There’s Always Another Way

Movie trailer (1971)

I have always been a voracious reader. I always read the assigned school homework, I read the local newspaper front to back, paying close attention to the stock market (my dad once called me from his office to ask my high school-aged opinion of a few stocks I was watching), and the sports sections. I memorized the front and back of every cereal box that constituted most of my breakfast meals, prior to heading off to school. Note – I have not eaten cereal since high school. That shit will kill you. And the box is straight up propaganda.

We had something called a Bookmobile in the town where I grew up. Every week, rain or shine, no matter the time of year, the Bookmobile, an extension of the local Carnegie-endowed library, would show up at its appointed time, at its appointed location. You could set your calendar to its arrival.

My brothers, friends and I would roll down there on our bicycles to revel in this experience. Mind you, this was a pretty big neighborhood-happening-deal! It was air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. We looked forward to it! And there were “No Fines On Books” for those of us who may have had the occasional overdue book. Not at all like Al Bundy’s experience.

We weren’t treated as criminals. As far as I recall, all library books in our house were returned, not always promptly, but they were returned.

I tell you all that so I can tell you this…

One of the many books I checked out of the Bookmobile was “Helter Skelter” authored by Vincent Bugliosi, who was the government prosecutor in the Manson Family trial. Subject matter might have been a bit extreme for a sixth grader, but I loved “true crime” kind of stuff! Not anymore. This extensive volume concerned the Manson Family murders of Sharon Tate and her friends and the subsequent murders of the LaBianca family, as well as the resultant investigations and criminal prosecution trials of the participating members of The Family.

Pretty serious stuff for an impressionable 12-year-old boy!

After reading Helter Skelter, I was All-In. I was shocked and bewildered this kind of debauchery and terror could be rained down, almost randomly, on hapless victims. But I was 12 and believed all the propaganda and bullshit directed at me back then. Suffice to say, I believed the story told by the government prosecutor was true.

Yeah, so fast forward a number of years and I find some other published information that refuted the entire official story. This is the paper that opened my eyes.

Frankly and honestly, I do not care one way or the other if you agree with me or agree with the paper.

The point I am trying to make is – there is ALWAYS another way to look at things. We are told one thing by “the authorities” but a deep dive into what [might have] actually happened is up to us.

So, WTF? Who cares? Conspiracy theory versus established government rhetoric.

I do not care if you back me on the Manson Family murders (my opinion – faked) or back the official story. My point is if you are going to be successful and win money betting sports YOU MUST BE ABLE TO THINK FOR YOURSELF.

Thankfully, I did not stumble around as a young adult believing all the crap that was shoved inside my head. Once I was out of the house at 18, I have made it a life-long pursuit to educate myself and figure out how the world really works.

If you chill on the couch and constantly nod your head along with the majority of Evil Empire (ESPN) content, you are probably going to be misled and bet the wrong side, the majority of the time. Do not confuse their content to be actionable betting advice. Remember the E in ESPN stands for Entertainment. More succinctly, be very suspect of their betting advice. That goes for the vast majority of talking head “experts” no matter what it is they are opining about.

Likewise, when you hear “breaking news” about a team or player or whatever, your immediate thought should be “I wonder if this breaking news is affecting the betting line?” So, go check. If there is no material affect to the line, then that “breaking news” was already baked into the cake. More directly, the oddsmakers already knew this information and set the line based on this information. If you react to it when the oddsmakers don’t, you’re sending your hard-earned money to money heaven.

Peace Out