Happy (Belated) New Year (Random Thoughts)

Welcome to 2025.

I hope your 2024 was OK, and that you and yours are doing well.  Obviously, I've been a little silent here for the last couple of months. And yes, there is an explanation for that other than just being lazy. The wife had a medical procedure and I've been working from home and doubling as caregiver. A full time job both.

Since we last wrote a LOT of sportsy stuff has happened.

1. The First (expanded) College Football Playoff has been, as expected, somewhat of a dud. Fans of the SEC have argued that the reason for this is the exclusion of 9-3 SEC teams from the playoffs in favor of teams from other conferences with better overall records.  This argument totally ignores the fact that almost all of the semi-final games of the 4-team CFP were also crap. There were years that the SEC was arguably the most dominant conference in College Football. That has not been the case these last two years and the CFP Committee did a pretty good job IMO.  Altering the formula to include more SEC teams going forward (which is the SEC's goal, not getting the "best" teams) will only weaken the CFP going forward.  We're getting closer and closer to the B1G and SEC leaving all of the other conferences behind anyway, so this is probably all a moot point. 

On another note: It could help to decouple the CFP from ESPN and spread the games around between ESPN, Fox and CBS.  Not going to happen for a while due to contracts, but the CFP should consider it.

2. Strangely, the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs also was, largely, a dud. Clearly the answer is that they should have invited more SEC teams....

I kid here but the real problem, for the NFL, is that they have a very evident top tier of teams, and then some good teams, and then everyone else. Kansas City, Detroit, Buffalo, Baltimore are clearly the top tier. Houston and LA have proven themselves as the cream of the 2nd tier, with the remaining playoff teams falling in line.  Then you have Cincinnati and Miami(?) along with a handful of other teams that could compete if they shore up some things.  Then everyone else.

Regardless, in today's NFL you need a coach and a quarterback or you have nothing. Granted, you have to put together other pieces to be really great, but if you don't have those two things in place (and, possibly, a top flight-running back) then you are not going to be very successful.

3. Golf is back. (good) So is Tomorrow's Golf League (pending). I watched the premier of the TGL and was a little unenthused. Maybe Tiger playing tonight will add some buzz? Having a competitive matchup might help as well.  That said, watching the green undulate and change is only going to go so far, as are the weird-assed hole designs that they created.

In the end, exciting golf (I know, it sounds like an oxymoron but it's not) is about shot making. Great shots make for great golf. Another thing they're going to be missing is Mother Nature herself. Bad lies, wind, rain, the elements, all make for challenging golf courses which is something the TGL is never going to be able to replicate.  From what I can see, there will be no awful lies in the TGL and that's a problem for them.

4. College Basketball is much better than NBA basketball right now and it's not close.  The Association has a problem. I'm not going to say much about this right now but might have more to say later. Let's just leave it at this: NBA basketball is a slog right now with a few notable exceptions. TV ratings are backing this up.

5. In the debate over "junk fees" it appears that the resorts are winning. Politicians have made some noise about them, but most of the ones who got riled up lost the last election cycle.

6. Speaking of 'junk'. I saw an ad last night, running in Texas, calling for an election related to "allowing destination resorts in Texas." It shows just how bad things are for casino resorts that they cannot even call themselves what they are. Even worse, Texas already has "destination resorts" in the form of the Gaylord, Great Wolf Lodge and Kahlahari. What Texas does not have, and I don't believe they're going to get as long as the current leadership is in place, are "Casino Resorts". That said it's not going to do any favors to the casinos to continue to try and hide what they are. Normalizing the debate around this means that, first, you must admit what you are. The continued subterfuge just adds credibility to the naysayers arguments that the casinos cannot be trusted.

7. I would be remiss if I did not add a note of condolence and encouragement to the people of LA who are currently living out a real-time Dante's Inferno. From the horrific images to the tragic loss of life to the first responders who are doing everything they can despite being hamstrung by prior public policy decisions.  Y'all hang in there and we'll be praying that you get some dying winds and sustained rain soon.

8. RIP to Jimmy Carter. He was a devoted husband and father by all accounts. Here's wishing his loved ones peace and comfort.

9. After watching the NFL Wild Card games I noticed a few items that went unaddressed by the pundits on TV.  First, the Houston Texans defense was much improved, probably, because of the return to active play of Al-Shaair. That seemed to be a bigger issue than people thought.  Second, NFL officiating has been just about as bad as it's ever been all year long. It got worse in the playoffs.  Something needs to be done to address this. Third, if we're going to really make use of reviews the decisions need to be removed from the officials on the field. Have the command center make the final decisions.

With that, we will end this. I wish all of you, or the few of you still reading this, good health, wealth and happiness during this new year.

What to Blog when there's nothing to Blog about?

Twelve years ago I could always find something on which to write a blog post. Back then I was very keyed into politics, especially the local variety, and there seemingly was always something I found interesting.

Fast Forward to today.

Don't give two shits about politics, don't vote, pretty much dislike every politician and political candidate out there, and except for a few close friends, I'm not particularly interested in debating any of the political bloggers still standing. Here's the rub though, there aren't many.  And the ones that are still standing are partisan and boring.

Mind numbingly boring.

Nor do I miss the days when a humorous blog post (usually making fun of a really bad political ad involving a motorcycle or some such) got me labeled as a "thinly veiled misogynist" or *shudder* a Teabagger. Granted, the fist insult probably involved deep research by the poster who had to determine whether they were using the words right (all three of them probably) and the 2nd was just a word thrown around to try and disparage anyone the poor second writer didn't like.  They had no clue what it meant, they just knew their political friends were using it and the Jr. High level humor made them feel wise.

