As the 'Catfish'-like Manti Te'o story continues to be revealed, much like peeling an onion that's been left out on the dock too long, I wonder how long before another sordid--possibly illegal--sidebar is discussed.
I'm talking about the possibility that this supposed hoax was revealed to Te'o at the precise time to have maximum effect on his play in the recent BCS Championship Game debacle in Miami. Further, if professional gamblers had this information before the game took place on January 7, 2013 (remember Te'o allegedly was told of the hoax on December 6, 2012), it no doubt would have affected their betting.
Farfetched? What is certain is that Te'o had an absolutely brutal game against Alabama, although it could be argued that the Crimson Tide were a juggernaut not to be stopped that night, reflected by their 9.5 line as favorites. And while it's true that Te'o was only one of 11 defensive players on the field, he was the head of the dragon, so to speak. As middle linebacker, he relayed the defensive schemes to the rest of the unit, a very important piece of the puzzle.
Also remember that Notre Dame officials were informed by Te'o of the hoax on December 26, 2012, so there were, in total, 20 days of Te'o and his immediate family knowing, and then 12 more days before the game after the University had been told. Incredible pressure on the kid, and even if he was totally innocent in this mess, it is not out of the realm of possibility that knowledge like this to gamblers could conceivably be worth two, three, maybe more points than that to the bettors' line, a veritable gold mine for them.
And heaven help Te'o if some kind of extortion plot comes out eventually, and he revealed it to nobody.
A lot more to unfold here, and I would 'bet' that some investigative reporters are taking a close look at the Vegas line and wagering patterns up to January 7.
Later.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
"Hey, Mr. Douglas! I'm Back From College!!"
There is an episode of the 1960's sitcom Green Acres, when addle-brained farmhand Eb (Tom Lester) is sent off to college & returns to the Douglas farm shortly thereafter without an education but sporting a raccoon coat & pennant, still dumb as a bag of hammers but happy as a clam. That was his diploma I guess...
I'm not going to divulge my age, but suffice it to say that I have two daughters in their twenties that are presently completing their navigation through the Let's-Make-A-Deal maze of higher education. I am truly glad I don't have to go through it with a couple more offspring. It would possibly lead me to drink, or self-mutilation.
And that's what it is, of course. Door #1, #2 or #3? Increasingly, parents & high school seniors are faced with the prospect of picking a college that provides the best value for return, with the result being employed in one's field. Easy to say, extremely hard to do in this fragile economy.
It wasn't always this way. My goodness, thirty-odd years ago, when I shipped off to a Big Ten university, besides getting merely decent grades in my journalism classes to keep my parents off my a**, my sole responsibility was to avoid getting run over by the yellow buses that criss-crossed campus. And I succeeded at both, thankyouverymuch.
In comparison, with the current job market that portends to be screwed on tightly for the foreseeable future, everything in that respect seems so much more critical. From the applications forward it is all subject to scrutiny--the right extracurriculars, GPA, ACT, SAT, volunteer work, and for heaven's sake don't be holding a red Solo cup in photos on your Facebook page!
Whereas the freshman & sophomore years in the 1970's were pretty much mulligans for us ("...pre-med, pre-law, what's the difference?"--Tim 'Otter' Matheson, Animal House), new collegians--all of eighteen years old, mind you--are coerced to choose a major before they've been around the block, so to speak, at University rates for the parents.
That's why I don't think it's a bad idea at all to consider the community college route for the first two years & then transfer the credits to a college or University until graduation. Saves money for the parents, and it allows the student some flexibility to test different fields out in a non-pressure environment.
Which is why over the next 10 years you will see some of the 'boutique' private colleges, not the Harvards & Princetons & Stanfords and that ilk but the ones that charge $50,000/year out the door for no good reason, struggling enrollment-wise while the community colleges will continue to flourish.
Later.
And that's what it is, of course. Door #1, #2 or #3? Increasingly, parents & high school seniors are faced with the prospect of picking a college that provides the best value for return, with the result being employed in one's field. Easy to say, extremely hard to do in this fragile economy.
It wasn't always this way. My goodness, thirty-odd years ago, when I shipped off to a Big Ten university, besides getting merely decent grades in my journalism classes to keep my parents off my a**, my sole responsibility was to avoid getting run over by the yellow buses that criss-crossed campus. And I succeeded at both, thankyouverymuch.
In comparison, with the current job market that portends to be screwed on tightly for the foreseeable future, everything in that respect seems so much more critical. From the applications forward it is all subject to scrutiny--the right extracurriculars, GPA, ACT, SAT, volunteer work, and for heaven's sake don't be holding a red Solo cup in photos on your Facebook page!
Whereas the freshman & sophomore years in the 1970's were pretty much mulligans for us ("...pre-med, pre-law, what's the difference?"--Tim 'Otter' Matheson, Animal House), new collegians--all of eighteen years old, mind you--are coerced to choose a major before they've been around the block, so to speak, at University rates for the parents.
That's why I don't think it's a bad idea at all to consider the community college route for the first two years & then transfer the credits to a college or University until graduation. Saves money for the parents, and it allows the student some flexibility to test different fields out in a non-pressure environment.
Which is why over the next 10 years you will see some of the 'boutique' private colleges, not the Harvards & Princetons & Stanfords and that ilk but the ones that charge $50,000/year out the door for no good reason, struggling enrollment-wise while the community colleges will continue to flourish.
Later.
Aldous Huxley With A Bad Attitude?
The brave new world, is it?
With employees of bricks-and-mortar journalism outfits falling from the sky like the Martian spacecraft in War Of The Worlds (not the recent version, I prefer the cheesy, Technicolor, George Pal-produced 1953 movie), short of shouting from the mountaintop, this I suppose is the way to be heard, and to be read.
My moniker--The Semi-Happy Curmudgeon--makes sense, if only to me. I'm not going to be hip. I will, however, be timely, and I plan to report on any number of topics that strike my fancy. Food, writing, entertainment, music, politics, finance, agriculture, sports--frankly, anything that gets blood flowing to all my appendages. Think of my water glass as half-empty with a slight crack from the top down to the middle. And as I write, water is poured into the glass with the express purpose of it being filled to the top. But alas, inevitably the crack takes its toll, the liquid seeps out and the level reverts to its former equilibrium. Semi-happy, you see.
Oh, a word of warning--if the glass gets knocked over on occasion, run for cover.
Later.
With employees of bricks-and-mortar journalism outfits falling from the sky like the Martian spacecraft in War Of The Worlds (not the recent version, I prefer the cheesy, Technicolor, George Pal-produced 1953 movie), short of shouting from the mountaintop, this I suppose is the way to be heard, and to be read.
My moniker--The Semi-Happy Curmudgeon--makes sense, if only to me. I'm not going to be hip. I will, however, be timely, and I plan to report on any number of topics that strike my fancy. Food, writing, entertainment, music, politics, finance, agriculture, sports--frankly, anything that gets blood flowing to all my appendages. Think of my water glass as half-empty with a slight crack from the top down to the middle. And as I write, water is poured into the glass with the express purpose of it being filled to the top. But alas, inevitably the crack takes its toll, the liquid seeps out and the level reverts to its former equilibrium. Semi-happy, you see.
Oh, a word of warning--if the glass gets knocked over on occasion, run for cover.
Later.
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