Gretzky and Gambling ...

Why are we surprised?? Why are we overreacting??

We live in a culture addicted to gambling - VLTs, Lotteries, Casinos, Bingos and so on ... and we're being frothed into a frenzy because the First Family of Hockey may be involved in an illegal gambling scheme.

What's the real issue here?? Maybe Mrs Gretzky has an addicition to gambling - afterall, she's spent most of her life living in the Hedonistic, fake world created by Hollywood, Heffner and so on. So, if she's developed a gambling addicition (one her husband's earning power can afford) and Wayne has chosen not to speak of it - so what ??? It's a personal family affair.

OR, if Wayne himself is gambling so what ??? Maybe he buys lottery tickets too!! Maybe he likes hanging out at Bingo halls trying to win the ghetto blaster or the TV!! Maybe he plays the VLTs when he's up in Canada between games ...

What's the real issue here ???

The issue is the myopic view of the world put forth by the media.

The media celebrates drinking then cries foul when someone like Mickey Mantle is devoured by his addiction.

The media promote gambling, then screams foul when a prominent person is caught doing it ...

The media create celebrities, put every action under a microscope, then chortle with delight when they crack and do something stupid ...

Maybe the problem - the issue here - has nothing to do with the Gretzky family at all. Maybe the issue here is the need for all of us to look deeply into the mirror that Wayne and Janet are holding up before us. A mirror that asks each of us, if we really are faultless ourselves.

Okay, time for a confession: I buy the occasional lottery ticket with grandiose dreams of maybe winning enough to pay off some debts ... I have played a VLT once some time ago to know what they're like ... and I've even played BINGO in the past ... Guess, I'm a horrible person ... I guess I have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God - like almost everyone else.

Oh wait, in today's paper there are a number of ads for trips to Casinos all over North America, on the TV this afternoon will be a bunch of ads urging me to buy a ticket (or twenty) as a way of gaining financial freedom, and if I step into the local hotel I will hear the mesmerizing jingle of the VLTs that are helping to finance our province ... Gambling is common place, why should we be surprised by the "revelations" being put forth by the press right now ...

Let's give the Gretzky's a break and focus on real news items like poverty, hunger and trade inequities. So, Janet may have put a 6 digit bet on the super bowl - aside from the issue that she could likely afford it, and it wasn't taking food from her children - she is not unique. How many other bets, legal or otherwise were placed that day?? Where are the headlines for that??

The issue here is more the lifestyle promoted in our media that pushed people to want the quick easy wealth gambling seems to promise. Maybe we should focus on the illusion that lifestyle represents rather then trying to bring down a hero who has done more for sports in Canada then almost anyone else. Kids my son's age still want to be like Gretzky as they tool around playing shinny - that's the Gretzky we should be remembering and celebrating, rather then trying to bring him down.

I've never been a big fan of Wayne's, but today I'm willing to say he is still "The Great One." Let's focus on things that really matter and let's leave Janet and Wayne alone.

The real crime here is the media taking advertisements promoting gambling as a lifestyle, then criticising people who have fallen into that delusion ... the media can't have it both ways ...

At the very least, the Gretzky's are owed an apology ...

dayenu,