From circular reasoning to begging the question the old political blogoshpere was a minefield of logical fallacies wrapped in a 5th grade writing level package. In short: It was bad. It was a little ironic that I won my one award, but shuttered my blog prior to the Houston Press releasing their issue naming me "Political blogger of the year" or something along those lines. (This was right at the tail end of their "Best of Houston" actually meaning something. In fact, it might have been the end of it meaning something.) [On another note: I miss the old Houston Press]

Political blogging became boring. Politics became boring. The Left disagreed with the Right who disagreed with others on the Right who disagreed with pretty much everyone. When it came down to it though, both sides were the same, it was just different courtiers hanging on to each side, seeking their pile of the public largesse. When it comes right down to it, the only philosophical difference between Team Red and Team Blue is who they want the government to write the checks to.

So, I bugged out, and I never looked back.

At this point you might be thinking "He's saying all of this to announce that he's dipping his toes back into the pool, that he's going to paint himself and some wonderful centrist, smarter than everyone else with a reasoned take on everything that the two parties are lacking."

Nope.

I'm not. For one, I'm not smart enough to try and solve all of the world's problems, shit, I'm not smart enough to solve my neighborhood's problems. Nor am I especially driven to try all that hard. And I'm sure as Hell not interested in talking to politicians again, or talking to political bloggers again for that matter, I'm quite content to leave them to their joyless corner of the World. Have fun kids.

The fact is that I just felt the need to write something today, and I've found that blogs are usually pretty good when there's a little bit of navel gazing going on.  I'm not sure what I'm going to write about on this thing going forward, but it will be something. I've always said that writing like this fills a creative void in my life that my job just cannot (nothing wrong with my job, but the nature of it is not creative).

I've tried to write a book, but I've neither the skill, nor the attention span to keep with it. I think I've written about one tenth of one chapter, then life gets back in the way.

So the accountant in me will continue to work at my job, and earn the money, and the failed, bad, writer in me will continue to pound away on this blog. I might touch on some current events, some sports and sports betty things, and I might just touch on the things I find absurd in this world. Trust me, there are a LOT of those things.

That's the fun stuff that I have been missing from my early days of blogging, just writing about whatever the Hell I want.  I've been meaning to get back to that, so here we go. I cannot promise a post per day or something silly like that, but I should be able to turn out at least one per every week or two. It just depends on what I find that interests me.

Your mileage and entertainment value may vary. At least you'll get out of it what you paid for it.

Happy Thanksgiving

 As the National Day of Giving Thanks approaches I wanted to wish all of my (few) remaining readers a very Happy Holiday.

May you eat, drink, watch parades and football with the best of them.

Me and my house will be eating Turkey but, if you choose not to, then enjoy whatever it is that you will be feasting on. If you choose to be a crank and aren't thankful for anything well.......it's possible this Blog is not for you.

As a reminder, Benjamin Franklin wanted our National Bird to be the Turkey, which would have meant we'd be farming and eating Bald Eagle on this day.  Thank goodness he lost that one.

We'll be off until after the Holiday weekend.

A Quick Note on Blog Comments

 Comments on this blog are moderated. 

Unfortunately, due to the prevalence of spam comments that has to be the case.  I do plan to allow comments, both positive and negative, through but.....there will be some rules.

1. Please keep the comment content germane to the post you are commenting on. I'm not going to allow comments that question me about something I've posted on X or asking my opinion on some odd-ball topic that is not what I'm posting about.

2. Keep it PG-13 please.  Gratuitous cursing, etc. will not be allowed.

3. Criticism is good, insulting and just name calling is not OK.  Make a point, don't suck.

4. I will not argue opinions. It's my opinion. I do not have any need to justify or further explain it to you. I will  provide elaboration, where needed, but well.....you should know what I mean by this.

5. No racist, sexist, or comments with any other of the many -ists will be allowed. It's a pretty simple rule: Don't be a bigot.

6. Please keep your politics to yourself. I don't give a crap if you're camp red or camp blue. I'm neither, and I'm not going to debate which one is better. (If you've been reading me for any time you know I feel about both sides)

7. In summary, let's keep it civil. If that's too hard for you it's OK too, you just won't make it past my moderation wall.

Just to end on a high note.  Here's a good puppy picture.

Wow it's been a while. (Let's get the lights back on)

In case you haven't noticed, and by the lack of any questions regarding this blog it appears that you haven't. I've been gone for a long time now. Not "gone" gone, just not feeling like updating my weekly college football plays and other general blogging gone.  Not for the lack of things to talk about (realignment anyone?) or gambling trips, not Vegas mind you, we haven't been to Las Vegas since October of last year, as I stated in my last post about being done with it for a while.

Well, I guess a "while" is now.  Because after almost a year away we're heading back to the penny-pinching, nickel and diming mecca that is Sin City.  Not on the Strip, mind you, never on the Strip.  And given the traffic and PR nightmare that has become F1 Las Vegas I'm pretty sure our Strip days are even more done than they were before.  

