I'm on vacation this week (most readers of the column might say I am on vacation every week, bada bum).
I've got lots of family and friends in Northern California, so my wife and kids and I have been camped out at my sister's in the East Bay. Other than falling in love with the Golden State Warriors because my NBA-loving brother-in-law and I watched them beat the Bulls and the Knicks (I am buying an Ish Smith jersey before I leave), one of the highlights was spending the day with my childhood best friend, Matt, and his trash-talking 8-year-old, Jack.
Every year since we started going to Chicago Bears games because his parents had season tickets, Matt and I have competed in our version of pick 'em contests. With ESPN.com, we turned it into an all 16-game ATS war. Many years he has won. The past three years, I have won. As I have written in previous columns, the winner of this idiotic contest gets the privilege of spending as much money as possible on second-place trophies for the loser.
Pride and humiliation have no price. One season I sent Matt several trophies, each engraved with one word which, when lined up in the proper order, read, "2nd Place 2008 Pigskin Pick 'Em, *&^%$." Use your imagination to figure out what the last word read. I was very pleased when I walked into his house this week and saw that his wife kept the trophy with that particular word in the center of a shelf in their living room.
To read the rest of what Chad Millman says about this week's NFL line moves, you must be an ESPN Insider.
- Editor in Chief of ESPN The Magazine
- Writes "Behind The Bets" blog on sports gambling
- Authored seven books, including "The Odds"
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Chad Millman
Chad Millman, Editor in Chief of ESPN The Magazine, joined The Mag as an associate editor in 1998. A year later he left to write "The Odds" -- about a trio of Vegas bookmakers and wiseguys -- and to find riches working for an Internet company. He made tens of dollars on "The Odds," the web biz tanked and he returned to The Mag. He also worked at Sports Illustrated and wrote some other books, including "Iceman" with Chuck Liddell, "Invincible" with Vince Papale, "Pickup Artists" with Lars Anderson, and "The Detonators." His most recent books are the national bestseller "The Ones Who Hit the Hardest," about the blood feud between the 70s Steelers and Cowboys, written with Shawn Coyne, and the New York Times bestseller "They Call Me Baba Booey", with Gary Dell'Abate.
Millman's daily blog explores the culture of sports gambling; on Mondays and Fridays in the fall, he investigates trends in point spreads related to professional football.
E-mail Chad: Chad.X.Millman@espn.com
Follow Chad on Twitter: @ChadMillman
Behind the Bets podcast: Subscribe
Dave Tuley
Dave Tuley has covered the Las Vegas race and sports book scene, including the Hilton SuperContest, since 2000 for Daily Racing Form and runs his own website, ViewFromVegas.com. Follow Dave on Twitter here.
Ben Fawkes
Ben Fawkes is an associate editor at ESPN Insider, where he has worked since 2009. He coordinates NFL and gambling coverage. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter here.
Jeff Gold
Jeff Gold is a researcher/reporter at ESPN The Magazine, where he has worked since 2010. Previously he worked at Newsday and The Journal News. He follows all sports, but has a particular interest in football, sports betting and poker. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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