Of course Shohei Ohtani would outshine March Madness

The sports world has Kate Middleton-level drama. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a suspicious betting pattern of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [US sports gambling]( sends fans into debt. - [Verbal assaults]( are a Trump-sized threat. - [These awards]( would make RBG upset. - [Apple investors]( are starting to sweat. The MLB’s Very Own [Rashomon]( Photo by Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images If you’d asked me yesterday what the lead story of today’s newsletter would be, I’d have told you: That’s a no-brainer — Adam Minter’s [column]( on March Madness! The first round begins today! The long-awaited Drake-Washington State [rubber match]( is finally happening! But no. Baseball’s [golden boy]( just haaaad to [upstage]( the first day of the NCAA tournament: I’m no Major League Baseball buff, but the Shohei Ohtani [betting bombshell]( should interest even the most casual fans out there. And by that, I mean those of us who are in it purely for the [hot dogs](. Here’s my quick-and-dirty version of the saga: Looking into a federal investigation of the activities of an alleged illegal bookie in Orange County, California, reporters from the Los Angeles Times spot the name of Dodgers superstar [Shohei Ohtani](. Very suss! On Wednesday afternoon, the paper [breaks]( the story that attorneys for Ohtani are accusing his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, of “massive theft” tied to supposed illegal gambling. The Dodgers proceed to [fire]( Mizuhara, who, as of Wednesday, was still acting [chummy]( with Ohtani in the dugout. Later in the evening, ESPN [reports]( that a spokesman for Ohtani told the network that he had transferred funds to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debts, which it says amount to $4.5 million, and adds the detail — as provided by none other than Mizuhara himself, in an interview the previous day! — that Ohtani “wasn’t happy about it.” On Wednesday, however, Mizuhara changes his tune, telling ESPN that Ohtani had zero, zip, zilch, nada knowledge of his gambling debts. This is Kate Middleton-level [drama](! It’s hard to say who is telling the truth here. But Gearoid Reidy [says]( the scandal highlights how attitudes in the US toward sports betting have shifted so quickly. “Here in Japan, the home country of Ohtani and his erstwhile interpreter, sports betting remains much more [tightly controlled](,” he writes. In the US, however, sports gambling is out of control, as Tim O’Brien and Elaine He [have previously charted](. The rise of prop betting — which allows gamblers to bet on things other than the game’s margin or result, from [yellow cards]( in a soccer match to [streakers]( at the Super Bowl[1](#footnote-1)— make fixing and suspicious betting patterns harder to track. Regardless of where this story goes from here, you gotta admit that having an illegal sports gambling scandal blow up on the eve of March Madness is a bit rich. And of course, this being the internet, people [are speculating]( about [whether Ohtani]( — or his interpreter — filled out [a bracket](. Beyond comical. At least women get the last laugh for once: Bonus Sports Reading: [Sports stadiums]( are good for owners. Taxpayers, not so much. — Nia-Malika Henderson SMH, Senator Halloran Speaking of *not* getting the last laugh: In what world is it acceptable to insert a female colleague’s name while reading a graphic rape scene? That was the question I asked myself when reading about Republican State Senator Steve Halloran’s [atrocious behavior]( on the floor of Nebraska’s legislature this week. Patricia Lopez [says]( Halloran “unleashed what can only be described as a verbal sexual assault [on a female colleague]( during a debate about keeping obscenity out of schools.” Halloran, who wants the memoir [Lucky]( by Alice Sebold to be banned, decided to add his own sick twist to [an explicit]( rape scene from the book by inserting the name of Democratic Senator Machaela Cavanaugh throughout. At one point, as he read, “I want a b*** job,” he deliberately added the words, “Senator Cavanaugh,” and looked up for emphasis. “Such behavior would be grounds for immediate dismissal in most workplaces in America,” Patricia notes. But Donald Trump [set the precedent]( for this kind of [vulgarity](. Today’s elected officials will stop at nothing to get attention, even if it means using [profane]( language and [dishonest]( tactics. Read the [whole thing](. RBG Didn’t Mean It Like [This]( Something called the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation, meanwhile, has found a way to belittle women who are in the grave. I’m referring to the [botched]( Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg Leadership Award, named after the late Supreme Court justice, the ceremony for which has now been canceled. The award was supposed to honor “women of leadership.” Somehow, the foundation ended up going with Martha Stewart and — wait for it — Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken and Sylvester Stallone. “Ginsberg herself said that the goal of the award was to honor women who showed ‘empathy and humility,’” Sarah Green Carmichael [writes](. “Are those words anyone would associate with Musk, whose ego couldn’t fit in one of his own Cybertrucks, or Milken, who went to jail after pleading guilty for securities fraud?” There’s no way RBG would have approved. Telltale Charts On the same day the US Justice Department [sued]( Apple for violating a bunch of antitrust laws, shares of the tech company slid by more than 4%. “Leveling the playing field invariably means adding complication, friction and insecurity to a device that became successful because Apple was able to engineer away all of those things,” Dave Lee [writes](. If the DOJ gets its way, Apple would need to change the way the iPhone works, to the detriment of users. Would you rather have your credit cards, plane tickets and IDs squirreled away in different apps for banks, airlines and everything else? Or would you rather have them, as Apple currently requires, in a single wallet that you know is secure? I know my answer, and I bet it’s the same as yours. Which company is doing better: Nike or Adidas? After Nike’s [positive earnings]( this afternoon, you might think it’s the swoosh company. Yet the brand with the trefoil logo may still have the upper hand. “Both Nike and Adidas have become too reliant on products that burn bright and then fade, with nothing to take their place,” Andrea Felsted and Leticia Miranda [write](. But Bjorn Gulden, who took the helm at Adidas in January 2023, has capitalized on the increasing crossover between [fashion and fitness](. The new CEO, they argue, “offers a model for Nike’s tentative turnaround efforts: His decisions around emerging trends seem more akin to a fashion retailer’s instinct for best-sellers.” Further Reading Free read: Biden should wrap up [the weed debate]( before November. — Patricia Lopez Estonia’s leader [is wanted]( by Russia. That’s no isolated incident. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Come for Powell’s dovish remarks, stay for my [homemade dot plot](. — John Authers Pylons are here to stay. We might as well [make them pretty](. — Lara Williams Oil trading is still [rife with bribes](. Time for a clean sweep. — Javier Blas Millions of homes in the US rest on a slab of [climate delusion](. — Mark Gongloff America’s waning [naval dominance]( should worry you. — Hal Brands At FedEx, the era of [large price increases]( is over. — Thomas Black The US should create [a 9/11 Commission]( for Covid. — F.D. Flam ICYMI [Reddit’s IPO]( completely popped off. The [Ozempic babies]( have arrvied. The first [human transplant]( of a pig kidney. Joe Rogan’s podcast [rules Spotify](. Kickers David Frum’s [memoir of grief](. Rose Hanbury’s [Chinese artifacts](. [$89 strawberries](, shipped to your door. Raid is [way too good]( at this [NIL stuff](. We’re ready [for]( [Wicked](, emotionally. Notes: Please send [ballpark]( [hot dogs]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. [1] For what it’s worth, Matt Levine [doesn’t think]( Taylor Swift would ever bet $10,000 on whether she’ll be shown on TV kissing Travis Kelce. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](