Also done will be our time at Green Valley Ranch. Unless something drastically changes this trip, and early signs are not looking grand, we're going to have to find a new "locals" joint.  Our host there left the company. And since we've gotten our new host service has declined rapidly.  The last room we had there, in October, was probably the worst room in the joint. Dirty, old, badly in need of some TLC. Add to it a mess of an issue with the front desk, someone requested an early departure and they put it on our room number in error which resulted in housekeeping banging on our door demanding we leave. I had to go down to the front desk and sort it all out.  Texted our host and....nothing. No response, no I'm sorry, no offer of compensation due to the whole mess.  Even the front desk was dismissive. "Oops", basically being the response.  Add to that the fact that my offers have been throttled, despite my level of gambling staying the same, and we're there this upcoming trip will be just to use up any comps and free play, then we'll begin the slog of finding a new off-strip home.

We do still love Circa however, and it's our downtown go-to. 21 and up with great amenities, friendly staff and the best rooms downtown equal my kind of place. We'll be spending a lot of time at the bars there banging out VP sessions and hoping to win some money.

And, yes, you've figured it out. We're heading back to Las Vegas. In previous years we would visit there 3-4 times per year. We've decided to limit that to 2 for the foreseeable future. Once in August for our anniversary, and again in October for our Birthdays.  The rest of our time in casinos will, for now, be spent in Oklahoma.  Choctaw Casino & Resort treated us really well on our last visit there, and River Spirit in Tulsa is still the place where we are treated the best.

As for sports betting?  I'm not going to do "The Five" this year, or any weekly series really. I'll probably start commenting more on college football rather than just sharing picks of questionable value. What I've learned on some time here is that no one cares much about betting picks from an accountant in Houston. what I've not yet learned is whether or not anyone cares about the sports opinions of an accountant in Houston. Time will tell.

So going forward we're going to try something new. A mix of Gambling, gambling news, food, travel and other hodge-podge. Not from the perspective of a high-roller, but from the perspective of a normal couple who just love to venture out and see what's what.  Hopefully you enjoy. the good news is, if you don't, you will have gotten what you paid for.

I guess if all else fails I can just post pictures of Charlo.

Good luck, good eats, good drinks.

1 October

 I remember sitting at home in Houston this night, four years prior. 1 October, 2017.

It was a normal night, Mrs. TPM and I were at home watching college football, I was on Twitter when I started seeing the tweets that there were some shootings in Las Vegas.  At first, as is usual in a chaotic situation, there was confusion, misinformation and panic. As cell-phone video and news reports started to filter out we realized that something very bad was happening.

We stayed up until around 4AM that morning, refreshing Twitter and trying to make sense of what was going on.  We knew it was bad, we did not yet know just how bad it was going to be.

When that deranged individual executed his plan, it forever changed the lives of Millions, but especially the ones in the families he left behind. Those that he deprived of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, family members.

For the rest of us he reminded us that, even in our happy place of Las Vegas, we're never truly safe. As long as there are deranged individuals out there we go forward by the grace of God.

In the aftermath I sort of tuned out the news as the usual political mumbo-jumbo took hold. Those who use these things to forward their political agendas, forwarded their political agendas. Many stories were written, foolishly, about how video poker is the crack cocaine of gambling etc. Guns were, of course, the enemy, as was Las Vegas itself, by the National media that is.

For the rest of us, the normal among us, it was a tragedy, one that still lives with us, even if we weren't there.  The Vegas bubble had been broken, and their was no rebuilding it.

Today, even 4 years later, I cannot walk past the Mandalay Bay hotel without looking up where the window was, and thinking about it just a little. But we need to keep travelling and keep visiting places we love.

While the terrorists certainly won after 9/11 we cannot let the crazy win after 1 October.

We are, always #VegasStrong.

Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Age Better, Live Longer.

As I type this I'm tipping the scale at 278.  Getting real close to the weight where tipping Guam might be an option. I've got Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and a fatty liver.  I drink too much, I eat too many bad foods, I'm on a dozen or so pills and supplements to keep various maladies under control.

In short, I'm a damned mess. Heavier than I've ever been, lacking anything resembling athleticism, and borderline self-aware depressed.

Were this social media the responses would be limited to something along the lines of "well do something about it you fat f*ck."  Either that or something about how the Capitalist system under which America operates has led me to poor choices regarding my health, or the evils of the pharmaceutical industry, whichever.

But this is a long-form blog. Something that I've neglected for way too long. A place where I can type the musings that few read and even fewer give two-shits about.  In short: this is my space.

Which is why I've decided to bring this back. (after not really shutting it down, but just taking an unplanned pause for a bit.)

You see, Mrs. TPM and I have decided to launch ourselves into DDPYoga the Yoga without the mysticism  project by former WWE and WCW wrestler Diamond Dallas Paige.

I've never done Yoga. Never even contemplated it really. Not that I have anything against it, it's just that....well, I don't think I have Chakras. I'm not what you would call an introspective type, and I'm certainly not going to get in tune with my chi, or whatever they call it. My aura is a black hole.

So you're not going to see a lot of navel-gazing on here and very little 'coming to terms' with my childhood, or mistakes I've made in the past, or the fact that I'm lazy (which is why I'm fat FWIW) instead I'm just going to discuss the journey. No teary-eyed videos from me.  

Don't get me wrong, I do cry, but it's usually after one of my dogs has 'hit the target' when they're excited if you get my drift.

So my first reaction after our first day of Yoga?

Shit I'm sore. Last night, after doing 50 minutes of the "12 basic moves" I was sweating like a whore in church, was shaking due to activating muscles that might not have been worked since my 20's, and then I slept like the dead.

