Roenick connected to betting service

[Satans Hockey]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=94973&hubName=nhl

TSN.ca Staff

8/15/2004

Jeremy Roenick has admitted spending thousands of dollars with an operation that made millions by selling sports betting tips to gamblers, law enforcement officials said.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Roenick's name came up when investigators were gathering evidence against National Sports Consultants, a Fort Myers company with eleven employees that have pleaded guilty to federal gambling charges, falsely claiming to have insider information.

While he was never a target of the investigation, police said the Flyers centre paid the company "somewhere north of $100,000". Investigators found no evidence that Roenick bet on Flyers games.

In an interview with the newspaper on Friday, Roenick admitted doing business with the company and placing bets for years but disputed the amount spent on tips, saying it was closer to $50,000 to $100,000.

"I enjoyed it, but I don't think I had a problem," Roenick told the Inquirer. "I shut it off cold turkey."

Roenick said he stopped laying bets in January after being warned by Flyers' general manager Bobby Clarke but maintained a friendship with one of the handicappers who pleaded guilty, William Gebig.

Less than two months after Gebig was arrested, Roenick, who said he was not aware of the arrest at the time, left tickets to the Flyers Conference final series games for Gebig.

"People get sucked into it," Roenick's agent Neil Abbott said. "Jeremy did something stupid and he won't be involved in this in the future."

Two other handicappers denied Roenick's claim that he quit gambling in January, saying the outspoken forward used the service through the spring.

"We considered him a good player, a real good player," said Daniel T. Biancullo, one of the touts who has pleaded guilty to the federal charges. "The guy liked action, that's it. He enjoyed it, he enjoyed the high. I don't think the guy is guilty of anything except liking to bet on football."

Roenick said he never bet on hockey, and never talked to the Fort Myers handicappers about hockey.

"Never, no way. It never came up. Never once in a conversation," Roenick said. "Never, never, never. I can't stress never enough."

[SueNJ97]

Here are JR's comments on the situation. The wife's reaction is very interesting. I also think the comment that Snider really doesn't like gambling and that this could be more trouble for JR than originally thought is worth a look. Maybe he will end up back in Coyote-land, after all.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/9410991.htm

Roenick: I'm not special

The Flyers center has acknowledged being a client of a Florida sports gambling operation.

By Tim Panaccio

Inquirer Staff Writer

In the aftermath of federal law-enforcement assertions that he spent more than $100,000 on gambling tips and admittedly bet on football and college basketball, Flyers center Jeremy Roenick said he was "only human."

Roenick said yesterday that he would like people in Philadelphia to understand that he shouldn't be placed on a pedestal just because he's a million-dollar athlete.

"People look at athletes and celebrities and think they can't do anything wrong," Roenick said from Idaho at a golf outing. "Everybody can do something that is detrimental to them, detrimental to who they are or what they are about.

"Whether it's gambling and they lose money in their wallet, or drugs, or drinking and driving, whatever, everybody does something wrong. It's our nature. We're human. Just because I play a sport doesn't make me superhuman.

"I make the wrong decisions, too. It's important, if you make the right decision, to stop and realize you've done something wrong. Then that takes a good person, too. I hope people understand that," he said.

In an interview with The Inquirer on Friday, Roenick acknowledged being a client of a sports gambling operation in Fort Myers, Fla., but disputed the $100,000 figure. He said that he paid much less for tips and that his total bets were between $50,000 and $100,000.

Flyers general manager Bob Clarke spoke to Roenick about gambling in January, and the matter was kept in-house. The club did not inform the NHL because it did not believe Roenick had done anything illegal, according to a league source.

Subsequently, federal investigators, who discovered Roenick's involvement during a raid of the gambling operation, told The Inquirer that he had done nothing illegal.

It remains to be seen what action, if any, the Flyers will take. The organization had no comment yesterday.

One Flyers source believed the club would give Roenick a "second chance." Another inside the team cautioned, however, that chairman Ed Snider would not react well to gambling and might want to pursue the matter further.

Clarke has usually backed his players. Roenick had several discussions with Clarke on the matter and believes he will still be with the team.

"Clarkie asked me if I wanted out, and I said no," Roenick said. "I want to remain in Philadelphia."

Roenick said he apologized to Clarke and feels the issue is resolved.

He conceded that telling his wife, Tracy, was much harder. Roenick called her from Idaho on Friday. He told her what he had done and that an article would appear in the Sunday Inquirer. He termed that conversation one of the "most difficult" he had ever had with his wife.

"She called me an idiot, she called me stupid, she said, 'You're dumb and make stupid decisions,' " Roenick said.

He said it would have been worse had she been in his presence.

"She would have [grabbed] me if she could have on Friday," he said. "She is a very strong person, and she is what I need in my life - someone who is strong. She is very positive. She's someone who, when you step out of line, she whips you back. She is also very supportive."

Neil Abbott, who represents Roenick, said Friday that there would be discussions with his client as to where he goes from here. When asked whether Roenick should enter the NHL's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program - in which players who are addicted to gambling also are treated - Abbott said no decision had been made.

Roenick said yesterday that he did not need to enter the program because he is not addicted to gambling and had quit.

"If you go in, you're admitting there is a problem," he said. "It's not a problem whatsoever with me. If I was continuing to do this stuff, then it's different. I've chopped it off at the knees and stopped it completely. If I wasn't able to do that, then there would be a problem and I would look into" the program.

Roenick anticipated negative reaction this week.

"It's been a dead subject with me for a long time," he said. "Unfortunately, I have to get this out of the way because it's in the media. They have to do what they do, and I have to roll with the punches. You stand up to it, you live up to it, and you move on. I've done that.

"I am just as human as everybody else. I try to convey that to people... . Just because Jeremy Roenick plays a sport doesn't make me something special. That's a point I want to get across to people."

[Pepperkorn]

Oh please that's how JR describes his wife. If she's the yammering thing in the Center Ice commercial then strong she isn't -- shrill and whiney I can see.

Edited August 16, 2004 by Pepperkorn

[SHEDEVIL30]

JR" I never bet on Flyers games"

Where have I heard that one before?

hmmm....

Pete Rose " I never bet on baseball"

[Jimmy Leeds]

Hook 'm up