SportsInsights

Those Sports Insighters who consulted their Sister Mary of the Immaculate Reception pocket calendars correctly noted that the day following Halloween is All Saints Day in the Roman Catholic circles.  Therefore, it was only fitting that we needed a couple of schools with god on their side to come through and deliver our first big money day of the college football season.  And with the handle down yet again, we needed all the help we could get.

It was up to soon-to-be ACC doormat Boston College to set the tone of this potentially profitable holy day as they hosted soon-to-be former Big East rival Pittsburgh.  The Eagles were getting two points at home, but the Panthers came into Chestnut Hill sporting an undefeated record in Big East play and a Top 25 ranking.  That was enough for the public, as they were all over Pitt in our biggest decision of the day.  Despite a 13-10 lead at the half, B.C. could not hold on, and Pittsburgh scored fourteen unanswered points, handing us an unappreciated loss. 

Despite the Pitt game, we were able to pick up a big win as folks continued the trend of shying away from Michigan, who was giving four and a half points on the road against Michigan State.  The Wolverines win helped pad our pockets and started things rolling our way.  Texas A&M failed to cover a fourteen and a half point spot, allowing Kansas to push the day’s total in our favor.  Although the public’s desire to take Maryland plus the seventeen points did not pay off for us, the day was still off to a great start.

As the late afternoon games rolled around, we had a few big decisions in our pockets and even bigger decisions to come.  While the handle still had not picked up significantly, the public saw it fit to choose a few premier matchups and try and make their money back.  They liked road teams visiting conference rivals.  Specifically, they liked Georgia giving one and a half points at the “world’s largest cocktail party.”  Coincidently, they liked the Over in the number of times cliché-driven announcers would refer the Georgia/Florida game as the “world’s largest cocktail party.”  The masses also liked Ohio State spotting Penn State a touchdown, as well as Oklahoma State getting two touchdowns at Oklahoma.

As the afternoon games wound down, it was evident that we were going to be heading into the nightcap with a sizable edge.  Although a Notre Dame loss cost us clean sweep on the afternoon’s big decisions, the failure of yet another holy roller could not erase the fact that the Gators, Nittany Lions and Sooners ended up on the right side of the spread. 

The  mid-afternoon defeats did not stop the squares from firing big as the evening approached.  Taking recent history into account, the public liked Miami laying four and a half at home against a Va Tech team that overlooked West Virginia last week.  Lucky for us, the public’s apptitude for history is sub-par.  The Hokies downgraded the Hurricanes to a tropical storm, we ended the day with six major decisions , and I just proved that television announcers are not the only ones who can use trite clichés.