Speaking for myself, I'm fine with agreeing to disagree. But I've always wondered why some claim that the mob's stake in the illegal sports betting racket is not what it was and that there are many independents operating. In most of the country, that's certainly true. But in the northeast - basically stretching from Boston, down to Providence, into Connecticut, into New York and New Jersey, and down into Philadelphia - it's rather rare to find a bookmaking operation that isn't connected to the mob in one way or another. The mob lost it's hold on a lot of things but sports betting isn't one of them.