First, I just want to wish all of our gallant men and women in the Armed Forces and those who have served a good Veterans Day. You all deserve thanks and our best.
It is fitting on this Veterans Day that the first help to the devastated Philippines are our brave men and women. The Marines have landed and are already helping. Ships are in the harbor supplying needed aid and our planes are overhead dropping in much needed medical supplies. A big thank you to those volunteers. That brings me to my rant of the week.
Little things sometimes really get under my skin, which is what happened last week. While channel surfing I stopped at ESPN and caught one of their talking heads spouting out he didn’t think they should play our National Anthem at sporting events. Well that really got me hot.
All I have to say to him, and I really don’t want to mention his name, is if you don’t like our National Anthem you should move. I have a few spots I would love to see you go to and will gladly pay for your one way ticket to either China, Iraq, Venezuela or Afghanistan. Why don’t you get one of your $500 dollar suits dirty, go to the Philippines and help out?
I wonder what he would do in the Olympics when a gold medal winner stood in the winner’s circle with his country’s flag flying high. He probably would want them to play their favorite rap song!
We here at GamingToday love our troops, serving and retired. Again, much thanks.
At GT our motto is “news you can bet on” and we try our hardest to give our loyal readers the best bet info in all sports. My college plays stunk last week and, believe me, I heard it from several of my loyal readers this morning. None had anything to say about my airport play in the NFL – the Saints, who cruised to an easy win.
Oh well, I am a humble guy and will try to do better.
I just must give credit where it’s due. This past Saturday while sitting in the book playing the ponies, a guy comes up and tells me how much he likes my column and the Horses To Watch, but wanted to know if Bob Mann gave out more winners? I was a little puzzled as my good betting buddy Bob just pens a horse column on big days like the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup.
The guy then tells me about the big score he made with Mucho Macho Man, who Bob wrote about in our Breeders’ Cup edition. Bob said, “bet all you can afford on Mucho Macho Man to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”
I told him he would need to wait until the Kentucky Derby to get our top expert’s next selection, but he did want to thank Bob.
In the new BCS standings Alabama is resting on top and the only remaining tough game will be their last, when traveling to rejuvenated Auburn. With a win over the Tigers they will play for the SEC title then face Florida State, who should cruise the rest of the way. The Tide will be around a touchdown favorite in that matchup.
Ohio State is in the third spot with Stanford moving up to fourth and Baylor fifth. We don’t see any changes in the top three the rest of the way, unless Auburn pulls off the stunner. Then we will see Florida State playing Ohio State and the Seminoles would be around a touchdown favorite.
The point spreads are getting increasingly higher and plays are few and far between. Here are some I will be using.
College Football
Saturday
Miami Florida -3 at Duke: The overrated Hurricanes have come back to earth as they were crushed by Florida State two weeks ago and again last week by Virginia Tech. They now travel to Durham to face upstart Duke who has silently won seven games. The Blue Devils beat Virginia Tech on the road two weeks ago, 13-10. This is a monster game for them and a much needed win as they play their last two road games. DUKE.
Kentucky +13½ at Vandy: The Wildcats’ season is over and they now must travel to Nashville to meet the 5-4 Commodores, who want to win out to secure a good bowl. Vandy beat Kentucky last year on the road 40-0. VANDERBILT.
Houston +16½ at Louisville: The Cougars, with some luck, could be undefeated as they lost 47-16 to BYU and last week played tough losing to UCF 19-14 when getting +12. HOUSTON.
N. Carolina -1 at Pitt: The Tar Heels have gone 3-0 SU and ATS in their last three and are in much need of a win. They catch the Panthers off the huge upset of Notre Dame. UNC.
San Diego St. -5 at Hawaii: This is my get out game as the 5-4 Aztecs take the short jet ride to the islands and face winless Hawaii who they beat last year, 52-14. The Warriors from Honolulu have a defense like a stick of soft butter, allowing 37.3 points per game. With San Diego looking to go bowling they will pour it on, and we know the weather will be fine. SAN DIEGO ST.
NFL Football
Sunday
Chiefs +8½ at Broncos: I like this play almost as much as the Saints last week. Manning has that gimpy ankle, but one thing I know is they will win. Denver will be in all of my teasers, and if Peyton stays for the entire game they win by two TD’s. The undefeated Chiefs have been winning with mirrors. We hope they had fun with their bye week as it all comes to an end in Denver, my weekend airport game. BRONCOS.
Richard Saber, a former director of race and sports at the famed Stardust book, is GamingToday’s horse racing and sports handicapper. Follow Richard on Twitter @SabesBet. Contact Richard at [email protected].