Gameday Ditch: Christian's Picks & Quack 12 Quiz Show
There's no such thing as "going back to brunch" when kickoff is at 11 AM.
It’s here, it’s here, it’s here. Gameday.
This morning’s Ditch Rich is basically my last chance to throw in any new thoughts about today’s game, send you any relevant links, and most importantly, it is chance for me to introduce you to the Most Gambler I know, Christian Vitale.
But before we talk bets, The Quack 12 Quiz Show goes LIVE today at 8:15 AM PST.
The dudes over at The Quack 12 Podcast are dropping their first episode of a new Duck triva show, in which I am the first contestant (read: victim).
Even though it premieres live this morning on Youtube/Twitter/Facebook/etc., it will be also available to watch on those platforms all week FOR THIS WEEK ONLY. I’ll follow up with official links in my game review, too, but thank you in advance for witnessing the wonder that is my treasure trove of trivial Oregon knowledge.
LINKS TO FIND THE SHOW (@ 8:15 AM & beyond):
Quack 12 Youtube // Quack 12 Twitter // Quack 12 Facebook
Also, if you haven’t already, subscirbe to Ditch Rich! It’s free!
Now, let’s get to the picks.
Whether you partake in a bit of the ol’ over/under or not, I think it’s still fun to know what the experts (and the self-proclaimed experts) are thinking about the action—if we’ve learned anything as a Ditch Rich community, it’s that you should always follow the money.
Unfortunately for us Oregonians, the Oregon Lottery Scoreboard app is still not allowed to take bets on any college sports of any kind, so unless you know a guy, this bit really is just for funsies.
Speaking of a guy, let me introduce you to my buddy, Christian. We changed lightbulbs together at the University of Oregon, spent many an afternoon/evening at Taylor’s Bar & Grill, and we watched with our very own eyes as Christian hit the under in the 2019 Pac-12 Tourney Title Game in Vegas (you remember, the one where Payton Pritchard dunked).
This tweet isn’t from that specific game, but it’s safe to say that he loves betting the Ducks.
For years, he has been known to send me his picks on Duck gamedays, so we just decided to make it official and throw them in a little bonus newsletter, “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.”
Here’s what he thinks about today’s lines:
His pick of the week is as follows:
“I’m going with Under 64. We have two top running backs, we don’t want to show too much before Ohio State. And our defnese is gonna be legit.”
And he followed that up with:
“I also don’t think Fresno lays over. I like the +20.5 but I’m not about to give the people the dog.”
To some folks, I’m sure that all sounds like gibberish, so please allow me to Gamble-splain so that we can all join in on the fun:
Christian is saying that the bet he likes the most today is Under 64 for the Total. “The Total” is the combined scores of both participating teams, so he believes that the quality of the running game and the stout Oregon defense will keep the game low scoring on both sides, thus making The Total add up to less than 64 points.
His second comment was just speculation about the fact that—since the game could be low scoring—Fresno could end up keeping the score closer than the established spread. “The Spread” refers to a number that is set by oddsmakers in order to make a game more enticing for people to bet on. Like if you’ve ever heard anyone say:
“Oregon is favored by twenty points.” or “The Beavers are underdogs again this weekend.”
Statements like that are referring to the point spread—which is supposed to give everyone a rough idea for how much better or worse one team is than another.
In Christian’s case, he thought about taking Fresno State +20.5—meaning that he would be betting on Fresno State to lose by 20 points or less—but he decided against it, since he didn’t want to begin his tenure here at Ditch Rich by giving our readers a bet that is ostensibly “against” the Ducks.
For that, he is so money baby, and he doesn’t even know it.
For legal and/or moral reasons, I will make a brief reminder to always play responsibly whenever doing anything related to sports betting. Set a limit for yourself, never bet what you can’t afford to lose, and call 1-800-GAMBLER if you ever start feeling like it isn’t fun anymore.
That’s the last thing I have for you all before we begin our journey into the 2021 Duck football season.
Good morning! Oh, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and Go Ducks!