And now I'm sore.

But, despite not being emotional, I do believe in accountability. And I believe the best way to be accountable is to be publically accountable so here it goes.

Goals:

Lose 78 lbs in one year.  That would put me at 200lbs. Which would probably mean that my gut is significantly shrank and many of my health issues are significantly diminished. That's 6.5 lbs per month, which is very doable. Hell, I've seen videos where people are losing 10ish lbs per week.

Be able to lift my ankle above my head. Flexibility is key in life, and Yoga really helps with that.  Currently I cannot stand on one leg and lift the other past parallel (without crashing to the ground) so I want to be able to do that.

Be able to touch my toes. Both from the standing, and sitting positions with my legs straight.

Be able to start lifting weights again. Which means to strengthen my core and shoulders to the point that I'm not in constant pain.

Run a 5K. Which means that I have to strengthen my knees and ankles, which are now sadly weak.

Will I succeed at this?  Who knows? I think I will because I've got the best part of me (my wife) working with me on her own goals. And I've got a reason to do it as well, I'm only a little over a year away from 50, and if I keep up the pace I'm on I'm closer to my ultimate time of passing than I have years to live.

Staying alive is a pretty powerful motivator.

Letter from the Ed: Look upon my works ye mighty and despair.

 Social Media: It's not me, it's you.

For some time now I've been considering ending all of my social media accounts. I never check Facebook, I've only posted about 3 things on Instagram, and Twitter is becoming more and more of a fetid cesspool each and every day.

Today, I scheduled my Facebook account for full deletion, and on January 1, 2020 I plan to unfollow/block a ton of people, lock my account down, and only use it as a news aggregator rather than for social interaction.  I'll keep a few acquaintances and people whom I've met in real life around but, for the most part, I'm calling it quits.

I'm also recording the last episode of "The Public Money" podcast today. For one, it's impossible for me to find time to do it unless I'm in my car and, for two, me being in my car makes the quality not what I want it to be.

The final reason for all of this is simple:  I never got in this to monetize and make money, but suddenly I've been surrounded by a ton of people who only want to do those things.

Social media is a trap. It warps your world and sucks you into things that have no basis in reality. It makes you angrier, and more offended, than you should be, and it 100% can ruin a day. Rarely does it add enough good in one's life to offset the bad that it injects into your veins.

I'm also shuttering this blog. as a matter of fact, I'm putting an end to my blogging career after 17 years.

2020 is going to be a new year for me and I'm excited about it. It's going to be a year involved in the real world, doing charity work, working on me, and working with my loved ones.

I cannot wait.


As the old AOL script used to say: "Goodbye"

A promise on June 4th: Yes, the podcast is coming back.

I recorded the first episode of my podcast, and then the bottom of everything fell out.

Work has been a beast, family issues, etc.

But I promise it's coming back, and it will be back on Wednesday in the run-up to the Belmont.  My plan is for this one to be a little longer, because I have a LOT of things to opine on.

Sorry for the delay, you know how life is right?

Introducing: The Public Money Podcast

If all you've ever wanted in life is to hear me talking about gambling, horse racing, and other related stuff.  You're in luck.


The Public Money Podcast launched today

Episode 1: The First One

Where I talk about the Preakness, give out some thoughts on the runners and offer up a Superfecta that's sure to not hit.

Listen in if you can spare 10 minutes. 


I promise it WILL get better as time goes on.

Identity Theft: Violation and Helplessness.

At 11:49AM Thursday, March 15th 2018 someone walked into a branch of our bank, presented the teller with a withdrawal slip that contained my wife's forged signature, a temporary ID and withdrew $1,200 from our bank account.

At 12:15 PM the same day I logged into our account online to pay some bills and noticed the transaction.  I immediately checked with my wife, who was at work, and called the bank to freeze my account to try and limit the damage. I also put a fraud claim in.

Sometime later that afternoon the fraudster attempted to withdraw $1,500 using the same method but was denied.

By 6PM that afternoon we had a new bank account, all of the money transferred out of our old one, and the real work of getting our lives back together started.  That night we placed fraud alerts on our credit accounts, signed my wife up for LifeLock, and the next day and weekend I spent almost the entire time unwinding our auto-payments and other various and assorted accounts in order to ensure that no payments were missed.  It's Thursday evening, March 22nd, one week later, and I'm still in the process of getting everything switched over.

So, how did this happen?

Were we hacked?  Some kind of online chicanery? Russian or North Koreans?

Nope.

The vermin who did this got us low tech, they went through our mailbox and stole a few checks the old fashioned way. 

We're now looking at a PO Box as an option going forward for all important mail, just another monthly expense that we're going to have to absorb because someone out there is presenting themselves as my wife.

Sure, we filed a police report.  But the (very nice) Sheriff's Deputy that came by admitted that nothing was going to be done.  While Ed Emmett and the Harris County Commissioners continue to spend Millions on the Astrodome key government functions like crime prevention have taken a back seat.

The Feds? (this was mail fraud most likely) They won't even look at it unless more than $5,000 was taken.  In other words, when you or your family are financially violated the law enforcement and justice department at all levels of the United States, State and local governments are unwilling (and unable) to help.

