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Congratulations to the New York Knicks for recording their first postseason win since 2001. The Knicks defeated the Miami Heat 89-87 Sunday. Of course, it wasnt easy. Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire combined for 23-of-42 shooting, 16 rebounds and 61 points. And Dwyane Wade shot an uncharacteristically awful 4-of-11 from the free throw line. Nevertheless, a win is a win as the Knicks attempt to become the first team to ever win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-0. The series resumes on Wednesday.

Manny Pacquiao has become a much more disciplined boxer and a happier person since he replaced his gambling and nightclubbing habits with increased bible study and family time, says his trainer Freddie Roach.

The Filipino southpaw decided to change his ways after narrowly retaining his WBO welterweight title with a controversial majority decision over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas in November.

Roach described that bout as the first bad night Pacquiao had experienced in a decade and that his fighters preparation had been adversely distracted by his extravagant interests away from the ring.

Basically all those distractions caught up with us in that last fight, the bespectacled Roach said at the Wild Card Boxing Club today before conducting a sparring session for Pacquiao.

In the end, we had a bad night – our first bad night in 10 years and it was time for a change otherwise his career was going to be over. So he made those choices and to me they are all very good choices.

Manny has got rid of a lot of distractions in his life and he has some new distractions that are a lot better than the old ones.

Asked to detail the distractions, both old and new, Roach replied: The news ones are a lot of bible study and a lot of praying, and those are not so strenuous a task.

He gave his nightclub away, he gave his casino away, he doesnt gamble any more and he doesnt drink any more. He and his wife are together all the time now and they are very happy together.

Bolita, you may recall, was for many years Floridas underground, illegal lottery game, which fueled the income of the denizens of the so-called Cracker mob.

Bolitas sister game up North

Your March 4 column about bolita, Harlan Blackburn and the Trafficantes brought back a lot of memories.

The column also took me back to Pennsylvania, where the illegal gambling was called the numbers. The betting game paid off on the last four numbers of the previous days US Treasury report.

Most Pennsylvania Railroad shop men would buy the Altoona Tribune to get the winning numbers and then discard the paper.

I worked for the Tribune in 1951, and it was struggling because advertisers preferred the evening paper, the Mirror, which was delivered to homes.

While I was growing up, my dad brought the Tribune home, which helped me turn into a news junkie.

Bill Summers, Orlando

Good eating, cooked or raw

I grew up in Daytona Beach in the 1950s. We had 10 acres west of town near the airport. Only the front half of the land was used, so I had my very own five acres of woods.

The property had been an orange grove before the freeze of 1895, but had gone wild, with sour orange trees and lots of cabbage palms.

We had palm cabbage with many of our meals — mostly cooked for hours with a ham hock. But I always preferred it raw and still do. I love the nutty flavor.

Bob Crowell, Winter Park

A toast to TG Lee

Although Im not a native of Florida, my wife and I have been living here since November 1969, which qualifies us as BDs (Before Disney).

Your article about TG Lee was most welcome. After 14 years in Sanford, 25 in Tuscawilla, and three at the Mayflower in Winter Park, I am still putting TG Lee milk on my cereal and in my coffee every morning.

I remember the carton of another dairy, from more than 40 years ago when we were living in Sanford. Our grandson and I remember that the carton carried a picture of the dairyman smiling and wearing overalls. Perhaps his wife was also in the picture. Perhaps you can tell me what it was.

Dick Herndon, Winter Park

Last call for seafoam-green pieces of history

Its last call to buy a piece of the original Lake Eola Fountain, city officials say.

During the renovation of the Orlando icon after lightning zapped it in 2009, the fountains original seafoam-green plexiglass panels from 1957 had to be replaced, and remnants of the fountain were offered for sale as a charity fund-raiser.

When it comes to gambling policy in Florida, the balls back in the Legislatures court. In a recent ruling, the state Supreme Court declared that lawmakers have broad discretion to control gambling in the state.

But, as many lawmakers will learn, taking the lead on bringing order to Floridas chaotic gambling environment wont be easy.

Imagine lawmakers from rural Gadsden and Washington counties saying no to anxious local officials who want to legalize slot machines, for example. Asking politicians to pass up parochial pleas to use gambling to create jobs, boost business and add to tax revenues will be a challenge.

Managing gambling in Nova Scotia would become a direct government responsibility under proposed changes to the provinces Gaming Control Act announced Monday.

Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister David Wilson said the change would see the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp. become a division within his department as promised in the governments gambling strategy last year.

Wilson said the change would give the government better oversight of the corporations activities and could result in some savings, although he couldnt give a precise figure.

