game in Mexico, where sports betting is legal. Do you think 100,000 Mexicans packed Azteca Stadium to see Kevan Barlow run off tackle? Next up for the NFL? London, where gambling parlors are as common as McDonald's. And then there is Mississippi. Religious leaders have protested moving casinos to land, arguing that they foster gambling addiction. But now with the economy battered because of Hurricane Katrina, the state is bending the rules. Of course, casinos in Mississippi employ almost 29,000 people and bring in $500,000 a day in state revenue.