Draft odds
We are two days from the NFL draft.
I love the draft. You know this.
This will easily be the most-watched draft in NFL history. It will not be close.
Last year set the all-time draft viewing record with an average of 6.1 million over the three-day affair and more than 11 million for the first round. That was 11 percent better than the previous record set in 2018, so the draft’s stock is rising.
Now with nothing else going on, Thursday’s TV numbers figure to be even bigger.
It also figures to be the most wagered on non-game-related event in sports history.
And the angles are everywhere.
Truly. Everywhere.
In fact according to BetOnline.ag, you can bet on some expected things like number of trades (over/under 3.5), number of dogs show during the first round (over/under 3.5), and who will the first overall pick hug (“Mom” is even money, “Dad” is +250, girlfriend is +300, friend and or sibling is +700) and whether any draftee will be shown drinking beer (No is -400; Yes is +250)
You can also bet on whether any room with have more than 9.5 people in any shot. You can bet how many first-round picks will be in glasses (13.5 over/under) or in ties (20.5 over/under.)
And you can bet even money on whether they will mention whether Jake Fromm played in the Little League World Series. Seriously.
But fortunately, you don’t have to bet anything at the 5-at-10 to have a little action on the draft. Why? Because, the Dodging the Draft While Feeling the Draft and Drinking a Draught Draft Doohickey is full speed ahead and it’s free.
Each of the below questions is worth one point. If there’s a tie, we will have a Friday, day-two draft tie-breaker, which means we really want there to be a tie so we can extend the contest.
Here are the questions, and feel free to add your answers in the comments or email me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com:
> Who will be the second QB drafted?
> How many SEC players will go in Round 1?
> First team to make a trade? (Clarification: The team with the higher pick will be deemed the first team to trade. For example, if the Giants trade the No. 2 pick to the Dolphins for picks 5 and 18, then the Giants is the answer. Clear?)
> More offensive or defensive players drafted in Round 1?
> Over/under 1.5 running backs drafted in Round 1?
> The Atlanta Falcons’ first pick will be? (Clarification: This is the player picked. For example, if the Falcons pick Derrick Brown and trade him for more first-round picks and pick other players, the answer is Derrick Brown. Clear?)
> Who will be the first wide receiver drafted?
> Heck, let’s go ahead and extend this beyond Thursday, right? In what round will Jake Fromm be picked?
Go.
That’s a wrap
OK, pardon my extremely specific, self-involved views today.
We covered the draft, we are going to discuss the best show on TV right now and our weekend cooking exploits. That’s so about me, it makes me think of, well, me.
(OK, side story: How self-involved was this only child as a extremely little 5-at-10? Well, when I was first learning to speak, and I learned how to talk before I was 1 – zip it, Spy – I would stand up in my crib and say “I, I” and “Me, Me” for people to pick me up. Well, the easiest mark when she was around was my mom’s mom, so my grandmother moniker for her was “Imeme.” So there’s that.)
Friends, in this day and age of isolation and quarantining, if you are not watching Better Call Saul, well, my heart aches for your loss.
The pre-story of drug cartel attorney Saul Goodman and his path to corruption has become a truly amazing story.
It’s better than its predecessor Breaking Bad, which is one of the top five or seven shows all-time.
The acting, the writing and the story are so good, you know – or you should know – how things are going to turn out, but you don’t.
And sweet buckets, the psychopath that is Lalo Salamanca is one of TV’s best villains since the heights of Game of Thrones.
I will not get too much into the discussions of last night’s season five finale – if you have specific questions fire away – because of spoilers and such.
The status and rise of this season delivers a couple of undeniable truths now:
Vince Gilligan has written, directed and created two of the best TV shows of all time, which is staggering all things considering. In fact, the only way Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul is not on anyone’s top 10 is because they have not seen them. That begs the question, is Vince Gilligan the greatest TV mind of all time?
Better Call Saul is now well beyond Laverne and Shirley or The Simpsons or The Jeffersons or Maude or Frasier or whatever else is nominated as the greatest spin off of all-time. (Side question: Googling “TV spin offs” I learned for the first time that “The Andy Griffith Show” was actually a spin off from “The Danny Thomas Show.” I had no idea about that, and I thought I knew a great deal about “The Andy Griffith Show.”)
And you want to know something else? There are a slew of characters on Better Call Saul, that deserve a spin off of their own, too. Oh my – it’s that good.