Renamed the Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corp., the body would have a new board comprised of senior deputy ministers from government departments such as Health and Finance.

Were trying to ensure that all those individuals (departments) who are affected by gaming policy are able to be at the table, said Wilson.

He said the move is about creating accountability within the government for gambling policies.

Wilson said he didnt foresee cutting all of the 17 workers currently employed by the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp., but added the government would look for savings as it reorganized the corporations structure.

Well be working with the board to see what the makeup of the corporation would be and if we can find some savings, were going to find some savings, he said.

John McMullan, a gambling researcher from Saint Marys University in Halifax, said the move is a recognition by the province that it doesnt need an arms-length body whose main responsibility is to build up the gambling industry.

He said thats mainly because gambling revenues have been flat in recent years and the government has rejected newer revenue streams such as online poker and racinos.

It really puts government officials squarely into the gambling arena in policy terms, said McMullan.

The new corporation is expected to be in place by early summer.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. The FBIs gambling corruption investigation in Montgomery wasnt the only one going on at the same time in Alabama.

The FBI was recording phone calls and meetings in Jefferson County a few months after it did the same thing in Montgomery. Court records show one Jefferson County businessman has agreed to plead guilty and several other people are under investigation over electronic bingo machines installed in the small town of Kimberly, 20 miles north of Birmingham.

Kimberly Mayor Craig Harris said Monday he initiated the investigation and is glad he can finally talk about his role. He worked as an informant who let the FBI record his phone calls and meetings, including ones where he received cash payoffs from gambling operators in return for police protection.

There wasnt any fear behind it because I was doing the right thing from the start, the 38-year-old mayor said.

But he said he regretted he couldnt be straightforward with constituents in the town of 1,800 when they called to complain about him doing nothing about the illegal operations.

There were several calls about, Why arent you doing anything? he said.

The Kimberly investigation and the Montgomery investigation were both run out of Washington by the Justice Departments Public Integrity Section. But they differed dramatically in size. One involved thousands of machines and millions in offers. The other involved dozens of machines and thousands in payoffs.

Justice Department spokesman Laura Sweeney said Monday she could not comment about the ongoing investigation in Jefferson County.

The Montgomery case involved two huge electronic bingo casinos in Dothan and Shorter. The Dothan operator, his two lobbyists and a former legislator pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in July and August. The operator, Ronnie Gilley, admitted offering millions in bribes to get votes for pro-gambling legislation in 2010.

The operation in Jefferson County involved at least four houses in and around Kimberly that had eight to 10 electronic bingo machines each and operated 24 hours a day as makeshift gambling halls, the mayor said.

He said one of the operators approached him on a Saturday in 2010 with an offer of about $150 a week to keep the Kimberly police away and provide notice if there was going to be a crackdown. He contacted the state attorney generals office on Monday morning to report the offer and was meeting the next day with representatives of the attorney general and FBI to set up the undercover operation.

He said he started collecting $150 weekly payments for one gambling business and then added others, eventually collecting several thousand dollars while the FBI recorded the payoffs in late 2010 and early 2011. The mayor said he handed over all the money to the FBI each week.

Federal court records filed late last week show that Daniel Boone Stone of Morris has agreed to plead guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and operating an illegal gambling business. In return for his cooperation, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a prison sentence of six to 12 months and a fine of $2,000 to $20,000.

Stones attorney, Scott Morro, said his client played a minor role in the case and wanted to put it behind him by reaching a plea deal.

I guess my guy is a Gilley, he said, referring to the casino developer who pleaded guilty in Montgomery and helped prosecutors.

Morro said federal prosecutors told him they had built a case on taped recordings, but he had not heard them.

Court documents filed in his case describe at least five others involved in the gambling businesses, and one of the houses they used was owned by Stones father. The father was not named, and Morro said he hopes the father will remain out of the case.

The court papers say the machines came from a convenience store owner in Gardendale and a club owner from Warrior, but they are not identified by name.

The mayor said sheriffs deputies raided the gambling hall that was in the Stone home in 2011, and the others closed voluntarily. He said he knew Daniel Stone because he was part-owner of an IGA grocery store in Kimberly that has since closed, and the other alleged co-conspirators were friends or acquaintances who lived in the area. He said he cant identify them because the investigation is ongoing.

This is not the first time Kimberly has had a gambling issue. In May 2008, police seized 189 gambling machines, valued at more than $1 million, from a warehouse. They destroyed them in 2011 after winning a three-year legal battle with the owner.

The plan announced by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming on March 12 that calls for the creation of new facilities, should be of concern by those concerned with the rising tide of gambling addiction, which is a public health and safety issue/concern across the country.

