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Thank you very much for joining us on Last Call.

This is where we get to the topics we didn't have time for in the first 30 or so minutes of the broadcast.

Alvin, by my account, we've now had uh two St.

Louis athletes embroiled in sports fixing, right?

>> Yep.

Most recent one was a St.

Louis University student and before that someone who went to the University of Missouri Columbia but he was in the pros at the time.

Right.

Right.

Okay.

>> So >> actually it was his brother >> that Yeah.

>> And where did he play college ball?

>> I'm not I can't remember.

>> Thought he played at Missou.

>> I think he did.

He might have played.

I'm sorry.

>> So you would think that Missourians would be rather sensitive when it comes to fixing games.

The NCAA has issued some new directives hoping that states will further regulate sports betting.

But the Missouri Gaming Commission today voted three to nothing.

No, they're they're not going to quite do that yet.

They're not going to clamp down on sports betting just yet.

Don't you think that they should?

>> Well, you know, sensitivity and gambling do not go together.

First of all, and I think what the state is doing is waiting for Congress, a national act to say, okay, now look on on college sports, you cannot bet on individuals.

or if you are going to be able to bet on individuals, you have to bet on that individual to surpass a number, not fall underneath a number.

That's where that kind of, you know, iffy gray area is.

Um, some action need be taken, I think, on collegiate sports because I people are too susceptible.

You know, we talked about a little bit last week and you know, if I go to a a small college someplace and I'm basically a student living in a dorm, but I'm playing a sport, that $5,000 is a lot to me.

Okay.

So, some action need be taken, but I don't think the individual states want to do it.

They're going to leave that up to Congress.

>> But Congress can't get anything done.

I I was not happy that Missouri punted on this because we know that they've been locked in gridlock for forever.

Um it seems like this is something where the state of Missouri where sports gambling is so new.

Why wouldn't we want to listen to the NCAA?

>> You just answered your own question because it is so new and I think that they're going to wait and see how lucrative this is.

>> You know, like well people who want to bet they'll they'll still be betting on the games like Alvin said.

I like your idea that you just can't bet on players >> in college.

How about no college at all?

How about keep college out of the legal sports betting?

>> You know, I would like I wouldn't have a problem with that except once again, follow the money.

It's just it's just too much money.

And you know, like I said, TV networks and things like that, boy, they're they're paying a lot of bills right now.

They are with all these advertisement.

So even the big media companies don't want to really stop it that money flow in any way.

>> How often did you you know with some really good football games over the weekend, pro games anyway.

And when there was a missed tackle or a blown field goal or whatever, didn't you what was the first thing you thought?

>> I I said to my husband, I said, "Is it just me?"

I said, "I am truly doubting the integrity of >> That's what Beth and I were saying the same."

Well, well, you're wrong because look, because that's not up for grabs.

An individual may be whatever.

Okay.

But as far as when you're watching a sporting event, it's true.

I'm just just believe me.

It's true.

>> I'm not going to believe you.

>> The problem is you ate the cheese.

>> Sometimes late in the game when a team is driving and they can beat the spread if they score.

>> That's right.

And there's a tendency to, you know, if they're just going to run the ball instead of throwing, what are you doing?

You know, you got to beat the spread here.

And sometimes they do beat the spread.

And I've thought a long time like that coach knows that, you know, all the alums are, you know, I got money on this.

>> Okay.

There was a great great national championship game.

The final score was 27-21.

The overunder on the game was 47 a half.

So, you're telling me Miami didn't try to win the national championship?

>> No, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm I'm saying that that you can still be trying to like if if you've got a three-point lead and the point spread is four and you're marching down, you know, if if you don't do anything and you stay at three, I think some of the alums go, what are you doing?

You could have made a field goal there, >> right?

That's right.

>> Why you taking a knee on that?

>> And you can do it just for the first half, too.

You can play hard in the second half, but fix the first half.

You can't play a sporting game like that in like a high level, especially professional sports.

You just can't.

>> How can we trust this when they just indicted a bunch of people one week ago?

I that's that's point shaving in like a basketball game, whatever.

But I'm just saying that the there's there's a true honesty to sporting events.

They are not >> I want you to promise us that you're going to go home and you're going to watch this and tell us how you feel about it NEXT WEEK.

BECAUSE YOU I'M TELLING YOU.

All right.

All right.

Let's move on.

Next topic.

