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Athletes have always been acutely aware of the role of gambling in sports, in part because of the history of name athletes being suspended or banned for getting personally involved.
Eight members of the 1919 Chicago ``Black Sox'' were banned from baseball for accepting money to allegedly throw a game. They were acquitted on the legal charges, but baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis went ahead with the suspensions.
In the early '60s, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Packers star Paul Hornung and Lions lineman Alex Karras for betting on NFL games. A few years later, he required Joe Namath to divest his holdings in a bar he co-owned with people who had faced criminal charges for gambling.
Baseball also threw Pete Rose out of the game for his betting, which the commissioner's office said included wagers on his own team, the Reds.
And Boston College's basketball program was the subject of a point-shaving scandal in the late '70s. This year's revelation at Boston College that football players had bet on college games looks pretty tame in comparison.
The difference today is that the point spread seems to have come out into the open air. Very few coaches or athletes are unaware of what the point spread is, and many like to use it as a motivational dynamic. Examples:
When the Kansas City Chiefs were installed as a three-point underdog at home for its game against Green Bay in November, coach Marty Schottenheimer said, ``I think it will work to our advantage to be the underdog in a game this big at home. . . . I don't really interest myself in the point spread. But I like to know who is favored and who is not.''
When Duke kicked a late field goal late in a 27-3 college football loss to Virginia this year, Cavs tackle Todd White said, ``Someone was betting on the game, that's why they kicked the field goal.'' Virginia was a 25-point favorite.
``I would guess that half of the guys on the team know exactly what the point spread is for a game, and the other half don't care,'' said UCLA defensive back Abdul McCullough. ``I look because I want to see what they (Las Vegas) think of our chances.
``I don't know anyone who thinks about it a lot, but you do want to know what people expect from your team.''
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Photo: (1,2) In the 1960s, commissioner Pete Rozelle required Joe Namath, right, to divest his holdings in a bar he co-owned with people who had faced criminal charges for gambling. Later, Major League Baseball threw Pete Rose out of the game for his betting.

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