By: Joe Berra

Well, I got smoked this weekend like my Thanksgiving turkey, among other things. Just when you think you’re starting to figure things out, karma carves you up like…well you know. At least I’m not writing about a pool noodle incident that I saw was getting way too much publicity by the untalented mr. roto. Did anyone really need an article like that from him to realize how much of a pompous ass he is?

I know the sports world is filled with guys and gals who truly believe their shit don’t stink and what they say is gold; but I got news for y’all. No matter who you are, or what you’ve done, no one can figure out this crazy world we call sports.

Look at CBSSports “experts”, 91% of them predicted a Green Bay Packers win on Thanksgiving night with only 20% making the correct call in the Giants/Redskins game. I mean, only 16% of them said the Chargers would beat the Jags.

The bottom line is with so many unknowns, so many “what if’s,” so many woulda, coulda, shoulda’s, the sky is the limit in the sports betting world. Before your pick is in, there’s realistically a 50/50 chance of winning or losing; the problem being, which side are you going to take? If you take the favorite, your chances of winning may be better, but you’re risking more money to win less, while if you’re with the underdog, sportsbooks feel you’re at a disadvantage so you’re betting less to win more.

Take last night’s Pats/Broncos game. What if Gronk didn’t get injured? Maybe one of Tom Brady’s incomplete passes on 2nd and 3rd downs on their last possession of the game would have been completed had they went towards Gronk and wouldn’t have turned into a punt. But we’ll never know because that’s just one of the many unknowns that is sports, the reason that keeps us coming back for more.

Regardless of what transpires, the bottom line there is nothing we can control. For us control freaks, it kills us to see drops on passes we know NFL receivers should catch. Or the 35-yard field goal tries the placekicker shanks and misses by 15 feet. What do we all say? I could have made that catch, or kicked that one through the uprights. But in reality, we most likely would have dropped that catch or shanked the kick ourselves, but we need something to complain about when we lose.

My picks this weekend weren’t too bad, but “not too bad” isn’t what any of us are looking for. My Four Team Teaser (6-points) had the Bills +12, Rams +15, Cardinals -4 and the Steelers +9½, which gave me 3 out of four with the Rams the only loss after getting destroyed 31-7 by a solid Bengals team. I was going to take the Chargers instead as they were an underdog going into Jacksonville, but that’s just my own version of “what if.”

The struggle is real people…the struggle is real! But just like the professionals that put on the uniform each week in search of perfection, I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing in search of my own perfection. Be sure to “like” our Facebook at Ask the Bookie to follow me and my colleagues as we offer our best guesses at today’s sports world questions.