And this in an area where we're told we have "the right party" (i.e. the GOP) largely in charge. (I live in unincorporated Harris County, and have Republicans representing me at all levels of government)

Yes, it is a helpless feeling.  Every day now I wonder if something 'snuck by me' and if the vermin got more mail that I'm not aware of.  Our debit cards are supposed to arrive soon.  Do I know if these vermin have grabbed them?  What about when our new checks arrive?  Am I going to have to get ANOTHER bank account because I cannot shut these people down?

I'm currently looking at the USPS to see if there's any temporary options I have to make my mail more secure while I work on a PO Box etc. Until then am I just prey to the whims of vermin who could care less about laws and my personal property?

And that's the biggest thing.  My wife and I are very fortunate, we both have good jobs and have enough money socked away to ride this out.  Losing $1,200 temporarily (the bank has already processed the refund on a fraud claim) didn't break us.

But it COULD have.

What if we were living paycheck to paycheck, or had just lost our jobs, or one of us had a medical condition and funds were tight?  The vermin that did this did not care about that, and that makes them sub-human in my estimation.

And they're almost certainly not going to get caught.

I don't care what you think about the United States of America, what your political leanings are if you don't understand why the system is broken then I cannot help you. We live in a dysfunctional Republic.  When something like this happens to you (and I hope it doesn't) you will understand just how dysfunctional it really is.

People ask me all the time why I don't vote. How could I have been so politically active just a few years back but I'm so disinclined to care now? It's because of things like this.  Our political system in America is corrupt, worthless and a wheezing husk and it doesn't matter who you put in office this is never going to change.

I would never do it but I understand now why some people are starting to take the law into their own hands.  I'm just sad it's gotten to this point.

These vermin stole more than money, they stole our identity. They stole us.  That's hard to forgive.

Off Topic: The Death of Customer Service

Rare non-sports post here.

I recently cancelled a service contract for my AC/Heater which called for semi-annual inspections.  After a couple of years having them perform my "free check-ups" I noticed a trend. The technician salesman would come over, rummage around, and then tell me that my $10K unit needed an additional $1K in upgrades. First it was surge protectors, now it's a unit filter that they will install at 15% off if I just sign here.

At no point did they actually do any maintenance on my unit.

Now, I've cancelled, and the company still calls my cell phone every day trying to get the "one last heating unit inspection" that "I've already paid for".  But why, if this is a maintenance call, are they so anxious to come out?

After a recent stay at a hotel/casino I started receiving e-mails asking me to complete a survey about my recent stay. Because there were some problems with the stay (no hot water, problems with the plumbing in the room, shoddy housekeeping) I obliged. I gave them good marks where warranted (check-in was smooth and efficient, the bed was comfy, etc.) I listed my issues that we had with the room, how we tried to resolve them and what was the result (hint: nothing happened). I then closed with a short missive on customer service and how a smile by the staff would go a long way to making guests feel more welcome.

The response?  I'm still waiting.

This from a chain where I've seen the CEO on TV stating that "guests are everything".  Except when they're not staying in suites I'm guessing.

For a recent service call on my Internet/TV service I received 14 text messages from the company "reminding" me of both the service, and other great offers I could take advantage of.  When the tech had finished setting everything up I got one text asking me to rate his service.  I replied, and received nothing in return.

In the retail environment now you usually feel as if you're bugging their customer service personnel when you ask a question.

Restaurants will openly challenge you if there's a problem with your meal. There was a time when a manager visited every table, and how to properly wait on tables is almost a lost service skill.

It seems that the more we rely on technology to handle customer service the worse and worse it gets. Granted, part of this is on us, the consumer.  I've been shopping at a brick-and-mortar retail shop and on many occasions witnessed a poor staffer try to give good customer service only to be treated rudely by customers.

If you're talking on your cell-phone during check-out, you're part of the problem. If you talk down to or treat customer service agents/waiters/bus-boys or any service person with disdain then you're part of the problem. In fact, we should all go out of our way to praise the ones that are still trying.

Customer service is more than just texts, e-mails and sales calls. The companies that do it the worse tend to rely mostly on these tools however. Not every interaction should, or need, be about extracting more dollars from people.  Certainly, there's a time to sell, but there's a time to listen as well, and to answer questions honestly. Just as there are times for acknowledgement and being thankful that someone took the time to fill out your insipid online survey.

Until more companies realize this it's going to get worse before it gets better.

A computer kiosk cannot smile.

Happy New Year: Yes, We do Resolutions here.

It's OK, you can take a deep breath and relax.  You made it through 2017. We're assuming you made it through intact because you're reading this. In which case, congratulations! Despite the gloom and doom prophesies of those of a certain political lean things are not quite as horrific as feared. In fact, I would say things are going just about as well as you could expect given the current state of society.

Don't worry however, we're here to help you navigate 2018 successfully as well, which you can by just promising to adopt a few simple resolutions. With that said, the following are my resolutions for 2018.


1.  I resolve to tune out the hysteria, pay attention only to the things that matter.

The reality is that there are some things in this world that we would like to be rid of. Racism, sexism, violence, Paul Finebaum etc.  But there's a whole lot of crap that surrounds these issues as well.  The problem with reacting to every moron who decides that say, farmer's markets are racist there is a real case of racism going unnoticed every day because the idiots are sucking up all of the oxygen. The same thing goes for sexism, sexual abuse etc. In every issue there are people who genuinely want to do what they can to eliminate the problem and troll who want only to gain attention by being a general sot about it.  I will do my best in 2018 to ignore the latter and work with and encourage the former.


