This blog promises a dash of sports commentary and today we deliver by expounding on the topic of sports Christmas in October.
Here’s hoping the social justice warriors and the virtue signaling they extort from the game providers don’t ruin the enjoyment.
If you like sports of all sorts, this is a good time of the year for you. We have postseason baseball. We have college football. We have pro football. We have the so-called “playoff” portion of NASCAR.
Preseason hockey means the start of the NHL regular season is nigh. The NBA season also is soon to begin.
And these are just the most popular sporting events of the moment. Truly, there is an abundance.
But if you don’t want your sports leavened with a measure of left-wing pandering, you have to have a plan.
First, avoid pregame shows. Second, if the game broadcasts show pregame activities, try to skip them and show up in front of the television just in time for play to commence.
For those attending in-person, you have no choice but to endure. Or just stay home.
Now that sports betting is legal in Pennsylvania, I spice up the occasion by wagering a dollar here or there. Think of it as the gambling equivalent of quaffing some eggnog around Christmas,.
Let me stress, when I say a dollar or so, I’m not exaggerating. I’m simply small time, making my gambling profits by trying to slog through promotions on games such as blackjack, roulette or baccarat at or near even money and then making money with the accompanying free credits or free bets.
A curious fallout from the legalization of sports betting is that I’ve found I’m terrible at it, despite a career spent covering and analyzing sports. This is why I need the promos, but I still can’t help myself from occasionally wagering on sports.
I’m writing this today while taking a break from watching multiple bets come unraveled.
I took Iowa and the under (combined total points scored) in the college football game with Penn State and am well on my way to losing that. Part of it was a free bet offered by my online sports site. Part of it was my own hard-earned $2.
Things also are beginning to look dicey regarding my bet on Georgia to beat Auburn and the combined point total to remain on the under side of the bookies’ line.
I do have Atlanta and the Los Angeles Dodgers parlayed to be winners in Major League Baseball, counting on either side avoiding falling in a 2-0 playoff series hole. So far, Atlanta is on top 2-0 in the fourth inning of the game with Milwaukee. At least the Braves were ahead when I stepped away from the television.
Ordinarily I’d have watched NASCAR races today and tomorrow, but I’m swearing off because I’m sure those broadcasts were and will be drowning in virtue signaling orgies of self-congratulation since Bubba Wallace won last week in a rain-shortened crashfest.
I will watch a few NFL games tomorrow, if only to monitor bets I will have open (a couple of $15 freebies in the same-game parlay category), one of which I already have made (go Green Bay!) and one yet to be specified.
But, if the weather is nice, I might just forget about the NFL during the day and take the two Mustangs out for rides.
There still will be the night NFL game and postseason baseball to be viewed after dark. There will be bets to be made – and lost.
Sam Ross Jr's site 