That’s right. It’s back. As everyone knows its been a very tough 18 months for the blog. We took a year off from the SuperContest last year, but Wiz and I are back in for a joint entry named The Candiotti Men in honor of Eric. I’m also going to try and attempt to do Eric’s weekly themed NFL picks this year in his honor. I was looking at the past posts of Eric’s and he did 14 years of these picks. 14 years!!! And his themes were so hilarious; Price Is Right games, Seinfeld characters, Football Refs, Announcers, Masters Holes, Casinos, Asian Food, Asian Vacations, Random Photos from China, Game Shows, Afternoon TV, closed Resturants (my favorite), Anagrams, and Cleveland Sports Losses. He loved thinking about the themes at the beginning of the year, taking time to map it all out, and then hunting down obscure pictures for each week. He would wake up super early on Saturday to make sure that it would get posted. He used to get so mad that we would text him our comments and not post them in the blog. I knew that bothered him so I would just text him more and more and never comment on these, but I loved reading these weekly posts and I deeply miss them.
- The
last time we stayed at the Monte Carlo.
4 to a room! I believe this
was the last time we did this as well.
- Poker
was still the main game that was played by most people. It was a big deal to get the poker rate
back then.
- This
was the first trip that we were introduced to both Don and Mike.
- Nice
Dinners were now a mainstay on our trips instead of going to Sbarros for a
quick bite to eat. Don and Mike introduced us to Mesa Grill and Craft.
And this trip supplied some hilarious stories:
- Backdoor
action: I remember Wiz and I
yelling this at a $25 BJ table at the Monte Carlo.
- Credit
Card Roulette: The first time we
did this at a dinner. Don was the loser
at Mesa Grill for a measly $695.
- Eric
getting angry that $5 craps tables were hard to find and $25 BJ tables .
- Don
asking Carol “What do you see in him” when I got up from the table to go
to the bathroom.
- The
16 vs 10 incident with Lee’s brother in law. #neverforget
But it was also the first time we saw a weakness in Eric’s
College Basketball betting strategy. He was a superior College Basketball handicapper. When he would do his research he tended to be
pretty accurate. That’s not to say that
he was always win money, because he was also a degenerate. He could never single out a handful of games
that he felt strongly about and call it quits. No, he would bet those games and
then another 20 games and give it all back. But all in all he would walk away
with money. And this trip was no
different. Eric felt confident going
into Friday session during the opening weekend of March Madness. Eric increased his wager amount after having
a solid day on Thursday and placed $77 on 19 games. Now remember back then, our budgets were
still pretty modest. We weren’t rolling
out there with 5 digit bankrolls or even $5k bankrolls. I mean we were still staying at the Monte
with 4 to a room. So Eric places the
bets and then heads out to golf. While
on the golf course, Eric is checking in on the scores and things are not
looking good. And they continue to turn
south as he goes 1-9 in the morning games.
He rebounds slightly in the afternoon games, but still ends up
5-14. He was devastated. Shocked.
Depressed. Not only was it about
the money, but also about the fact that he had such confidence in his system
and picks and it just got flipped upside down and fell for so many traps. We will always reference that day as Black
Friday.
And I’m taking this lesson into the 2021 season of the
NFL. Don’t get too cocky and confident
and always be aware of the traps. I don’t
know more than Vegas, and when I see a line that looks wrong (there are several
this week), I have to realize that this is a trap and bet with the Casino.
Cowboys at Bucs (-8.5)
While I wasn’t surprised by the Cowboys covering, I was surprised by the
Total. Thought everyone would come out
flat. And boy did both teams look
great.
Cardinals 31 at Titans 28 (-3): Titans haven’t done much to fix their D. They
lost their O coordinator. Henry coming off another huge carry month. Everyone is against the Cardinals this year,
despite improvements on the D. Really
like the Cards in this game.
Seattle 21 at Colts 24 (+3):
TRAP!!! This just doesn’t make any sense. All the negativity coming out on the Colts
this preseason. Yet the line is holding
at 3. Vegas is begging you to take the short road favorite. Seattle’s D is horrible and the Colts D is
above average. Is Wentz playing? Who
cares, the colts will just run all over Seattle’s D. In the past I would of loaded up on Seattle,
but this is such a trap.