2. I resolve to rely less on the opinions of so-called "experts".

A large portion of us are falling victim to the logical fallacy of "appeals to authority" in more and more areas of our daily lives. Just because someone has been doing something for a long time doesn't mean that they are experts on the matter.  This is doubly true of politicians, who my think they know everything about everything but who quite frequently are just pretty good at PR and buying votes. Most "sports experts" and "expert contributors" on the news are like this.  We'll be a better informed country if we start filtering out these camera chasers and start focusing on facts. Like the fact that UCF is the only undefeated team in major college football and they got hosed out of the opportunity to try for the CFP Championship.


3. I resolve to stop letting entertainers direct my world view.

OK, this was actually something I started doing in 2017 but I think it deserves repeating. Entertainers are good actors, they are not experts in sports, geopolitics or domestic issues. They say things designed to draw attention to themselves.  I will enjoy their shows and movies and songs, but could care less what their opinions are on other issues.


4. I resolve to curtail social media use this year.

I'm not saying "drop Twitter" but I am suggesting that I'm going to spend much less time on it.  My plan for 2018 is to return my Twitter usage to what it was originally designed to be: a news feed. When I first started using Twitter it was really read only, with a few auto posts (for instance, blog posts) etc. Twitter is an awful communication medium and an even worse source for content.  However, if you actually click on the articles behind the links it can be a resource, but that involves time and reading.  Something we should all do more of anyway.


5. I resolve to blog more in 2018.

I'll admit it, I've been off and on in 2017.  Part of the problem was that I was trying to run two blogs in separate worlds. There was Your Drink Order Please which was intended to be a "politics/local issues" blog and then this blog, which was (and is) focused more on sports betting/gambling/sports. I still plan to maintain that focus but will add in some reporting on social issues relative to sports etc. I'm also planning some entertainment based blogging which is something I've wanted to do for a while.  Regardless, you've been warned.


6. I resolve that 2018 is the year I finally monetize my blogging/sports writing etc.

No, I'm not turning tout, I could never in good conscience do that, but their are ad solutions and other things that should provide me with some small financial opportunities. Fortunately, I have a day job, so being a free-lance writer, which is something I've done before, holds a certain amount of appeal.


7. I resolve to be happier in 2018.

Especially in my writing.  For years now I've taken on the guise of old curmudgeon. While that's been fun to do it's mislead many people as to my real outlook on life. In reality I'm a much happier person than I play online. Unfortunately, sarcasm doesn't come across well in written form. I resolve to change that in 2018 and going forward.


And finally.....


8. I resolve to spend more time researching picks, and making better ones.

With the expected ruling against PASPA coming later this year sports gaming is going to explode in legalized volumes. This means that there will be more books, more variety of lines etc. for the taking. The well-researched bettor is going to have a huge advantage in this space.  The fact is a vast majority of people LOSE money betting despite what the touts will tell you. Gambling is always a losing proposition over time.  The only way to make consistent money in a casino is to own one (unless you are Donald Trump that is).  But that doesn't mean that you can't win in the short-term.

And you all have one advantage over the house:  You can choose to walk-away when you're ahead.

Let's bet smarter in 2018 y'all.  Happy New Year.

Happy New Year: 2018 Prediction Post

Following the lead of the Old Blog I think it wise to continue a tradition that I've held for a few years now by offering up my predictions for 2018.  Some of these are serious, some not so much. In this crazy world I'll leave it to you to determine which is which.....



1. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) will be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

This will return sports betting to legal status and will all but put an end to the Multi-Billion dollar illegal gaming syndicate and bring gaming into the light.  In some states. In others, like Texas where I live, gambling will continue to be illegal and underground so unregulated shops will still exist.  In states where there is already a sane policy toward gaming sports books will open in casinos across the land. Online sports betting will continue to grow and, unfortunately, so will the preponderance of commercials on television (or whatever replaces it).

This will, naysayers prophesies of doom notwithstanding, have a negligible effect on Vegas. People will continue to travel there as much as they do now.  Because it's Vegas.


2. 2018 will be the year that horse racing corporations finally end their takeout insanity.

They're going to have to. Because the Vig on sports betting is 5%, while the take out on horse betting can run as high as 30% (or higher).  Horse racing is a dying industry, but it doesn't have to be. What they don't seem to understand in the corporate offices is that there's no better feeling than holding a ticket on a 30/1 shot whose rushing down the stretch in the lead, or hitting a Pick 4 that pays 50/1 on your initial investment, or watching your 4th choice come in on the back of your Superfecta.

It's up to serious horse players to put a stop to all of this and stop wagering in jurisdictions that continue to approve high-takeout percentages.  This is not just a financial issue, it's a moral one as well.


3. Park MGM will open with slot machines, despite rumors to the contrary.

Failing to include these tiny individual profit centers would be a stupid decision by MGM. A company that, unfortunately, seems to lead the way in stupid decisions.


4. Vegas Casinos Will Continue to not understand the so-called "Millennial problem".

Instead, they'll continue to chop the odds and increase the house edge. By doing this they will ensure that people stop gambling as much in their casinos.  The BEST way to combat this is to support them when they stop doing these stupid things, CET has bettered the odds at the Cromwell make sure that you spend a portion of your gaming budget there when you're next in town.

Closer to Houston (where I live) I would advise that you stay at Golden Nugget but dedicate most of your gaming budget to L'Auberge, who has slightly better odds/rules across the board.

