Recreational Spectacles — A New Way to Look at Sports in the Ozarks

Ah, it’s the one of the best times of the year. For gambling and against-the-spread purposes, this might be the best time of the year, if nothing else, but sheer quantity.

Yes, it’s college bowl season.

And, of course, here at Spring Vegas, we are vested in picking as many games correctly as possible. Uncle Rob joined me for a podcast, where we broke down the first half of the bowl games, starting with Saturday’s New Mexico Bowl and ending with the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl. To listen click on this link, or the link below.

But, we have some exciting news. We have started a  Spring Vegas Bowl Pick ‘Em entry at FoxSports.com, the only legitimate operation that allows contestants to pick games against the spread. Here is the information you’ll need to know:

SPRING VEGAS THROWDOWN

• Log on to FoxSports.com’s Bowl Pick’Em page. If you haven’t registered, create an entry.
• Entry number: 1151563
• Group password: SpringVegas
• Prize? Yep, the winner will win a $50 dollar gift card, sponsored by TagSGF.com
• You can not only choose a winner, but each week, you can assign a bonus point value to your confidence in each game. For instance, if you feel like Alabama is going to wax Texas, you can assign 20 points to the BCS championship and get those 20 pts, plus one for choosing the game correctly. They do not count against you if you miss. If you’re confused, click the help section.
• This competition doesn’t actually start until the Dec. 26 games, starting with the Little Caesar’s Bowl, so you have time to get your picks in. And tell your friends.

And in the interest of fairness, if you want to discover my picks, or Uncle Rob’s picks, you’re going to have to listen to the podcast:

Spring Vegas podcast — Bowl Breakdown Vol. I w/ Uncle Rob

Confidence is a funny thing.

Now, if you’ve been following our Spring Vegas endeavor since the beginning, it was based on a few premises:

1. I picked out a few gambling lines on football games that I believed in.
2. I asked Uncle Rob — the shrewdest Vegas man I know — for his advice.

But something happened on the way to football-picking perfection. I stopped listening to the expert.

Instead, I would ask, and if he would disagree, I would go with the pick anyway. Who cares what he thinks, I know what I’m talking about!

I couldn’t have been more wrong. After last week’s embarrassing 5-13 week, including a 1-7 by yours truly that was saved only by Vince Young’s incredible 99-yard TD drive, I have gone back to basics. I chose my lines like usual, but only have stuck with ones Uncle Rob agreed with.

With that said, the two of us are an eery 66-66-1 on the season. There are only a few weeks left. Can we get back above .500?

It’s all in the expert’s hands, now. Click on the link below to stream the podcast, or double-click to save to your desktop.

Spring Vegas podcast with Uncle Rob

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Picking against your favorite team is one thing. But going to the game while wearing their apparel and (not so) secretly rooting against them to lose? It’s a bad situation, all the way around.

Yep, last weekend my family took a mini vacation to the Edward Jones Dome to watch the New Orleans Saints play the St. Louis Rams, my favorite NFL team since they moved from LA to STL. And, as usual, Uncle Rob joined me here for the Spring Vegas podcast and we vehemently picked against the Rams, who were a 14-point underdog. We even agreed that Vegas should move the line to 21 points. And what happened?

Saints 28, Rams 23

Instead of rolling over, the Rams tried to actually win the game. Ugh.

So, I’ve learned my lesson. When I get in the car and head to Lincoln, Neb. this weekend, I’m not going to go for or against Nebraska. I’m just going to enjoy the game.

But even with the Rams spoiling our unanimous pick, we still finished 8-6 this past week, pushing us to to 56-45-1 on the season.

To check our picks, click the link below. To listen or download the podcast, click here: Spring Vegas podcast with Uncle Rob

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There’s a lot to be learned in losing. While coaches at all levels hate to admit it publicly, many believe a regular-season loss can be the most effective lesson for down-the-road success.

And right on cue, The Spring Vegas football game-picking machine went 3-12 last week.

So in true coachspeak, Allen and Uncle Rob are letting the “past be the past,” taking “one game at a time” and “tipping our cap” to Las Vegas. (Screw you, LV. We’ll get you this time.)

Overall, Allen and Uncle Rob are 48-39-1 with last week included. Should you listen to us? Yes you should.

Click the link below to listen or download the latest Spring Vegas podcast and continue on to see our weekly picks.

Spring Vegas podcast with Uncle Rob

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Success breeds success. Just ask Caesar’s Palace.

Yep, your Spring Vegas football picking machine pulled off another 9-5 week, 5-4 in college and 4-1 in the NFL. But more importantly, RecSpecsOnline’s Twitter account has a new follower — Caesar’s Palace. That’s right, one of the top sportsbooks in the world is now following our fight toward football game-picking perfection.

Will this result in a sponsorship? Not likely. Will it result in job offers for Allen and Uncle Rob? Doubt it.

But, what it does mean is a 45-27-1 record is pretty darn good. I think what I’m looking for is, “Holler at a player when you see (them) in the street.”

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