The Canada Safety Council considers gambling addiction a community safety and crime prevention issue. No one knows exactly how many compulsive gamblers end up taking their own lives in Canada. The council believes the number is likely in to be in the hundreds each year.

For every suicide, five gamblers with self-inflicted injuries could end up in hospitals. Gambling addiction is also linked to a range of other serious personal and social harms such as bankruptcy, family breakup, domestic violence, assault, fraud, theft and even homelessness.

Some of these costs can be quantified, including medical care, policing, courts, prisons, social assistance and business losses. But no simple dollar figure can measure the devastation to the lives of those affected by pathological gambling.

As the regulators of their own extremely lucrative gambling operations, provincial and territorial governments find themselves in a glaring conflict of interest.

A big challenge will be to eliminate this obvious conflict of interest. They have become more and more reliant on revenues — which amount to billions of dollars each year — from their gambling operations. A disproportionate amount of these vast revenues are realized from a very small percentage of gamblers. They advertise their casinos, lotteries, and instant wins as a way to get rich and have fun.

Yet, these same governments spend insignificant amounts on programs that deal with this addiction. According to the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, in Ontario, 6.6% of the almost $2 billion revenue from 2010 went toward charities and non-profits with only 2.2 % being used to fund gambling addiction research and treatment. It is about time governments adopt a public health approach to gambling, not unlike those for smoking and alcohol.

Governments that have allowed themselves to become so dependent on gambling income must now risk more of their profits on public health and safety.

And Ontario can and should lead the way as it embarks upon its latest gambling initiatives.

Emile Therien

Public Health and Safety Advocate, Past President, Canada Safety Council Ottawa

The new web-based video series, ?This Week in Gambling?, will debut on April 3rd, 2012, with a focus on delivering information and entertainment for players and casino customers.  The show is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and largely filmed up and down ?The Strip? as well as in the popular Freemont area near downtown. Each episode will showcase gaming related topics and street level interaction between Vegas visitors, performers, and the show host, J Todd, best known for his work on the long running APCW Perspectives reports.  

The program will be distributed in two versions, one which targets the United States, and the other for the larger global market. Since the show is entertainment focused, viewers can expect to see a wide variety of special features, interviews, and unique content.  Over the next two weeks, a series of special teasers are being released by ?This Week in Gambling?.  However, these short videos have more to do with having fun and creating a ?buzz? than the actual content of the program.

The new show is produced by Bet Viral with J Todd at the helm, and complements the videos produced by the APCW, which he founded in 2003. J Todd will also continue as the host of APCW Perspectives Weekly, which offers a more in-depth review and analysis of online gaming news tailored toward industry professionals.

?This Week in Gambling? will be available on a variety of video and social media sites. Parties interested in advertising, content, or media partnerships can visit their website for contact information and details. Teasers can be viewed by visiting the company site and You Tube channel, Facebook page, or Twitter account.

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This Week in Gambling

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The Georgia Lottery officials have been studying using video gambling to help make up shortfalls in the state’s HOPE college scholarship program.

From Sunday’s AJC story:

“Georgia Lottery officials in recent months have quietly explored how to roll out video gambling in the state if the idea ever gains political backing, documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show.”

“Their interest comes as projected revenue shortfalls force cutbacks in the lottery-funded HOPE college scholarship program — and as developers of gambling venues pitch their operations as sources of fresh funding. One recent proposal calls for a sprawling entertainment-video gambling complex in Gwinnett County.”

“The lottery last year commissioned a study showing that video lottery terminals at three venues could generate nearly $1 billion annually. An AJC open records request this month revealed that the lottery also hired a firm to report on details of introducing video gambling to Georgians.”

“The report by Spectrum Gaming Group includes a possible timetable for soliciting bids from operators and outlines how long it might take to develop a complex in metro Atlanta. It also detailed necessary steps like developing licensing and considering whether to set up services for problem gamblers.”

“Lottery Chairman Jimmy Braswell said the studies were intended only to educate lottery officials and Gov. Nathan Deal. Braswell said the lottery board has no intention of trying to approve video gambling itself, although it has the authority to do so according to a former state attorney general’s informal opinion.”

“Braswell said the board sees video gambling as a public policy issue to be decided by elected leaders.”

“Without a broad base of support, including the support of the governor’s office, the lottery commission isn’t going to step up and do something unilaterally,” Braswell said.

“The governor appoints the seven-member lottery board. A spokeswoman for Deal said the governor’s office has received the reports on video gambling, but added that the governor “is opposed to the expansion of gambling in Georgia.”

“Social conservative organizations have long opposed gambling in Georgia. Jerry Luquire, president of the Georgia Christian Coalition, said he considers gambling a “tax on the poor” that takes money out of the economy.