In Las Vegas, avoid MGM, WynnCore, Venetian/Pallazo and most of the Strip. Even the Golden Nugget downtown.  Stay in those places sure, see shows, go to night clubs, but move your gaming elsewhere.  If say, the Boulder Highway (which has much better odds) and other off-strip areas show marked increases while the Strip and Fremont (More on them later) continue to decline, even the dolts that run the big gaming corporations will eventually figure it out.


5. 18 Zero Roulette is coming.

It will have a bet minimum of .25 cents, a house advantage of 87% and the tables will be packed. (See prediction #4)


6. College Football will start to discuss a sea-change in realignment.

I don't think it will happen in 2018, but discussions surrounding 4 16 team super conferences will start to be seriously considered next year, just not implemented.

I predict that, eventually, the large schools will also determine that leaving the umbrella of the NCAA is better for business than being regulated in the same manner as Conference USA schools. I've already laid out how this would work, you can find it in the archives of this blog.


7. Lane Kiffin will return to a Power 5 head-coaching job.

I know, he just signed a 10 year extension at FAU, but if he keeps winning there will be a school that takes him in. In fact, were I the AD at Kansas I'd reach out to him and see if there's any interest right now, extension be damned. (The above advice also applies to Rutgers, Oregon State and Illinois.)

Hey, it can't hurt.


8. All things come to an end, and so will the career of Tom Brady.

I think that next year will be the last year for Tom Brady as an NFL quarterback.  Don't ask me why, I just do.


9.  Your team is going to be great, play honorably, and be a bastion of winning the "right way". Every one else is cheating.

Feel good about yourself.  It's sports.


10. I will have a winning year with sports betting. Trust me.

I have no historical evidence as to why you should believe this, but it's true. 







And....that's that.

Here's hoping that 2018 is good to you and that a vast majority of your tickets are winners.

Believe, in the spirit of the Season

As is custom, the blog will be taking a break during the Holidays. Although I do have some posts schedule for bowl season in the coming weeks I'll mostly be taking a break from blogging to recharge and spend time with my friends and family.

It is my sincere hope that you do this as well, regardless of which Holiday you celebrate.

So Happy ChrismaHanukKwanSolstimas to all and to all a good ROI.

Combined Blogging: Las Vegas Central

For a while I toyed with the idea of creating a blog that was Las Vegas based, focusing on gambling, eating, drinking and just generally having a good time in the city.  This led to the creation of Las Vegas Central which I fiddled with in fits and starts but never really found the time to pay attention to full time.

So I'm combining the two and bringing all of my gambling stuff here.

I'll also be posting on the Vegas Fanatics forum where I go by the moniker: Nick Pappageorgio after the character from Vegas Vacation.  There I'll be attempting live trip reports and some other stuff so if you're into Vegas and want to see how a low-roller does it then join me.

Outside of that, this will be my main blog going forward.

Simplicity y'all.

Change is good (again)

As anyone who has followed my blogging for any period of time knows, I change everything frequently.

Today's change involves revamping No Upgrades into Sharp as a Marble, which is going to be my sports/sports betting/horse racing/stuff blog as Your Drink Order Please moves to more of a political/issues blog, basically returning me to my blogging roots.

I'm doing this in conjunction with a change to my Twitter feeds where I've now created two accounts.

The first account BlogAwful will be my primary account and will continue to pull from NoUpgrades and my Pinboard feed.

The second account SportsAwful will pull from this blog and will be sports/sports betting/horse racing/other stuff.

For now I'm keeping the travel stuff over on the other side, reserving this for sports and gaming.

One thing, I'm very excited about both of my current blogs and expect them to be around for a long time (this time, I promise)

Closing the cabin door

When I got busy in real life a little over a month ago I truly thought that I'd be back to this blog in a few weeks and would, fairly quickly, get back into the swing of things. Then a funny thing happened: I stopped blogging and realized that I really didn't have any desire to start again. Because of this, I'm shutting down the blog and don't see myself making a return to blogging any time soon. At least, not in the same manner that I've been approaching blogging since I started back in 2006. In that time I've blogged numerous elections, many Houston political events, State politics, some limited national politics and a whole bunch of City of Houston quality of life stuff. I've also dabbled in sports, travel, food and even won an award for my old blog (Lose an Eye, It's a Sport). Right before winning however I shuttered LaE which then guaranteed that I'll never win an award again.

Thank you to everyone who's been reading here all this time, even those of you with whom I disagree. With a few, obvious, exceptions I have always appreciated the banter. Thanks to to my friends at BlogHouston, the late and lamented Texas Watchdog, Perry vs. World and a host of others with whom I've shared many a beer and Idea over the years. Thank you as well to the Political Science Department at St. Thomas University, especially Dr. Taylor for some great reads, good beer and good discussion.

Finally, a shot goes out to the Houston Chronicle and the rest of Texas Lockstep Political Media. If it weren't for y'all, there would have been no blog throughout the years. It was the Houston Chronicle that got me started in blogging, and really their writers, Mrs. White, The writers formerly known as Mrs. White, the Apple Dumpling Gang (all iterations of the Chronicle Editorial Board) truly awful opinion columns and a host of agenda based reporting kept me going. In recent years, as ChronBlog fell off in credibility and relevance, it was the truly awful writing of PolitifarceTX and the "newsish" style of Texas Tribune that kept it interesting. For the last few months, however, I realized that I just don't care. Probably after almost no-one in the TLSPM questioned whether or not hero worship was a good thing did I realize that I'm just tilting at windmills. State political media in Texas is dead, continuing to blog about it is akin to kicking a corpse. Best to just ignore them, for the most part, and move on.

