My recent FTS on wagering entitled “Turn of a Friendly Card” seemed to strike a chord with several readers. Likewise, the scribblings of a couple of “Knights of the Keyboard” (as Ted Williams used to call them) also attracted attention in Flyerland. And I’m here to help sort it all out for you. Hey, it’s just a part of being a full-service staff writer, whatever that is.

Reader Tom Hubler AKA Miamisburg Tom had this to say about my gambling missive:

Hey Swamp,

Interesting piece on gambling. You’re right — one has to be nuts to bet on anything involving teenagers. You also have to be completely psycho to bet on the NBA. Also, betting on the Bengals (and I imagine the Lions for that matter) is also pretty much a waste of time and money.

The Pete Rose saga has taken an interesting twist. I’m shocked Selig is actually entertaining the idea of reinstating Pete. I’m not a Bud fan (Selig that is) , but give him credit for finally addressing the “Rose” issue. Bud’s idea to gather all the living Hall of Fame members to talk about Pete is very interesting. Will these guys, in essence, be the jury that decides Pete’s fate? Stay tuned.

Tom, speaking of the Bungles and the Lie-downs, did you see that the Senior Bowl has decided to appoint the coaches of the two worst NFL teams to pilot the All Stars? Are they nuts? That means Marty Moronwig of the Lions and Dick Leblow of the Bengals (who won’t coach, as he has been invited to take a permanent vacation). If these 2 teams perform as badly next year, the coaches in the Senior Bowl will be Tobe Determined and Phil Intheblank.

Reader DC Morrin takes a more clinical approach to explaining the intricacies of point spreads:

What they are not: A prediction about which team should win by how many.

What they are: A number whose purpose is to ensure the same amount of money is bet on both teams. That is why a betting line moves as money is wagered. The ultimate goal of the Vegas casinos is to have no risk (same amount on both teams). That way they collect their 10% and say thank you very much.

What a “betting line” reflects is how the betting public feels about the game.

A betting line is not a prediction by a casino about who should win by many, it is simply a number whose objective is to ensure the same amount of money is wagered on both teams.

As Johnny Carson used to tell Ed McMahon: “I did not know that.”

Like most Flyer Fans, I was absolutely stunned when Gregg Doyel of ESPN.com did a complete 180 and had nice things to say about the A-10 and even greater things in praise of OP’s boys. In case you missed it, here’s a link:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/columns/doyel_gregg/1485815.html

I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist having a little fun with Greggy, so I sent him the following:

Gregg:

As a guy who nominated you for the job of A-10 Proctologist in his own column after your trashing of the conference in your pre-season picks (see link below), I must say you made a sterling comeback. Thanks for the great ink, especially concerning the Flyers.

Jim “Swampy” Meadows

https://www.udpride.com/archives/20021115.htm

Mr. Doyel responded thusly:

You are surely welcome, especially in light of this here link. Ouch. I
appreciate you writing me on this one.

Gregg

And here I thought only William Faulkner knew how to write with a Southern accent!
Shoot, Gregg, thanks for stoppin’ by…y’all come back now, hear?

What can you say about Dave Lance, WSU beat writer of the DDN? Was he trying to create controversy with his UD/WSU Combo Team or is he just not very bright? Even if he wasn’t initially trying to stir up the pot, he certainly managed to do so in a follow-up article:

http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/sports/wsu/daily/0102insider.html

As if leaving KW off of the combo team wasn’t bad enough, Lance compounds the error by claiming Pete Waleskowski called him a “homer” (he didn’t) and doing so in the DDN, rather than hitting the ‘reply’ button like most normal people would have done. For his penance, I suggest that Mr. Lance should have to watch a tape of the Marquette game and then tell Pete face-to-face that Keith doesn’t belong on his little make believe fantasy team. Does that work for you, Pete?

Finally, speaking of not very bright, I have never fully understood the allure of coming onto an opponent’s Message Board and talking trash before a big game-particularly when your team is ranked #9 in the nation. What’s the point? There are only 2 outcomes and neither one is particularly appealing: your team wins as expected and you appear to be a smug punk or your squad loses and you look like an idiot. The winner of the first-ever FTS “Dave Lance Wiener of the Week Award” goes to Marquette fan Cloudpiercer, for his fine job of trash talking on the FlyerHoops.net Message Board. Note: I have edited CP’s posts down to their essence, as he tended to ramble. I also had to spruce them up, as he doesn’t seem to have mastered the intricacies of the shift key. He started things off with this insight:

“Yeah, rolling to another 16 win season and another NIT bid. “Katie bar the door”! Dayton is rolling again!

Followed by:

When is the last time you chumps made the NCAAs? Have you guys won an A-10 title? Last I remember was Dayton was 0-for the Great Midwest, never won a friggin’ game. Meanwhile, MU won the league.

And then:

MU has played in the MECCA since before Donoher and sold the place out for over 20 years. Since then we have played in the Bradley Center and have averaged more than your gym holds. FYI, Marquette sold the most tickets of any school to the Great Alaska Shoot Out (which we won) and to the coaches versus cancer despite schools like ‘Nova and the ‘Cuse being so much closer (we won there too.) By the way nice conference.

But, wait, there’s more:

Go watch “Hoosiers” and maybe you can get all your pretender wishes out of the way. Please the Negele Knight year was 15 years ago.

And more:

Dayton has a nice little middle of the pack A-10 program but do not compare yourselves to MU, it just does not work. Whether you want to count Final Fours, NIT Final Fours, National Titles, Conference Titles, All-Americans, NBA draft picks, attendance. There is no comparison. Run along little boy.

Yo, Ace: 92-85. Why don’t you run along, little boy.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”