Carton Tackles Youth Gambling Crisis and MLB Viewership Concerns

Craig Carton (0:00)

Take it together, everybody.

Bye, bye, bye, to your nuts.

Four o'clock, straight up. SNY, what's good over there? Good to see you guys today. 888-808-109. Jalen Hurts out indefinitely with a blood clot in his calf, and yet the Eagles let him get on a plane and fly seven hours home, which is crazy to me. You've got Francisco Indur's wife emasculating him with an Instagram video in which she tells him, I gave you three kids, you have to take one for the team and get your vasectomy, and then mocks him with song and a home ec project, renaming products, which is crazy to me. And obviously everything else under the sun. 888-808-119. Here's John of Bergen County on the fan. Johnny, good afternoon. How are you, pal?

John (0:55)

Yeah, Craig, how are you?

Craig Carton (0:56)

Doing great. What's cooking today?

John (0:58)

Hey, man. Thanks for taking my call.

Craig Carton (1:01)

Seriously. Thank you.

John (1:02)

So I'm a grandfather of three.

Craig Carton (1:05)

God bless.

John (1:05)

And I've been a Yankee fan and a Giants fan pretty much all my life. I tell you what, the reason why I'm calling is because I want to commend you on your Hello My Name is Craig show on Sunday morning.

Craig Carton (1:20)

Thank you.

John (1:22)

I happen to catch that show every Sunday as I'm in my car. And you know, I watched these kids today. I never was a gambler, but I see now with all the sports betting and everything, you know, like my middle grandson, he plays baseball. And what do they do in their spare time? They play poker. Yeah. You know, these kids go, they don't have jobs or anything like that, but they got money to play poker. Anyway, my question to you, Craig, because I'm dead serious. I commend you for what you're doing.

What do you suggest about prevention? Because The Gambler, your show is kind of like an after the fact. Right.

Is anybody paying a mind to a prevention?

Craig Carton (2:08)

No, it's hard. It's hard. And unfortunately, the fastest growing segment of the population that's problem gambling are high school kids. Your kids 17 to 21 represent the fastest growing segment of the problem gambling community. And that's because they're immature. They don't value a dollar, et cetera, et cetera.

This is going to go against what I think most experts would tell you. If you have a grand kid in your case or a kid, you know, that's young, like a high school age kid that you know is already trying to show an interest in sports gambling, which is obviously very concerning, you'll go through with your two boys at some point when they get older, obviously, not at their current ages. One of the things, and this has to be you and your wife and a family deciding to do this together. You have to be, you have to be in lockstep on this before you ever consider it, because it's going to go against I think what common wisdom is.

If you know your kids are already exposed to it and some of them have shown an interest in it, I would set up at home like a fake point system and have your kids every week pick a game, right, and start them over the thousand mythical points, and let them prove to them how hard it is to actually win. Because these kids don't value a dollar, nor did we when we were in high school, right?

John (3:25)

Even if you come from a blue collar family.

Craig Carton (3:28)

And you have to prove to them that as much as they think they know, they're not going to be good at it. And I think that's one way to do it. But again, you have to decide what's good for your family. Because some families believe in absence, some family keep their head in the sand, and don't have open conversations with their kids. But I can tell you this, because I speak in high schools all the time about this. If you had to take a wild guess, what percentage of high school kids, and I'm saying ninth grade to twelfth grade, right now are either actively gambling, or have a friend who is actively gambling with real money right now?

Higher, Bob.

Chris McMonigle (4:08)

Half.

Craig Carton (4:09)

Higher, Bob.

Chris McMonigle (4:10)

No.

Craig Carton (4:10)

Eighty.

Chris McMonigle (4:11)

Wow.

Craig Carton (4:13)

Let that sink in.

Chris McMonigle (4:14)

Eighty percent of high school kids are gambling. I guess that's on the song.

Craig Carton (4:17)

Are you either gambling, or have a close friend who is gambling.