When I was a kid in my early teens, I lost 20 dollars one night playing poker. Twenty bucks was a lot of money back then; it was to me, anyhow. It was all the money I had. I needed to depend on the generosity of my pals for loans to see me through until my supply was refreshed -- I don't remember if I had a part-time job or subsisted on an allowance from my parents at that point.

I do know that it cured me from playing poker. I never took much interest in betting on slot machines, horse races, or ball games, either. Oh I've had plenty of friends who couldn't wait to get their bookies on the phone to place their latest bets or for their next trip to Foxwoods, but it's never been my thing.

Sports betting is, as it has always been, a sure-fire way to make a whole lot of money, and once it became legal, teams, be they football, baseball, basketball, hockey, or what-have-you, have jumped on the gravy train. It is only now that they are discovering what a slippery road they've chosen. When former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the NFL and some of its teams for their hiring practices, he also accused Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of offering him a $100,000 bonus for each game he lost back in 2019, a charge Ross has vehemently denied. But in making the charge, Flores has opened a can of worms that will not easily be swept away.

Ross's supposed motive in tanking games was to make the Dolphins get worse so they could use higher draft picks to get better. It's a strategy used successfully in baseball a decade ago by the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs. As questionable as it might have been back then, it at least didn't have the factor of sports betting added to it as would be the case nowadays.

How would you like it if you had put money down on a football game through an agency in which a pro-football team has a financial stake, only to find out later that the team you bet on wasn't trying to win?

This does not appear to be something that the NFL will be able to handle in-house. If the charges are true, laws appear to have been broken. The FBI and congress could get involved. Who knows where it could lead?

Remember the Deflategate scandal that began back in January of 2015? It dragged on for almost two years. Tom Brady served a four-game suspension for it. In the end, it made no difference. Brady kept winning Super Bowls whether balls were under-inflated or not, but the NFL made a big deal out of it anyway. This is a much bigger deal. It questions the integrity of the game itself and whether or not it can be trusted. This is not just a PR problem. It's a legal one and it could spell big trouble.

The issues of sports betting and gambling don't even speak to the main thrust of Flores's suit, which calls into question the league's hiring practices. Two decades ago, the NFL instituted the Rooney Rule, which requires that teams hiring a head coach interview at least one minority candidate in the process. The rule is well meaning but completely toothless, as is shown in the fact that there is only one Black head coach in the NFL, Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in a league where 70 percent of the players are Black.

When Bill Belichick, or whoever it is who handles such things for him, accidentally sent a message to Flores congratulating him on landing the New York Giants head coaching job when he meant to send it to Brian Daboll (they both share the same first name) it was still three days before Flores was scheduled to interview for the job, which told Flores that his interview was just a sham in order to abide by the Rooney Rule, he reacted. It's an embarrassing situation for everyone involved; for the Giants, whose racial attitude is now brought into question; for Daboll, whose hiring will be under investigation; for Flores, who feels like he's the wronged party; and for Belichick, who unwittingly lit the fire that started the whole thing. Certainly, there have been owners and general managers who would never have a Black man as head coach of their team, but are those charged with running the New York Giants among them? How does one prove it? What a mess the NFL has on its hands.

To think that it was only a few short weeks ago that the league was basking in its role as the unchallenged king of American sports. Its playoffs had consisted of some of the most exciting games ever and featured some of the most electrifying young quarterbacks seen in years. There were no major officiating issues with which to deal. It was celebrating the retirement of perhaps the greatest player in its history. Everyone in America, or at least it seemed so, was watching. The NFL had a lot of which to be proud.

But pride cometh before a fall.

Now it is beset with problems, and they are not going away.

On the baseball front, there is no news. And no news does not mean good news. Both sides remain locked into their positions and neither one seems to be willing to move. It looks more and more like the unthinkable could happen. This could develop into a protracted work stoppage. Spring training is already in jeopardy, and soon, much of the regular season could be, too. Brace yourself.

- Dick Flavin is a New York Times bestselling author; the Boston Red Sox "Poet Laureate" and The Pilot's recently minted Sports' columnist.