Okay, last night I said I’d take a break from the sports investments, but I did play WNBA games…

Took the Sky +14.0 pregame, and then took their ML when up 75-72 and then minutes later up by one point. Good numbers…

True, there were no “real” games on Monday because of the baseball All-Star break, but I did catch some foreign basketball in the evening, watching the first half of the Guardians-Ukraine game. I liked what I saw and made the third-quarter pick. It won 32-18 (Ukraine had 32 points, Guardians 18, ie. 20+ vs. under 25). As it turned out, this outcome (Guardians under 25 pts, Ukraine 20+ points) happened in every quarter, but I didn’t repeat this in the fourth. Ukraine won the game by more than 40 points.

Yes, yes, the “juice” was very high, but it was for the purposes of building up bankroll on a slow day. Also, no, I will not be doing esports on a regular basis. It was just what I liked on this particular day.

Will likely take time off over the next few days, though…

Recently, I announced my 100th game since 2022. The team that I work for took time out to acknowledge my accomplishment (thank you). There was a PA announcement at the rink at the start of #99. There was a social media post following #100. Thank you.

Now, on the other hand, there are some who will downplay your accomplishments. I’m not saying this to be bitter or anything; I’m merely sharing my experiences as I reflect on my journey.

I once volunteered at a community radio station. I’d just published my Tom Candiotti biography called A Life of Knuckleballs. Someone at the station was asking me about it. I answered the question. Another person was in the room and overheard, and scoffed when I mentioned that the book could be purchased online. The fellow scoffed that books should be in bookstores and not online.

More recently, I was helping out at an after-school academy for high school kids. I had asked for a particular Wednesday night off because of a hockey broadcast. I mentioned this to the school a week ahead of time and reminded the admin again. Then that night came and I received phone calls wondering when I was going to show up for class. When I reminded the caller that I had booked time off, the answer was they’d forgotten my request and I needed to tell the students afterwards that “I was sick” and couldn’t do the class. Huh? I am proud of my hockey broadcasting work and yet I was instructed to say I was sick and couldn’t have class? The school wanted to save face and didn’t want to acknowledge that they screwed up by forgetting my time-off request. (To provide some context, students often cancel classes to play sports or do extracurricular activities, and these cancellations are often communicated on the same day. It’s clearly a double standard.)

Again, I’m not bitter and I’m stating this matter-of-factly. Some people just don’t want you to succeed. For those who acknowledge me, I say thank you.