Jack Lessenberry

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law giving Nevada a monopoly over legal sports gambling. And there were immediately voices clamoring to legalize it here. They argued that the state would get more tax revenue as a result, and that it would boost tourism. Well, the tourism part sounds dubious to me, but I can easily believe that there is tax revenue in it. But will it be worth what it does to people? Here’s a little story worth considering: They tore down Detroit’s iconic Tiger Stadium at the beginning of this decade, and for a while, all that remained was a vacant lot, tended by a group of boosters who called themselves the Navin Field Ground Crew. But now the Police Athletic League has taken over the site, and built a lovely little mini-field with a building where one can have receptions and watch kids play. And I was there last night to mark the publication of a fascinating book: The Booster , whose subtitle is "How Ed Martin, the Fab Five, and the Ballers from the Hood