SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: What sport didn't have a gambling scandal in 2025? Maybe cornhole. A World Series to cherish and an NFL dynasty deflates. Sports writer Howard Bryant joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Hello, Scott. And how are you?
SIMON: I'm fine, thanks, my friend. One gambling scandal after another in sports this year, from the NBA, Major League Baseball, college basketball. Players suspended for gambling and having bets on certain occurrences in the game, which is how I'll describe prop bets. In the year ahead, do fans need to ask, can I trust what I'm seeing?
BRYANT: Well, I think that we know that once the gambling, you know, became ubiquitous, this day was coming. And I think that the sports leagues had taken the position that I never agreed with - I never quite understood it - which was that these players make so much money...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...That they would not risk the adrenaline rush that comes with gambling. And we've seen that not to be the case. We've seen that in Major League Baseball with Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, are involved in a scandal. They may never play again. We've seen the Jontay Porter in the NBA, now the Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier case.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: We've seen these different examples. Obviously, in tennis, the issue was more economic. The lower-ranked players trying to fund their careers are susceptible to gamblers because the players don't make any money until you reach the top 50. You know, you've got to be a really, really good player to pay for that sport, traveling around the world. And the attitude has been that, well, essentially, the leagues are going to take the money. The commercials...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Are everywhere. I mean, media is funded by DraftKings and FanDuel and the rest of it, and then the players take the fall. And so the more you watch these games with your high-definition televisions and the controversial calls, especially in the NFL and the NBA, the more you begin to wonder - are you watching a legitimate contest? And that is the death knell for sports. So the question's...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Really going to be - are you going to trust what you're watching, or are we simply going to watch these athletes be the ones who individually get bounced out of the game and the game maintains its legitimacy? I think it's a very, very difficult balance, and I think 2025 really showed that.
SIMON: But that was a historically great World Series. Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in a series that twisted, turned and set records over seven games.
BRYANT: (Laughter).
SIMON: See, I'm choked up just to think about it.
BRYANT: If you - verklempt. It's incredible, Scott. I mean, that - but that's the thing with sports, right? I mean, that is the thing that we love about the games. Every time there's a scandal, whether it's steroids, whether it's gambling, whether - you know, whether it's all the other malfeasance and transgressions of the athletes, when the game is played at its best, people come to it and they love it. And it reminds them of all the reasons why they got hooked on the - you know, in the first place. When their team wins, it's an amazing balance, and it's the thing. As Greg Maddux once told me, the great Hall of Fame pitcher told...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...It's baseball. You can't ruin it. And that Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series was - it was one of those watersheds and one of the greatest things, you know, I've ever seen. I've been covering this stuff for, you know, 30 years, and it was one of the great games. And it's a - it is that reminder of the power of what sports brings for us.
SIMON: And no bigger name than Shohei Ohtani.
BRYANT: Again, and now you're - once again, we talk about all the scandal, but you also talk about the things that these athletes can do. And you're looking at an all-time great player who can do things that none of us have seen - all-star-level pitcher, all-star-level hitter, all-star-level, you know, talent. And once more, you feel like you've seen it all, and then in something like baseball, there's always something we haven't...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Seen. And it - and the same thing is true in the other sports as well, Scott. I think that that is the - it's been such an interesting year in 2025 because there's this feeling of sort of, you know, gloom all over the country and the world. And then there's also this feeling that the games, the money has gotten so big, and we are...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...All so jaded. But then you get these moments, and it is the entertainment that we love.
SIMON: However, the Kansas City Chiefs haven't had a lot of great moments. They started off the year in the Super Bowl. They're now 6 and 10, not in the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Do we have to mark the end of an era?
BRYANT: I don't think so yet. I mean, obviously, Patrick Mahomes with the injury - the Patriots had down years. They thought the dynasty was over in 2009, and then they came back and went to the Super Bowl and won three more of them. So it will be interesting to see what happens to Patrick Mahomes and what happens to the Chiefs, but I wouldn't count them out yet.
SIMON: Oh.
BRYANT: The interesting thing for me is going to be this year, you've got - it looks like the Ravens are in trouble. The Chiefs are out. And this has got to be Josh Allen's time with Buffalo. They've got to find a way to get there.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: Otherwise - I mean, there's no clearer path for him than this year. I know there's a bunch of new young guns, but they're the ones right now who have to be the favorites to get there.
SIMON: All right. Sports writer Howard Bryant, we'll look forward to talking with you about all of it. Thanks so much.
BRYANT: My pleasure, Scott. Happy New Year.
SIMON: Happy New Year.
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