Coach Newell was truly one of a kind. Cerebral, but funny. Intense, but warm. In 2001, I drove down to San Diego to have lunch with Coach. He was about to go to DC to testify in Congress about proposed legislation to ban wagering on college sports and wanted my input on the subject. He certainly did not need my help. Coach gave me a firsthand, oral history of the betting scandals of the 1950s and Jack Molinas. He also gave a wonderful state-of-the-game presentation -- and what could be done to improve the game we all love. His fundamental view was that Vegas was a necessary evil that helped protect the integrity of sports. I showed him a draft of an OpEd piece I was writing for Sports Business Journal. He said it was good, but made several suggestions that definitely sharpened my arguments -- here is the article as it appeared.
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