Before formulating all of my thoughts and ideas into this upcoming research project, it is always helpful to start asking research questions that can serve as my main topic. There are two questions that I believe that can serve as the basis of my research question. Those questions include, "How does sports gambling affect the outcome of the games?" and "Why is sports gambling such a controversial topic?" These kind of questions draw can be traced all the way back to the mid 1900's. This topic wasn't as controversial as you would think back then, but was on everyone's radar. In present times, sport gambling is a major focus, especially in the United States.

Why am I so interested in this this research topic? The main reason why I am interested is because I am one of the biggest sports fans that you will ever meet. I have watched and participated in about every sport since I was young. I have played baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and track and field. I have attended multiple sporting events as well. I was engulfed in the sports environment and was fascinated by it, which is why gambling on sports grabbed my attention. It is disappointing to see how corrupted the game becomes when it comes to money. That ruins the integrity of any sport that you can name. Nowadays, the younger population will be taught the wrong values of any game and that is heartbreaking to see. When it comes to my personal experiences with sports gambling, I tend to get heated and argumentative. Throughout my life, I have placed a wager on some type of sporting event. Sometimes you win but lose more than you win. Now, since illegal sports gambling has been a major focus of concern and currently present in society, I can see how these games are impacted for a specific reason.

The first article that I found has to deal with the fixed tennis matches. The main claim that the author is portraying is that there is illegal sport gambling going on in professional tennis, both in men and women. Apparently, some of the professional athletes are even betting on themselves to "fix" the outcome of the match. To support that claim, the author says that a sporting event should be unpredictable so that there are two possible outcomes that can occur. Since the games should be unpredictable, the viewers get the inclination to place a wager on the event to make it much more interesting. If the games are already fixed in advance, then there is a much higher chance of losing any bet that was placed ahead of time. The value of this article is that sports gambling should be illegal and discontinued, even though it is currently present. This is credible because the author, Hans Westerbeek, is the dean of the College of Sport and Exercise Science and Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living at Victoria University, located in Melbourne, Australia (Westerbeek). I would say that this article is not biased because the author never entirely stated his position on the topic. He just provided information and examples.

The second article has the appeal of "logos," which is Greek for "reason and logic." I believe that a good portion of the info in the article is about the statistics and numbers that pertain to sports gambling. That is why it there is a connection between logos and this article. One interesting aspect of this article is that the heading deals with the legalization of sports gambling, even though he provides information just to refute that argument. Towards the end of the article, he does state that some of the leagues, such as MLB, NBA and NHL, are leaning towards the legalization of sports gambling and fixed matches. The NFL and NCAA are the major advocates that are still against it. Yet again, integrity is the major value that you can get out of sports gambling. The author, David Purdum, is credible because he is an ESPN staff writer. Rarely did the author state his side of the argument thus making this source as unbiased.

The third source has to deal with the scandal by Boston College Men's basketball team back in the late 1970's. The main claim in this article is that Boston College used to bet on sports during the season, thus leading to corruption. The team did not exactly place the bets. Their goal was to make sure they cover any spread through the art of "shaving points." To make the situation even worse, reports show that the majority of the betting was fixed by the mafia. Two of the former players on the team were actually part of the mob. The NCAA eventually had enough evidence to place sanctions on the team, as the country was being informed about scandal. The author of this article is David Purdum, ESPN staff writer. Yet again, this article is unbiased because only information was provided and no side was taken

The topic, sports gambling, is arguable because there are two sides of the argument. One side of the argument is that sport gambling is corrupt and illegal. The other side of the argument is that sport gambling is legal, has a strong socioeconomic impact across the globe, and should continue. This side of the argument believes that the athletes try to win the game without any betting involved. Some people think sport gambling is clean while other would beg to differ. Some agreements and disagreements did occur between the sources. In the second article, I did agree with the author's evidence that sports gambling are illegal but not in his attempt to persuade to think that there are positives that can come out of this. Never in my entire life would I want fixed sports to be allowed. My one exception is if I was informed on what sporting events are going to be fixed in the future. Then I would have no problem with it, knowing that there are consequences that could possibly come with it.

