Gordio

last night in Vegas on monday I was up around $300 on the weekend, just mostly hanging out @ the sports book & playing a little blackjack. I decided to put $20 bet on this thing called a round robin. I have heard of it before but never played it. Anyways, I picked 4 teams & inside that round robin they do every kind of bet the combinations will allow. 1st line is 4 straight up single bets on the 4 teams you pick. That cost me $90. 2nd round of bets is every combination of 2 game parlays which were 6 combos. That cost $120 3rd round of bets is every combo of 3 game parlays which there were 4 combos. That cost $80 4th round of bets is the 4 game parlay. Which cost $20. Grand total of the bet was $310. I took Niagara +1 over Iona, Manhattan + 3 over Marist, Davidson -19 over W Carolina. The first three came in. So I won $60 on the straight up + my money back from those bets($67.50) 2 game parlay for $20 payed $45 so I won $135 on three 2 gamers I hit + my money back of $60 Hit one combo of the 3 game parlay which payed 6:1 for $120 + my $20 I bet that so I am up $152 after taking off the money I put in ($310). Win my 4th bet & I walk out of there winning $1,030. My fourth pick which was the late game was none other then g*d d*m Baylor over Kansas -1. They got beat by 10. Dumb bet. I also had $100 on the sabres that night & they lost to aneheim. Ended up winning only $50 for all my troubles.

I do not know. I really never have had the pleasure of cashing one of these future bets in. On the back of the ticket the language is kinda weird. It says if it is a certain bet that the ticket must be cashed in 120 days after the event(it was a real wierd term they used, never heard it before & I have the ticket at home so I do not remember what the term used was) & then it says all other bets must be cashed in 1 year after the date of the event. Which would not be a problem since I have gone to the super bowl every year there(last 5 years) & plan on going next as long as I still have a job(never know in this economy). I know friends that go thru offshore sites. You really got to be carefull with these. I have heard stories where your ready to cash out & the government puts a freeze on the money wire coming in & your SOL. The one my buddy goes thru now says he never has had a problem. He uses western union.

The thing with the way this thing is shaping up there is going to be probably 2 teams that are #2 seeds that are good enough to be one seeds. Obviously noone wants to see UNC or Uconn in their bracket. If they both play to their potential & the brackets are set right that should be your national championship game. The thing with OU is, due to the fact that the big 12 does not have another legit top 10 team in the conference this year I think as long as they stay the course they are going to be the #1 seed in the midwest. UNC, Uconn, Marquette, Louisville, Duke, Wake Forest, Pitt are all going to beat each other up over the next month. Duke & Wake Forest might of played themselves right into a 2/3 seed discussion last night by getting blown out. I think OU is in the driver's seat for the #1 seed (looking at their schedule) with the other teams mentioned above fighting amongst each other for the other 3 #1s.

Kansas won it last year. But I hear ya, I really do not think they are in the class of the Big East or the ACC. It is a suckers bet & like you said anything could happen. Look at Syracuse in 2003, noone had them winning the National Championship as a 3 seed. But they got a real nice draw(playing in Albany) & anybody that watched them that year knew they had the potential with Carmello & Warrick to create matchup problems all over the court.

We just had to put my dog down in the fall. I got him 12 years ago when I got out of college & moved back home with my parents. He was a minature american eskimo. Georgeous awesome dog. When I got married he stayed with my parents. My dad retired 5 years ago & they were inseparable. He would take him for a walk up to Dunkin Doughnuts every morning & they would each have a doughnut. I was at work when my mom called me last fall & told me the vet recommended that we put him down. Afterbeing on medication for a few years, his kidneys & liver started failing him. He could barely walk. I sat in my office, shut the door & cried for an hour. I was not going to go down to the vet that night because I thought it would be too tough. My dad was a wreck & said he just could not go to do it. They really became best friends over the years. I would often go over to my parents during my lunch hour & there would be my dad & chew taking a nap with chewey sleeping on my dads chest(he was only 12 pounds). Like I said the day my mom called I was not going to go to the vet that night but my wife talked me into it. I am really glad she did. It was surreal but something I am glad I was there for. It was definately a tough day though.