“There’s no right way to do a wrong thing and in our opinion gambling is wrong,” Luquire said. “We’re standing firm with our governor. We believe he is who he says he is, and he will deflect and reject any expansion of gambling.”

“The original public referendum allowing the state lottery in 1992 passed by a narrow 52-48 percent margin. But today Georgia is one of only a handful of states without other forms of gambling.”

With college tuition soaring and families often unable to make much headway in their savings, much less their college savings, due to the bad economy and rising prices on food/gas, I think parents would be open to video gambling in the state.

I remember when HOPE was passed originally and there was so much fear about bringing “gambling” into Georgia and the funds not actually being used for education.

While I am not privy, to all details of the programs’ successes and failures, I think overall the program has been great for our kids and our state. I have always been proud to tell people in other states that Georgia had a fund for pre-K and college scholarships for kids that are willing to work hard. (They have been talking in our school district in Arizona about cutting kindergarten to half day!  They can’t even afford kindergarten here. Good Lord people! Our district has finally decided to keep it full day I think out of sheer embarrassment to not have it!)

And I do think it seems to the observer that the state wrote the law tightly enough that the lottery money has gone where it was supposed to go.

Rose starts college in six years and while we have had a college fund for her since she was a baby, we are worried about paying for college – and the other two kids will quickly follow in her path. (More panic!)

I’m not so sure that a tightly regulated and tightly policed video gambling site would be a bad thing for Georgia.

So what do you think? Should Georgia explore further video gambling or other forms of gambling to help shore up the HOPE scholarship program? Does it hurt the certain segments of society to benefit other groups? Would you be happy to welcome video gambling to have your high schooler’s college fund secured? Or do parents need to cut back even more/take on second jobs to pay for college?

The first weekend of the Madness is in the history books and only 16 teams remain standing in the NCAA Tournament. Lets take a look at those 16 teams and assess their chances for tournament success as the field gets reduced to the Final Four this coming weekend. Teams are listed in rotation order.

Wisconsin is a mirror image of their head coach Bo Ryan: tough as nails. Theres no questioning the Badgers execution or heart, but this is not one of the more talented teams that Ryan has coached during his tenure in Madison. The Badgers are an offensively challenged ballclub that relies heavily on their three-point shooting. Four of their top five scorers average at least one made three pointer per game. Their leading rebounder, Ryan Evans, is 6-6, 210; not a team with a dominant inside presence. Weve seen the Badgers end up on the wrong side of nearly every step up in class game away from home this year, with two exceptions: their win at Ohio State and their win over Vandy to reach the Sweet Sixteen.

Fab Melos academic ineligibility wasnt a major factor for Syracuse in either of its two wins to reach the second weekend. Its certainly not like Orange head coach Jim Boeheim doesnt have anyone to replace him. 6-9 frosh Rakeem Christmas had eight points, 11 boards and three blocks in the win over Kansas State. Is Syracuse devastated by the news of Melos academic ineligibility? It sure doesnt seem that way. Forward CJ Fair: I think this is not going to stop our train from moving. Of course Fab is a beast, but weve got guys that can go out there and play and keep winning.

Cincinnati is on a 12-3 ATS run away from home; a veteran team that consistently plays good basketball in hostile environments. Mick Cronins Bearcats notched SU wins at Georgetown, Pitt, UConn, Villanova and St Johns in Big East play, then knocked off heavyweights Texas and Florida State here in the tourney. The single most important factor in both wins last weekend might well have been the Bearcats refuse to lose attitude, making plays down the stretch of tight games. Theyre in excellent current form, 9-2 SU and ATS in their last 11, the only losses coming by a single point at South Florida and when they were completely out of gas in the Big East Championship game.

Ohio State outrebounded Loyola-Maryland 46-23 in its tourney opener. They followed that up by completely stifling Gonzaga on the defensive end of the floor, holding the offensively potent Zags under 40% shooting from the floor. Thad Mattas squad doesnt have great depth, but theyve got great talent and chemistry, with four of their five key contributors starting every game together this season.

Florida won back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007 under Billy Donovan, and they reached the Elite Eight last year before losing to Butler in overtime. After losing four out of five to close out the regular season, the Gators were never tested in blowout wins over Virginia and Norfolk State to get here. The competition gets much tougher for the Gators this weekend!

Marquette ranked in the top 10 in the country in assists on one end of the court and in steals on the other end. And with a 15-5 ATS mark in their last 20 ballgames, its clear that the betting markets have been lagging behind their performance. Big East Player of the Year Jae Crowder poured in 42 points with 29 rebounds, six assists, seven steals and two blocks in the opening weekend of action; exactly the type of production hell need if the Golden Eagles are going to reach the Final Four for the first time since Dwayne Wade left town.

