It’s Tuesday, Sept. 17, 8:58 am and now that that last tour is over, all the band members are doing various things like visiting relatives out of town or hanging with the dog and the wife or working on different projects and what not. It’s nice to have a break but I have to say it was a lot of fun traveling so much this year. As far as my favorite shows go, the Olso, Norway, show (at John Dee Club), the Gotherberg, Sweden show (at Club Gump), the A’Dam show (at Melkweg),, the Madrid show (at the Arena), the Brighton show (at Concorde 2), the Southampton show (at The Brook), the Manchester Show (at the Academy), the Sheffield show (at the Boardwalk) and the Wolverhampton show (at Robin 2.)

Those were my fave shows from the 1st tour. For the second tour, we really started rocking once we got to Chicago. From there it was rock and roll heaven with Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, Philly and 2 shows in NYC. On our latest trip, I thought both Scottish shows (Edinburgh and Aberdeen) were loads of fun. The Cantebury festival was muddy and a bit of rain and the monitors were shite. But people had a good time and that’s all that mattere, right? I thought Newcastle was brilliant.great city, great people, great venue. Also, surprisingly, both Crewe and Bristol were 2 of the best shows we ever did, Although crappy food from both venues. Oh well, no one is perfect.

So, with all the lads off on their own for this short break, I have used this time to get back to what’s really important; BETTING ON NFL FOOTBALL. Now, American Football is different than Euro/English Football. No better, just different. I like and appreciate both. Personally, I think the Brits are much truer supporters than Yanks, mainly due to their dedication and willingness to live and die for their team. English fans are the antithesis to cowards. Of course, this is in direct contrast to their bootlicking, rim-job PM, Mr. Blair (as the Guardian refers to him.). Americans can live with a loss. We can just go to the movies or something. But England doesn’t lose without a fight. And, for a country that hasn’t won the title since 1966, you’d think they were used to losing.

So, this morning, I went and got myself a cup of coffee and the LA TIMES sports page. Well, let me clarify this; I stake out the coffee shop and, when someone’s not looking, I swipe the sports page. If this doesn’t work, I just look for a woman with a full paper. 9 times out of 10, she could care less about sports. So I sit and look over the paper. Let’s see, with the point spreads in mind, Ceasar’s Palace is giving 3-to-1 odds. Well Mike, some of the Euro readers are pondering, “What the heck is a point spread.” Ok, it works like this; Take 2 teams. Now, 1 of those teams is vastly superior to the other team. Well, who wants to bet on that game? We already know who’s gonna win! And that is exactly where the point spread comes in. Vegas figures that (and by Vegas I mean the Mob- make no mistake about that.), if they GIVE you 10 points to bet against the favorite, that just may entice you to part with your hard earned Quid. The trick is to know which ones are good bets and which ones are bad bets. So, let’s look at today’s Line.

Ok. The NY JETS are playing the MIAMI DOLPHINS “in Miami.” Now, you have to keep in mind that home field advantage can play a part in the game. So, Vegas is offering 6 1/2 points to anyone who takes the JETS. Why 6 1/2, you ask? Well, many football scores are divisible by 6 or 7 so if the games ends with one team getting beat by either of those numbers you’re either gonna win or lose. But Vegas doesn’t want you to tie because that means THEY TIE. So I look at their respective records. NY is in the same division as Miami. NY’s record is 1-1, while Miami is undefeated. NY has fielded 44 pts so far and given up 75 (they’re generous!) while Miami has piled up 70 (49 of that against Detroit last week.hey give the Lions credit for keeping a team under 50 points already.) and has only given up a stingy 34 points. I don’t know about you but I’m putting $100 down on Miami. When Miami covers that 6 1/2, Vegas will owe me $300. I’ll just hand my tix to the next friend heading up to Las Vegas and him collect my earnings for me, in addition to placing more bets. Believe me, the JETS are not gonna go into Miami and keep it close. Here’s a college game that I think is a sure bet, a lead-pipe lock, if you will; Vegas is giving FLORIDA STATE 44 1/2 Pts (that’s FORTY-FOUR-AND-A-HALF-POINTS!!!!) over Duke in Saturday’s game. The game is in Florida, by the way. Not only do I GUARENTEE the are gonna cover the spread, I will scan the paper next Sunday and show you the score so that you’ll see for yourself. That’s the kinda bet where you borrow money from the bank; just slap $10,000 down on that one, sit back, and surf the net for a proper holiday in the South Pacific. May be Fiji or Tahiti. 44 1/2 points. I wonder if the Duke players read the newspaper?

So, I’m going to finishing looking over the bets (there are still 10 more that hold my interest) and then work on some songs. Ho -hum. May be go to the beach? Too hot. May be go check out the babes in Venice beach? Fake boobs. Actually, I am supposed to hang with Jaazman again. I am having a bit of a time getting motivated. I keep waiting for Hotel wake-up calls or thinking there’s sound check at 4pm. I don’t know. It’s 9:06am and I don’t know what to do after I finish writing this and reading the paper.

Mike Randle