The battle between bookies and bettors is an interesting one that is often misunderstood. The best bookmakers are not looking for balanced action. Balanced action is a myth. The best bookies have a sound opinion and use that opinion to make money by setting lines that encourage and discourage bets on particular teams. I was beaten up by a bookie pretty good in one contest this fall. Without doing anything particularly impressive I advanced into the quarterfinals of the Stardust Invitational before being eliminated a couple of weeks ago. My losing record in the contest had a lot to do with the acumen of Stardust Sports Book head man Bob Scucci in sucking me (and presumably a lot of people) into games that I wasn’t otherwise interested in thanks to juicy lines. With the rest of the world at –2 and –2½, Bob had the Falcons favored by –3 (+105) over the Dolphins, who were +3 (-125). They were the only sports book in the world with a 3 on that game and since the extra juice didn’t matter for purposes of the contest, it was a no-brainer for me to take the Dolphins. Or was it?

In my two appearances in the Stardust Invitational I used three NFL games that I had only modest opinions on because Scucci was hanging +3 on the dog. I didn’t bet them, I didn’t use them with my customers, I just grabbed the good number in the contest. It was the right thing to do, as if you know anything about NFL betting, you know how critical 3 is and how big an edge it is to have +3 on a game when everyone else has it at a lower line. Despite having a perceived edge, I lost all three games of those games. While other bookies were complaining about the flood of winners at –2 and –2 ½ on those games, Scucci had the Stardust ledger very well positioned for those games by forcing people to stay away from the favorites and take the dogs with his unique lines. That’s some good bookmaking. The Stardust’s opinion may be worth respecting when Scucci has a stand-alone line in the NFL.

This is different. Jake Plummer (to whom I’m beholden for a huge middle I hit in the Rose Bowl at the end of the 1997 season) hasn’t thrown an interception since week 2, and has thrown 12 TD passes since that pick. The formerly mistake-prone Plummer entered the season with 141 career interceptions and only 132 TD passes. As bad as Tennessee has been, how do you think Les Miles feels now about blowing that 21-point lead at home? That remains LSU’s lone loss.

What do NFL beat writers do during a bye week? They do research designed to embarrass the head coach of the team they cover. Brian Alee-Walsh of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports this week:

”Haslett said he's never been a coach on a team that has been 2-7 after nine games, at any level of football. After further review, Haslett has coached on three teams that were 2-7 after nine games. In 1996, Haslett was defensive coordinator on a Saints' team that started 2-12 and finished 3-13 under Coach Jim Mora (who resigned after a 2-6 start) and interim coach Rick Venturi (1-7). Also, Haslett was linebackers' coach at the University of Buffalo in 1988 and defensive coordinator in '90 when the team started 2-7. Buffalo finished with a 2-8 record each season.”

Just a little picky for a beat writer to do such avid research into a throwaway line that doesn’t much matter just for a chance to take a shot at Jim Haslett, isn’t it? Call 770-618-8700 for my free weekend football previews on a recorded 24-hour voice broadcast. And visit www.Vegas5.com, where the combined efforts of ASA, Nelly’s Sportsline, Tom Stryker, Al McMordie, and yours truly have had a solid year.

NC Wilmington beat Northwestern in college basketball’s Black Coaches Association Classic this week. Interesting site selection, as this event took place on the campus of the University of Wyoming. African American’s make up 0.8% of the population of the state of Wyoming but Laramie, being an urban center, is 1.2% black. Not sure what the percentage in Laramie dips to when you take away Wyoming’s football and basketball teams.

Joe Tiller has taken Purdue to bowl games in all 8 of his seasons in West Lafayette, which is truly a remarkable statistic. Equally remarkable has been how the Boilermakers have underachieved this season. With 18 returning starters and a favorable schedule (no Michigan, no Ohio State), the Purdue was widely expected to contend for the Big 10 crown. Poor quarterbacking and an inexplicably bad defense saw Purdue eliminated from bowl contention in October. But Purdue has now played 4 decent games in a row. They went up to play then-undefeated Wisconsin and outgained the Badgers 428-280 but had a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns. They displayed some pluck in hanging around for a good portion of the game against superior Penn State team. Then they came home and beat Michigan State outright as a home underdog and then whipped sorry Illinois on Saturday. Curtis Painter has been showing development as a quarterback and his offense has quite an offense to feast on Saturday. Indiana’s young defense is fading fast. The Hoosiers have allowed 4 consecutive opponents to score over 40 points against them. In each of the past two games they’ve allowed an opponent to score 27 points in a quarter. Michigan lit them up for 41 in the first half before Lloyd Carr’s gentlemanly nature took over in a scoreless second half for the Wolverines. IU is allowing 8 yards per pass attempt and 5 yards per rush, and that even includes their home win over 1-AA Nicholls State.

Terry Hoeppner has Indiana heading in the right direction, but he just doesn’t have the horses. Hoeppner is replacing Blake Powers with Graeme McFarland at quarterback for this game. McFarland was 3-11 for 35 yards in a relief role at Michigan. Respect the fact that Indiana has covered the last 3 at home against Purdue but at 1-6 in the conference IU has lost all 6 of those games by 17 points or more. Lay the points with Purdue as they take their frustrations out on Indiana’s helpless D.

In the NFL, Cleveland and Miami both lack offensive talent, but don’t be surprised if their offenses display a whiff of competency this week as a result of their mediocre defenses. The Dolphins allowed 437 yards last week while the Browns permitted 382 yards to a team quarterbacked by Charlie Batch and Tommy Maddox. Even if Gus Ferotte can’t play his absence would have only a modest effect on the Dolphins offense. Look to the over in Cleveland.

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Have a great weekend. Good luck and be careful.