Coming off a four-wins-in-four-days run in the Big East tournament, Louisville was shipped out West for tough tests against Davidson and New Mexico. They were good enough to grind out a pair of tight victories, despite continued offensive struggles. Rick Pitinos defense is nothing short of outstanding, ranked in the top ten nationally in defensive field goal percentage allowed and in steals. But an offense that came into the tourney ranked 219th in field goal percentage, 260th in three-point shooting percentage and 258th in turnovers spent the weekend struggling to put the biscuit in the basket.

Michigan State is one of four Big Ten teams to reach the Sweet Sixteen; most of any conference. But the Spartans track record under Tom Izzo six trips to the Final Four since 1999 is second to none in the conference. They tied for the Big Ten regular season title and won the Big Ten tournament. Like Ohio State, Michigan State is a legitimate threat to win it all.

Indiana is not a dominant defensive ballclub, but they were good enough to steal one from no. 1 Kentucky with a buzzer beating three pointer at Assembly Hall in Bloomington back in November, despite allowing the Wildcats to shoot 56% from the floor. Kentucky fans will pack the Georgia Dome for the neutral site rematch in Atlanta and the Hoosiers did not fare well stepping up in class in hostile environments for much of the season.

Kentucky might be the best team in the country, but theyve been a pointspread disaster area all year. The Wildcats 13-22 ATS mark ranks dead last among NCAA tournament teams; consistently overvalued by the betting markets. We saw head coach John Calipari leaving his starters on the floor for 165 of the 200 possible minutes in their win over Western Kentucky on Thursday, with only two contributors from his bench. It was a similar story on Saturday in their near-perfect performance to destroy Iowa State. Depth could be a legitimate issue for John Caliparis squad moving forward.

In the regular season, Xavier never really gotits swagger back after the well-publicized throwdown at the end of their blowout win over Cincinnati back in December. At the time, the Musketeers were 8-0, including wins at Vandy, at Butler and against Purdue. They went 13-12 in their last 25 games prior to the start of the Big Dance, underachieving repeatedly. But with veteran backcourt mates Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons leading the way, Xavier made all the big plays during crunch time while beating Notre Dame and Lehigh to get here.

Baylor can be a frustrating team to watch at times. Theyve got Final Four caliber talent, but their execution down the stretch of tight games was downright miserable for a good portion of the season turnovers, poor shot selection and a remarkable propensity for blowing leads and ATS covers. That being said, the one thing Baylor does right during crunch time is making free throws, hitting at a 75% clip over the course of the season, among the top 25 in the country in that department.

Ohio did just about everything right in their tournament opening upset win over Michigan. The Bobcats shot the ball extremely well throughout: 51% from the floor, 38% from three point range and 88% from the free throw line. They avoided mistakes, committing only nine turnovers. And they shut down the Wolverines best shooters, as Trey Burke, Stu Douglass, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Zack Novak combined to shoot just 13-of-42 from the floor. They followed their first upset win with another one. All MAC junior point guard DJ Cooper the same guy who led the Bobcats to a shocking first round upset over Georgetown as a freshman back in 2010 made all the big plays down the stretch, leading John Groces squad to the Sweet Sixteen.

The biggest injury story of the opening weekend was the fractured wrist suffered by North Carolina star point guard Kendall Marshall. Even though Marshall finished their win over Creighton with his fifth double-double in the Tar Heels last six games, his status for the coming weekend is still very much in doubt as I write this. Marshall is irreplaceable for Roy Williams. He dished 351 assists in his first 36 games. ReggieBullock ranks second on the team with 45 assists.

NC State is peaking at the right time: 6-1 SU, 7-0 ATS in their last seven ballgames, the lone loss coming by two points to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament. With all five starters averaging in double figures, and three of the five shooting 50% from the floor or better, Mark Gottfrieds squad is loaded with scoring threats from anywhere on the floor.

Kansas ranks in the top 10 nationally in defensive field goal percentage allowed. The Jayhawks rank in the Top 50 nationally in rebounding margin, consistently controlling the glass. They have all kinds of future NBA talent on their roster Thomas Robinson, Jeff Withey and Tyshawn Taylor are all projected draft picks this June. And, quite frankly, Robinson is as good as any college basketball player Ive seen all year; the type of dominant low post presence that a true national championship contender needs. Bill Selfs squad survived a tough test against Purdue to get here; the type of lsquo;getting over the hump come-from-behind victory that should give the Jayhawks even more confidence moving forward.