As I scanned the days events in sports history nothing really caught my eye. So as I have done on a couple of occasions over the past several years I stepped outside the box. Today deals in real history. It was on this date back in 1882 here in Missouri over in St Joseph that a cowardly wimp named Bob Ford shot Jesse James in the back ending one of the most colorful lives of the era. No, I am not defending what Jesse and his brother Frank did during their heyday. Robbing banks is not cool. Never has been. But something about the way that jerk killed him is wrong on many levels. I won't go into a history lesson here but as is the case with many western legends some things are a little overblown. The James gang actually did not rob nearly as many banks as many think. It all ended badly when they botched up a raid on a bank clear up in Northfield, Minnesota. Well out of their normal range. One of the members of the gang was Cole Younger who retired in peace to Lees Summit, Mo. His grave was just down the street from my home. The town celebrated a fair called Cole Younger days every summer for years, until some of the proper citizens decided it was in bad taste and they named the fair something else. Anyway, guys. Just a little diversion for today.
For a free play tonight I am going with the Detroit Pistons +9.5 against the Bulls. Too many points. The Pistons are actually 5-2 against the number when tipping off against the Eastern conference. But to be candid if trends is something you lean heavily on there are trends supporting both causes here. Fact is the Pistons have been playing well for the most part of late and I think they show up tonight and cover this big number. They have won five of the last seven games. Once again, just too many points in my opinion.
On the business side I cashed, pushed or lost last night. Depends on the number folks got. I released a Triple on the Stanford Cardinals -1.5. That was a helluva wild ending. Not much else remains to be said. I don't have any featured release tonight but do have a Triple Star in college going saturday in the final four.
That's it for today guys. Thanks and best of luck this weekend.