In The Bog While Blogging

It occurs to me that were I to limit these forays unto the keyboard to all things attuned to ‘writing’, that would get pretty boring and too, would run out of runway all too quickly.

So, I think I’ll veer off the track and wander some today.

Did you know that I love to gamble? I am certain it is akin to trying cases without a net which is what I’ve done for the past four-plus decades. I almost always work on contingent fee matters. If I don’t win, I don’t get paid.

And I almost always put my money in to fund and finance the case's necessary costs and expenses. Court costs and depositions and expert witness fees and exhibit design and travel and the like can pile up very quickly. It’s fine to have a big gun but if you cannot afford ammunition,you are up the creek without a paddle and the other side will find that out real quickly. Most folks just cannot afford it so If I’m going to take it on, I’ve got to make a reasoned, calculated risk-reward analysis, a business decision if you will as to whether or not I think I can get home with something salutary for my client and for me as well. These days, if you put your case together well and thoroughly, you can usually find a good settlement or a clean shot at a good verdict. It doesn’t always work out that way but I’ve been fortunate and have a kill rate north of 90%. Not too bad.

I love to bet on games, you name it, football, basketball, baseball, hockey and horse racing too. Point spreads, over and under, totals-it’s all fun. Requires just enough money to keep it reasonable and does require some study and paying attention and a long memory too.If I lived near a race track, I’d be a rail bird in a minute but alas, that’s not the case save for the random event in Aiken or Tryon. I got to go to the Kentucky Derby for three days a couple of years ago and that was an amazing experience. Studied the racing forms and the tout sheets and bet on every race. Made some money too. Not a great deal but came out way ahead of even. Went to Opening Day at Saratoga a while back too. Hint: put them on your list. They are amazing events and unique unto themselves.

It would be fair to say that my ‘sporting’ experiences have been broad and deep. I’ve played and coached, had a newspaper column and a radio show, was the senior Atlantic Coast Conference handicapper for the renowned GOLD SHEET out of Los Angeles for 20 of my 32 years with them so I have developed a solid, cumulative body of working knowledge.

So you can easily see how my love of trying cases dovetails into my love of sports betting. You pay your money and you take your chances.

Most of you know, I’m a dyed in the wool Tar Heel so that’s where logic and knowledge and common sense jumps the rails for fan love. I almost always put money of the Heels but there have been exceptions. A couple of years ago, they were so bad, it was impossible not to bet against them. So for four weeks as they tail spinned into the gridiron abyss of incompetence and failure, I bet against them and won and doubled down each of the successive weeks with complete success. I silently prayed for forgiveness for my disloyalty but also put a little extra in the plate for atonement at the end.

The Heels play Notre Dame in Chapel Hill on this coming Friday after Thanksgiving. They are a 4 point underdog. I’ve taken the underdog for a touch. Let’s see how that works out…I’m usually about 58+% to the good side of the ledger so may that trend continue.

If any of you have read my first book FRIDAY CALLS, you get a good whiff of that kind of gambling. The bookmaker in there, a remarkable gentleman named Harry Davis, was my late father’s bookie and was mine too for a long, long time. I made my first play with Harry when I was 14. It was on the College All Star Football Game when the reigning NFL champions played a bunch of collegiate All Americans, always held at Soldier Field in Chicago.I Took the All-Stars against the Bears for $25. I got 14 points. I lost. Not an auspicious beginning! But I was hooked and have carried forth unto this day.

I will confess that I am also a fan of the Braves and Red Sox (I once owned 1/2 of the Red Sox Class A franchise in my hometown of Winston-Salem), the Panthers and the Chiefs in the NFL ( I got to represent the Chiefs’ Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson in an interesting matter many years ago), the Celtics and the Hornets in the NBA and have been an ESPN Junkie from its earliest days. In these rotten COVID0-ridden days, the return of sports to the playing fields and the air waves have been a tonic for many of us and surely for me.

I did not realize how badly I missed it all while it was away.

So there you go. Something different. More of this sort of thing to come too. Now, get out there and wear your mask!