I was in Vegas over the weekend for the super bowl & I put $200 down on Oklahoma to win the NCAA Tournament. I put money every year(last year I had Texas) & I never win. This year I think I have a good shot. The best thing is I got them at really good odds. Got them going off at 15:1. I originally wanted Uconn or carolina but Carolina was going off at even & Uconn was going off at only 5:1. Pitt & Duke were going off at 8:1. OU I think has a reasonable chance at winning the NC. They are currently ranked #2, probably have the best player in the country in Blake Griifin & have pretty solid guard play. I really can not see them losing more then 1 or 2 more games the rest of the regular season(although they almost lost to A&M last night). I really think they have the inside track to a number one seed which for all you people that do not follow the tournament means they are pretty much guaranteed at least a spot in the sweet 16. I know these future bets are sucker bets & I have put one down every year for the last 5 years(although this is the largest amount I have betted. Usually I take a higher odd team & put less down like $25/$30) & have never won but I think this year maybe the year that breaks that streak. I know college bball on this board is not that popular but imho I think these next 2 months are the most fascinating time of the year in sports when teams jockey for seedings, play themselves onto or off the bubble & the conference tournaments where teams get a clean slate & could make one final run to the big dance. I love this time of year in sports.

Your wife or your daughter?

Just got back from Vegas for the super bowl. Weather was just perfect. There 4 days did not see a cloud in the sky. Temps were in the high 60s with no wind. There was this big yellow ball really high in the sky. Not exactly quite sure what it was. Back to the sh*thole last night. 20 degrees, light snow. I noticed something also. On the flight home there was very little cloud coverage the whole way home, thru the Rockies, over the plains, into Chicago & then as soon as we got around the great lakes/cleveland/erie/buffalo there was a 100% cloud coverage. Living in buffalo gets depressing this time of year. On the plane ride home I was reading an article on Jacksonville. It looks like that city is really growing(at least from the article). Looks like a real nice city too. I was there 10 years ago & from what I remember(I was pretty liquored up the whole weekend) seemed like a pretty nice town. Played Sawgrass when I was there. Still to this day one of the nicest courses I ever played.

I know what style defense they play. What does that have to do with anything? Bottomline is we do not have any playmaking lbs. Are you saying just because we play a 4-3 we do have the need for any lbs to get to the qb?

I think we have a new Crayons on the board.

I got to disagree with the lbs. I was reading an article in the news today about the Pitt lbs. They have comprised this year 38 of the Steelers 51 sacks. We have no lbs that could flat out get after the qb. I do not know if any of the lbs in the drafdt this year fit that description & would be worthy of the 11th pick, but if there is, I would like the bills to grab them.

I bet them last night. Had $50 on them. It was an even game. I thought UB would run them right out of the arena but they made me sweat it until the clock hit double 0s. Ah it was a good win any which way, too bad I lost my other four bets for the night.

Congratulations, you could beat Canisius. Your in good company with the other 250 Division 1 schools that could probably beat Canisius on their home court. We will see how you fare in the Koesler Center next month. BTW, it does not matter anyways. Niagara is not going to beat Siena in the MAAC tournament, especially since it is being played in Albany this year. Niagara will be lucky to make the NIT.

Come on, kinda tough to know how we are going to do in 09 before we see how free agencey/draft/training camp folds for every team. On another subject. Do you still think Fitzgerald is not that good?

That would of been a better ending. LOL I agree AJ needed to get whacked in like season 3.

Blair Witch Project sucked. Worst f*cking movie I have ever seen. I liked the Sopranos ending. I assumed at the end his whole family got whacked & the more I read of stuff like Steely Dan posted, the more I believe that was the correct assumption.

