In gambling, the over/under refers to the combined scores of the two teams at the end of the game.
Leaving the gambler only to determine if the score will be higher or lower than the number created by the odds-makers and betting action at the time a wager is placed.
In the college football game between THE Buckeyes of Ohio State and the Penn State Nittany Lions the over/under was 61. I took the over as I made my first ever legal wager on sports from the comfort of my home after my home state of Connecticut made sport wagering legal on October 15th of this year.
Logging into a website to place that wager, it was hard not to notice the changes to sports betting since I played my first weekly football ticket in middle school.
For starters, you no longer have to circle your selection!
Being able to wager in my pajamas is not the only upgrade I noticed. With “alternate totals,” “three-way moneylines," “alternate spreads” and multiple “prop bets” available on most professional and college sporting events, technology again brings the end to another locally-owned small business; THE bookie.
No Counter for Old Man
With Connecticut finally a Covid cold spot, I am again experiencing life beyond the walls of my home-office; the corporate headquarters of THE Revolution.
Last week when an 'inventor-entrepreneur" asked me to meet him for lunch at Stamford's Elm Street Diner, I ordered breakfast instead. And with my eggs, got a fascinating look at an application of technology which hopes to resolve a paint store frustration.
The ebbing pandemic also gives me an opportunity to visit old friends in the paint stores of New York's metropolitan area, with two visits planned in the coming days. With no counter to work behind since I sold my Bronx stores more than two-years ago, I need to make an effort to spend time in paint stores if I am going to stay connected with paint dealer life.
And speaking of New York paint dealers, with me on my Mark, My Words! podcast on Thursday is the retired owner of Sun Wallpaper and Paint of Poughkeepsie, New York, Frank Cohen.
If I were as handsome as Frank, overconfidence would be a problem.
But it wasn’t Frank’s high-gloss finish which got him a second appearance on my podcast.
The design and décor space continues to be a profitable sub-niche of the independent paint dealer channel. The group of dealers who put wallpaper, window treatments and fabrics before paint and primer often enjoying profit margins and overall financials far better than the typical "paint first" dealer.
Few understand the decor side of the independent dealer channel better than Frank. A successful decor dealer and former president of AllPro, Frank's "Five Top Tips" for decor dealers are for existing decor dealers, and any paint-first dealers considering adding decor to their product mix.
Unlike the Jets, Frank, is a New Yorker it pays to bet on.