To be fair though, there are some reporters at the Chronicle that do some good work. Brian Rodgers is one, as is Mike Morris (at times) and I still find the writing of Alison Cook to be very entertaining, Hoffman as well. So I'll continue reading them and I'll continue being active on Twitter. I might even decide to post from time to time on sports and travel on another blog, but my blogging political days are behind me.

So that's it then.


Goodbye Houston.

Slow blogging alert as real life intrudes

Due to a busy real (read: paid) life blogging here is going to be on slow-down for the foreseeable future.

I'd love to sit down and blog 4-5 times a week but recent events are making that difficult (at best).

Until then, I'll leave you with some thoughts to ponder:

Travel related:

1. Why have Wi-Fi on a plane with no power ports in the seats? (I'm looking at you United)

2. When was the last time you boarded a United flight that was NOT delayed?  (It's been a while for me)

3. Are you considering flying a route that's booked to a 787? (I'm not, at least for a while)

4. Now that revenue requirements are here, what's going to change in how you travel? (My travel is going to change pretty drastically, I'll outline how in a future post.)


Non-travel related:

1. Is this the worst non-solution to a city made problem this year? (It's got to be pretty close)

2. Is Critical Mass doing more to hurt their cause than help? (Short answer: yes)

3. Has Houston City government lost it? (There is data to make that case.)

4. Is Harris County spending out of control? (Of most concern is that there's a total lack of voter/taxpayer input. These folks are a a spending binge with no end in sight.)

5. Are the Astros at-risk of losing a generation of fans? (Yes)

Why I've given up "food" television.

There was a short span of time when I was hooked on cooking, or food related, shows.  I was a big fan of Top Chef, had a year or three where I watched the original Iron Chef (subtitled) religiously (although I never could quite bridge the gap to Iron Chef America) and I even fell in for Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay's F-word, Hell's Kitchen and Food Network Star (for the first two seasons).

Now, out of all of those shows, I'm only still watching Hell's Kitchen, and I rarely make it through an entire season of that.  Last night the wife and I watched a re-broadcast of the premier episode of Food Network Star and I won't be watching any more of that either.  I never have made it through an entire season of MasterChef and based on the first few episodes this season I won't be finishing it up either.

The thing is, I still like to eat, I still enjoy watching some reality TV (Amazing Race is still my favorite show on TV and I've watched every episode of The Voice this year) and I enjoy it.  I'll even admit to being a fan of Dancing with the Stars (granted, my level of interest wanes if neither Peta, Sharna or Karina are still dancing).  But for various reasons I'm just done with food reality television.  I think it's ran its course and here's why:

"I live for food" - There is nothing more annoying, to me, than hearing one contestant after another tell us how important food is to them and their lives.  It's either this or "I've been working my whole life for this".  No you haven't.  In most cases the show is not even a decade old and many of you have been around for much longer than that.  And we ALL live for food from some perspective.  Certainly we all need to eat it to live.

This answer is the food equivalent to "I don't know" when the contestant is asked why they should stay.  "Uhh..I live for food" isn't an answer, it's a cop out, but the producers love it because they think it shows passion in some warped way.


The superior chef mentality - If anything has given the professional chef a bad name, it's professional chef reality TV.  Listen up cookie, there's nothing in the ability to be able to craft a good sauce that makes you superior to anyone else.  Just like there's nothing in my ability to turn a phrase or (professionally) instruct you on the finer points of accounting as it relates to the oil and gas industry that makes me a better person either.  Neither is your taste superior to anyone else.  Taste is a very personal thing.  I like Brussels sprouts, my wife is not a fan.  My wife likes steamed vegetables while I prefer them steamed but topped with some Cholula hot sauce.  Neither of this is right (or wrong), it's just food.  The attitude of these wanna-be superstar chefs have gotten so bad (possibly a put on for TV) that I can't help but wonder if the wife and I are getting bad-mouthed for daring to mention that she's Celiac?

Lack of creativity - Let's face it, we've run out of challenge ideas.  The only thing left is to take away all of the food and ask the chefs to make stone soup.  Even that's probably been tried though, I just missed it.

The talent pool is only so deep - And I'm starting to wonder if we've hit the bottom of it.  There comes a point when you can't force-feed the nation a star and you just have to let it grow organically.  Almost every season of "Food Network Star" has been evidence of this.  Outside of Guy Fieri and Vince Vegas (who didn't win, probably because he was just a bald, muscular Guy Fieri) Star hasn't produced any TV personality of note.  Yes, I blame part of this on Bob Tuschman and Sarah Fogleman, who are two of the least relatable personalities on TV.  Five minutes listening to the pair of them drone on and you realize why Food Network has lost it's fast-ball. 

But there's also a talent question, and we seem to be cutting pretty deep into the stack at this point in an effort to force a new face onto TV screens.  Besides, Food Network already has better staff in place to fill this hour, and an Alton Brown road-trip piece is way overdo.


Why do I not watch any of the food television shows that I used to?  Mainly because they've forgotten their original mission and have stopped providing useful cooking information.  In it's place they've brought me rock jock wanna-be TV chef's with an overinflated sense of self who "live for food" despite not having the slightest idea what to do with it.

Thank God for Chopped, where they're not supposed to know what to do with it and that's half the fun.