You sound like my group when we first got season tickets 12 years ago. We were all just getting out of college, all in our early 20s & we all used to hit the bar scene pretty hard. We would always talk about making a nice spread but come game day we were really unorganized & half the time we were so hungover we ended up getting to the stadium late & just brought beer. Over the years you get a wife, stop going out to the bars(or at least getting home at a decent hour) & your weekends in the fall revolve around going to bills games. We get pretty good food now, all prepared, ready to go the night before & get up to the stadium at 8am. Last year we did strip steaks, prime rib, lobster tails, deep fryed a turkey for the monday night game, chicken fajitas, along with the usual burgers & such.

I will say this about AJ Smith, he is a good talent evaluator. With that being said, his & Butler's tenure with SD they lucked out in some pretty good situations. First the draft. The two years where they were picking #1, they were lucky enough to have a prospect at the top of the draft that teams really covetted. The first time they picked #1, M Vick was coming out. They were able to deal that pick for a king's ransom, plus they got LT by trading down. The 2nd time they picked #1, Manning was the covetted prospect & they were able to trade down & get Rivers(who imo is better then manning) & also Merriman in the 1st round. Think about it, how much would it of sucked to be in a position like SF a few years back when they had the #1 pick. They could not give that pick away & ended up taking a player they were not crazy about; Alex Smith. Those drafts in SD really built the foundation for there talent. Also, there is a story that A Gates had a bunch of teams he was going to visit & SD just happened to be the first. He never got to visit that 2nd team. One thing is for sure, to be successfull you really can not miss on your high end draft picks like we have done in the past(Losman, Mcgargo, M Williams)

I do not know if that is the big question. Dickie J has alot of faults but he has shown the willingness at times to let the rookies play if they are the best at their position. He let whitner/simpson play right from the start, had no problem playing Lynch from day one, played Poz from day 1 & also had no problem playing Edwards over Losman. Mckelvin was a little different situation. I really think the coaches did not trust Mckelvin with the game plan. Now you could argue that Jauron should of just told Mckelvin forget the defense, you got one responsibility & that is to cover X receiver. Playing TM in that first Miami game pretty much cost us the game imo. Put Mckelvin or even Corner on Ginn & I think we would of won that game.

Does Canisius even have a football team anymore? Did Niagara ever have one?

If they tag him it is not up to them when they sign him. All Cassel has to do is sign the tender & if I was him it would take me about 2 seconds to sign it. Once he signs the tender, I believe NE is stuck. They would no longer have the option of removing the tag then. Their only option would be to trade him.

Yeah, obviously if they put the tag on him he is not going to the Jets. My guess is if they tag him they would want to do a trade. Have they placed it on him yet? I have not read anything that says they have.

I do not think anybody could dispute that at least as far as basketball goes.

I do not think so. They are a reported 10 million dollars over the cap right now. They blew their wad last year giving all those ridiculous contracts out. My guess is favre is done(which will free up 13 mill in cap space) but then they still have to find their QB. Would not surprise me in the least if they go after Cassel. Anyways, I really think the jets are the least of our worries in the AFC East next year.

The MAC is wide open this year. As has been the case for the last few years, unfortunately the MAC will be a one bid league again to the dance so winning the tourney is a must. Bet alot of college basketball & what I could tell you is that UB has as good of chance as any team in the league to win the conference. Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Ball St are absolutely horrible. Western Michigan is just a level above them. I think the conference comes down to Akron, Kent St, UB, Ohio & Miami(ohio). One of those team should walk away with the championship. Should be a fun few months at Alumni Arena. Took my son to last saturdays game. I graduated from SU/Canisius(grad school) but my son is a UB fan. Got season tickets for the football this year, went to 4 of the games & he thouroughly enjoyed that. Took him to a Canisius game earlier this month at the Koesler Center & he seemed to enjoy the UB game much more. better atmosphere I guess. The 2 years I went to Canisius the Koesler Center would get rocking pretty good. Those were the days when they had Barley, Craig Wise, Meeks, Beilein as coach. Pretty good team back then.