Bill, >> the head of the uh committee or the office that measures the state budget was off by $250 million in a mistake he admitted and apologized for this week.

His name is Dan Hog.

Is that correct?

>> Hog.

>> Hog.

Okay.

>> And uh he was off by $250 million.

Not a good thing.

It's an $84 billion budget, something like that.

So, it's a small percentage, but nonetheless, the question now is, okay, we have $250 million.

Should we be spending it on places like Kinlock to pick up the litter, or should we save it for the future?

>> Oh, we should spend it.

I mean, that money's burning a hole in my pocket right now.

There's a lot of things we can do.

And I I say spend it.

I mean, and maybe we'll spend it foolishly.

Maybe we'll use it to bet.

I But I I think that I think that Missouri ought to spend that money.

Governor Kehoe has made it very very clear in his most Republican voice that this is going into savings that we are not going to spend this money that because of course the Democrats are already licking their chops saying let's spend it over here let's spend it over there and it's just funny but Sarah and I were both saying earlier there should have been much more of a human cry about $4 million that's what we had and it didn't occur to anybody and oh we're $250 million off I Never want to hear about girls and mathematics again.

>> Well, oh, go ahead, J.

>> We could have been bouncing chicks for this.

It's only 250 billion.

Even with $254 million, this is still the lowest reserve the state has had in like eight years.

This is not good, Bill.

Like, you can't spend this money.

>> No, you can't spend the money.

Do you guys remember we had a tornado May 16th >> and we need to clean that place up.

We have 100 million dedicated to that that we haven't spent in.

It's going to cost 800 million to clean the place up.

How could you be bringing a proposal to cut all the personal income tax when you do not know how much money is actually in the budget?

It's absurd.

And you take that 250 million and that Denver - New England spread, I'm telling you, we could have $750 million.

>> Governor Reed, >> he's a new spokesperson for draft.

Two minute warning.

Uh Wendy, uh the Gateway Arch Foundation wants to expand the Gateway Arch to the east side of the river, East St.

Louis.

And this week there was a press conference, I think, with members of the East St.

Louis community.

One of them said, "This is going to be a catalyst for economic change and development for East St.

Louis."

I'm not sure the Arch has been a catalyst for economic change in downtown St.

Louis.

Do you think moving the park in some way, fashion, or form to East St.

Louis will help that belleagleered community?

>> I think it could be transformative.

I mean, I'm sorry I had to.

I have been saying this for a while now.

It has to get through many phases.

The first phase will be an environmental study and then the second part of that will be what is what would be the cost?

What what cost are we talking about?

And the articles were fantastic because it brought up the fact that uh a Cahokia mounds plan and making it a national site uh was in the works 30 some odd years ago and then it just sort of fell apart.

Um I and I'd love to see all of this revisited.

I just think we have a I think we have a pretty critical list of things to take care of in St.

Louis right now.

And I know that the arch and COVID, you know, the the the expansion at the gateway arch at the at the at the gate at the arch um did not bowl people over.

I think they they've gotten their footing and they they have certainly made up after that COVID era.

I just would kind of rather wait a little bit until we're on more solid ground on this side of the river before we expand into >> I I hate to be too skeptical about this, but I don't think that it would transform or even help East St.

Louis a great deal.

>> I've I've written a column in the past which said like, you know, East St.

Louis should be one of I think it's happened five times in United States history where a city sold itself.

And I think that if this plan Okay.

and you said like, "Listen, the continental >> grain, it's going to be gone, okay?

And we're going to clear that land."

I think trillionaires from across the world would say, "I want a piece of that."

Because that could be really, really special for St.

Louis, Missouri, and Illinois if that land were open and you really could turn it into something with the skyline and all that.

So, I can't assue this plan because it could be the first step to something really, really special.

>> I hope you're right.

>> Yeah.

>> Now, if it's part of the national park though, it will be tax free.

There will be no property tax generated for the city of East St.

Louis.

There will be no sales tax.

>> But, but I'm saying if that wasn't there and it was part of the arch grounds, all the land that's adjacent to that going all the way to Cahokia Mounds, people would be very interested in that.

That's swamp land along 64 over there.

Now that that's development a lot of it available now there >> we go put a data center in.

Okay.

Yeah.

Great idea.

>> Well like a neatly woven claw.

Yeah.

Back to the beginning of the show.

No seams here.

Thanks a lot for joining us.

We'll see you next week.