ODDS & ENDS PLUS A LITTLE HISTORY

ODDS & ENDS PLUS A LITTLE HISTORY

When golfer JON RAHM won a tournament for me at 25-1 odds, I had a handful of people ask me about the highs & lows of gambling and to give them a little of my personal history with the local bookies so you'll get a few of those IN ITALICS while we talk about sports this week.

 BTW, my guy this week, TOMMY FLEETWOOD at 15-1, played like he had a bad case of the Irish flu and putted like he was wearing a blindfold.

HOORAY for baseball!! My buddies and I have been jonesing for baseball  and we finally got our fix over the last 4 days. It's weird with empty stadiums but boy, can you hear the crack of the bat when someone squares up a fastball. neat. The cardboard cutouts are lame but the computerized fans are ok for now.

1969  

SUPER BOWL III   THE NY JETS  were 18 point underdogs and i couldn't resist and cashed in a pretty big ticket for that time of my life. gotta love joe willie namath.

1986 

Now on the other side of the fence, SUPER BOWL XX. The Bears opened up at -11 which i thought was a perfect number so i thought i'd wait and make a bet at game time if the point spread moved. Well, it moved....and moved....and moved some more and eventually at 4 minutes before kickoff, the Bears were 16.5 point favorites so i pound NEW ENGLAND because i figure i could enjoy the Bears and still cash my ticket. WRONG. 23-3 halftime and i was already halfway thru a bottle of amaretto. 46-10 final.

Here's a hint. DON'T EVER bet on golfer TONY FINAU unless they start ending tournaments on saturday. He is by far the worst Sunday golfer on the tour. I've never bet him and never will. (unless the odds are right  )

 1978 

ORANGE BOWL Oklahoma vs Arkansas. The sooners are 18 point favorites BEFORE arkansas coach LOU HOLTZ suspends 3 players, two of which accounted for 78% of the team's points. The point spread jumps to 24 but everyone loves the sooners because if they win, they also win the national championship. The razorbacks, playing for nothing, get Uncle Dan's backing and they kick the crap out of Oklahoma 31-10 and make it a wonderful start to the new year!!

ANTHONY RIZZO is still the most gracious player in Cubs history. Giving of his time to local cancer charities and hospital visits, he appears to be a genuinely nice guy. And with his 25 pound weight loss, I hope he tears it up all year long.

The NHL's new term "unfit to participate" is simply obnoxious. It makes every player appear to be in drug rehab or have covid-19.  dumb. change it soon.

1972 

IMMACULATE RECEPTION.    I have a LARGE money line bet on the OAKLAND RAIDERS and the raiders score with 1:17 remaining to go up 7-6 on the PITTSBURGH STEELERS and i am literally dancing in my living room. Then the steelers are 4th & 10 on their own 40 with 22 seconds on the clock and bradshaw throws a pass 25 yards into a crowd. The ball hits off two players AND GOES FREAKING BACKWARDS right to FRANCO HARRIS who picks the ball off his shoe tops at full speed and runs it in for the winning touchdown. I couldn't eat for two days. seriously. 

The virus shutdown is claiming more victims in Bears fans. With no camp and hence, no quarterback competition, we are stuck with MITCH TRUBISKY as our starter. The worst qb in the league has his job saved by covid-19. only in chicago.

Good Luck to coach TOM THIBODEAU, who accepted the worst job in the NBA when he signed a five year contract to coach the NEW YORK KNICKS. To give you an idea of what he's up against, the knicks have had 13 coaches in 18 years. THIRTEEN. tt is a balls to the wall coach and every game is like game 7 of the finals. No way he makes it five years but at 62, he should be set for life when he leaves.

OK, one final story and you know i'm ending it on a positive note. In both 2007 & 2008, the highly over rated chicago cubs hosted the NLDS against the ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS and the next year against the LOS ANGELES DODGERS in a best 3 of 5 series.  The cubs were 12-5 favorites both year and i couldn't get my money down fast enough on the visitors and as i expected, the cubs rolled over both years and never won a single game in either series.

 Led by senile manager LOU PINIELLA, the cubs scored just 12 runs in 6 games over two years and filled Uncle Dan's pockets big time. The amazing part of the post season is that i was so sure of the outcome, i gave cub fans even money on the series and they lined up down the street to give me their unemployment checks. 

Enough for now and next time i have some REALLY good stories about horse racing.