On a scale of one to what the hell were you thinking, betting on the professional sports organization that happens to employ you is not the smartest of ideas. Even more insanely stupid is doing so in a public venue like, say, a Las Vegas sportsbook. That’s what went down back in early November as Arizona Cardinals defensive back Josh Shaw decided it wise to pluck down a 3-team parlay at Caesars. Adding to the level of ineptitude was that Shaw, when signing up for an betting account, put “pro football player” as his occupation. First off, it’s generally frowned upon for pro athletes to bet on sports — which in defense of the leagues, makes perfect sense. It’s even a bigger no-no to do so on the sport you play — note that the Cardinals were a leg of Shaw’s 3-teamer. Even with Shaw being on injured reserve and barely even affiliated with the team, he had to have known this was a bad idea. Could he not have asked around for a local bookie to take his action? Or better yet, sent someone other than himself down to Caesars to make the bet for him? The list of ways he could have conducted this sort of business undetected is literally endless. On more serious note, while this doesn’t qualify as a full-on “black eye” — Shaw obviously wasn’t playing, thus wasn’t shaving, and reports indicated he didn’t use “inside information” — it does give a bit of ammo for those opposed to legalized sports betting. The incident will no doubt be presented as a “slippery slope” — next thing you know, Tom Brady is betting against the Patriots, right? Unlikely but thanks to the dumb decision of one individual, legalized sports betting draws some negative attention.