compromise a key cultural pillar of cricket: the joy of castin

LONDON -- Three Olympic boxers -- including one who bet on himself to lose -- received severe reprimands on Wednesday for betting on fights during last months Rio de Janeiro Games.Irelands Michael Conlan and Steve Donnelly and Britains Antony Fowler were censured by the International Olympic Committee for violating anti-betting rules.None of the three won medals in Rio, although Irish amateur champion Conlan lost in the quarterfinals in a disputed decision to Russias Vladimir Nikitin. Donnelly bet against himself in a first-round bout but still won the fight.The IOC said the three boxers received only reprimands -- rather than retroactive disqualifications or bans -- because a disciplinary panel determined there was no intent to manipulate any event and the athletes have apologized.Under IOC rules, athletes and officials are barred from betting on Olympic events and required to report any approach or suspicion of fixing.All three boxers acknowledged they had made a mistake and regretted it, the IOC said. They must undergo an educational program in order to be eligible to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the committee said.The IOC also issued simple reprimands to the Irish and British national Olympic committees for not having properly informed their athletes of the betting rules. They were told to ensure that their athletes at future games go through a complete education process on the rules on betting and match-fixing.The IOC also urged the international boxing association, AIBA, to make its own rules compliant with Olympic regulations and to put anti-betting education programs in place.The 24-year-old Conlan is the most prominent of the three boxers sanctioned by the IOC. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and claimed the bantamweight world title in 2015.In Rio, Conlan reacted furiously to his loss to the bloodied Nikitin, stripping off his vest and making obscene gestures at the judges from the ring. He also made wide-reaching claims of corruption against AIBA and vowed never to fight as an amateur again.Conlan signed with Top Rank Promotions in Las Vegas last week.The IOC said Conlan placed cumulative bets on several fights, though none of his own, and lost all of the wagers. At least two bets were placed on fights in his own weight class. The bets were of a relatively low amount of money -- a maximum of 200 pounds ($260) -- but had created opportunities to make large amounts of money if they had been successful, the IOC said.Conlan appeared at a hearing in Rio, saying he had not read the Olympic anti-betting rules and wasnt aware of them. He said he bet regularly on sports as a hobby and had done so for fun in Rio because he was bored in the athletes village, the IOC said.Irish Olympic officials told the hearing they had placed more emphasis on anti-doping issues rather than the betting ban in preparing their athletes for the games.Donnelly placed eight cumulative bets, including two on his opponent, Tuvshinbat Byamba of Mongolia, to win their first-round welterweight bout, the IOC said.Donnelly, who won the fight, told the IOC hearing that he bet against himself not to fix the bout but because it would have offered some compensation had he lost.Donnelly, who lost all of his bets, said he was unaware of the ban on betting and did it to pass the time as he was bored in the village, the IOC said.Fowler, a middleweight who lost his only fight in Rio, made seven bets, including at least one on a bout involving a British teammate, the IOC said. He won three of the bets, which ranged between 30 pounds ($39) and 300 pounds ($390).Fowler told the IOC he knew he couldnt bet on his own fights, but wasnt aware of the overall ban on betting. He said he bet in Rio to pass the time and make a bit of money. Discount Baseball Jerseys . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Cheap MLB Jerseys Free Shipping . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. http://www.cheapmlbjerseysusa.com/ . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. MLB Jerseys China . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Review it! Review it! screamed the Australians, goading Sri Lankas Dimuth Karunaratne as they hurtled past him to backslap, high-five and bum-pat each other. Fifth over, day one, first Test: Mitchell Starc had struck the pad and elicited the raised finger to provisionally dismiss the opener, who now stood prone, mulling whether or not, as a professional batsman, he agreed. He had 15 seconds to decide, computing angles and circumstance amidst a cacophony of side-mouthed badgering from the opposition. Thats out mate! Go on, review it!It must be the most unnatural calculation known to anyone who has ever held a cricket bat: Ive been hit on the pad. The umpire thinks Im out. Do I agree?Cats eat mice; lizards lie on rocks; batsmen are not out. Compelling them to think rationally about whether they are lbw or not is surely the most perverse aspect of on-field cricket in the modern age. To watch a batsmans agony as he attempts to transcend his survival reflex is either excruciating or darkly entertaining, depending on how you like your schadenfreude served.But is it fair?Crickets connection to law, particularly Westminster law, is as old as the game itself. Each is meant to contain social meaning and life lessons. The relationship between the game and legal theory is well chronicled in books like David Frasers Cricket and the Law: The Man in White is Always Right, and the parallels are pretty clear.In the case of lbws, a batsmans protection of the stumps via pad is the crime. The bowler is the victim, or plaintiff, and the batsman is the defendant. The umpire, or judge, hands down the ruling. And in crickets modern society, the batsman now has the right of appeal. All sounds pretty fair so far.But if crickets laws are meant to reflect societal values, should we be allowing the batsman - undoubtedly irrational at the key moment - an opportunity to adjudicate? Seriously, who has ever been struck on the pad and comprehensively agreed that they are out?Batsmen, in this moment, are in a state of madness. They should be considered, for legal purposes, criminally insane.Enter Shane Watson: the human embodiment of bad reviews and the resulting face of the most tired gag in cricket. A precociously talented cricketer who will be rememmbered for the grievous crime of thinking he was not out when he often was.dddddddddddd He deserves sympathy because hes just like us. If asked to adjudicate your own dismissal, how would you fare? Its a scenario not uncommon in maidans, nets, backyards and back alleys across the world. These arenas are like nation states: each claiming sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs, and establishing its own culture, custom and protocol in doing so. But lbws, worldwide, remain a unilateral source of contention.My own backyard was no different. I still remember the day - I was ten - when my dad introduced a new rule into our own nation state. I was deemed to have a grasp on the laws of lbw, so now the batsman would be the sole decision maker on all appeals. Looking back, I presume there was a moral dimension to this new legislation. I was being encouraged to trade infantile tantrums for a more sober, objective appraisal of the game. I was being taught fairness.A batsman-review at amateur level would be disastrous. Not just for their inevitably poor application, but because it would compromise a key cultural pillar of cricket: the joy of casting doubt on the umpires decision. Robbing players of the opportunity to wage a dressing-room whisper campaign about the veracity of their dismissal would bring to an end to one of the great sources of comedy for cricketers: watching a batsman convince himself that, yet again, he has been the victim of a bad decision.Because batsmen, when hit on the pad, are not out. Its their natural plight. Technology may reduce the howler and help us arrive at the truth, but an elegant law may reflect some understanding of this phenomenon.When my dad struck me on the toe, or back leg, fully covering the stumps, I knew what the answer was. I am not out, because Im normal and I want to keep batting. I may be wrong, but I am in no state to decide.Karunaratne didnt think he was out either, but he took too long to decide. He was out. Suck s***! bellowed one Australian as the opener plodded off.When it comes to getting out, we are all children, and so it should remain. ' ' '