Chargers 14 at Skins 21 (-1): Why is everyone so high on the Chargers? Not much is changing for this team, except
for a new coach. Everyone is predicting Herbert to make another jump in year 2,
but year 2 QBs tend to not make that big of an improvement. Skins D is elite and the upgrade at QB is huge.
Jags 13 at Texans 14 (+3): TRAP!!!! Am I really going to
take a rookie QB and an overwhelmed new head coach on the road? In years past I would, but this is another
trap. Everyone is calling Houston the
worst team of all time. They still have
a competent QB, a slew of veteran RBs, and some solid WRs. This might be the only chance the Texans will
have for a win.
Jets 21 at Panthers 24 (-5):
I really like what I’ve seen with the Jets. Wilson looks solid, the coach seems to know
what he is doing, and they have enough weapons to keep it close. Yes, this is definitely a revenge game for
Donald, who I like, but I also think the Jets are amped up for this one as
well. I expect a close game.
Steelers 28 at Bills 24 (-6.5): Everyone is super high on the Bills. Everyone has written off the Steelers. Steelers still have a really good D that can
handle the one dimensional Bills offense.
I think Big Ben will be fine and have enough weapons to put up
points. I like the upset here and
everyone in Buffalo to panic.
Vikings 27 at Bengals 14 (+3): People are forgetting that the Bengals were
covering with Burrows before he got injured.
Want to believe that they can win this game, but I don’t trust their
coach and D. The Vikings D have several key
people back on defense and everyone will be healthy on offense. I like the Vikings to cover easily on the road.
Eagles 17 at Falcons 21 (-3): I like both teams this year. Think this is a
lazy line or a trap. Everyone is
predicting the Eagles to finish last in the NFC East. Some people are predicting the Falcons to be
a sleeper team. But yet this is sitting at 3.
I’m staying away from this. If this goes to 3.5 I’ll take the Eagles.
49ers 28 at Lions 14 (+7.5): Jimmy G is starting while they traded up to
get Lance which is confusing me on why everyone loves the 49ers I hate Goff. Hated him in college and thought
that he was so protected under McVay.
Let’s see what happens now with no weapons and a bad coach.
Browns 21 at Chiefs 35(-6): I’m high on both of these teams
but what a shitty matchup for the Browns in week one. KC is pissed after the super bowl loss and
will lay it on the Browns.
Broncos 17 at Giants 10 (+3): Superior D’s on both
sides. Bridgewater is such an upgrade
over Lock and he’s money on the road. Giants
don’t have an O line. Think this is an
easy cover for the Broncos
Packers 27 at Saints 14 (+4):
If this was in NOLA I would of bet the Saints. But this is in Florida and NO home field
advantage is only worth 1.5 points?
Doesn’t make sense to me.
Dolphins 14 at Patriots 16 (-3): I’m so excited for this game. Tua vs Jones.
Two top rated D’s. I do think people
are sleeping on the Dolphins.
Bears 7 at Rams 31 (-7.5): I’m big on the Rams this
year. Stafford is such a huge upgrade in
QB. They will let it fly on an over rated
Bears D.
Ravens 23 at Raiders 10
(+4.5): I know that this is a TRAP!!! Remember hockey? It took the casinos 4 months to realize Vegas
doesn’t lose at home since all the visiting teams go out and party. It was such a huge money maker until the visiting
teams and the casinos realized how to handle this travel. Not
looking for good for the Ravens. But Wiz
and I put this into our supercontest before realizing this bit of info. We will see how this plays out, but I’m
already chalking this up as a loss.
SuperContest: 0-0
Ravens -4.5
Jets +5
Skins -1
Cardinals +3
GB -4
Best Bets:
TB Under (L)
Ravens
Chiefs
Ravens Under
Steelers
Jets
Dolphins
Colts
Broncos
Rams
Cardinals
Cardinals Over
Pats Under
1 comment:
Side note.
Eric and I flew out of Columbus on SouthWest for this trip to save on airfare. And we took the Red Eye on Sunday evening, drove from Columbus to Cinti in the morning. I showered at his house and went into work.
Post a Comment