Busy week and a GREAT season!

I am flying back from Florida today. I was down there to meet with some business contacts and some friends/ radio people at the Dolphins game. It is funny the things you learn when you are in my business. 10 years ago, I knew nothing about handicappers OR radio. I have learned a lot over the last decade. For instance, not all radio stations are created equal. I am not talking about their coverage or listenership. I am talking about the people running the stations. Not all are the same. Like any other business ,I guess, there are stations that are nice and at the very least grateful for the relationship we have and there are others that are a lot like that dick you knew in college. You know, the one that thought his s+*- didn't stink and thought someone else should pay everytime you went out because you should be grateful to be around them. Radio stations are the same, some ,like ESPN 760 in Florida and actually 6 or 7 other markets are great. They appreciate our relationship. They get my family and I tickets when they can. They go out of their way to make sure I know how much they value our relationship and want both of us to succeed. There are other stations that have NEVER offered me anything. Not so much as a thank you for your business. Honestly , it starts at the top. It is human nature to hire people like you and when you have a dick at the top,well, it shows in who they hire. I find myself really pulling for the good guys in the radio bizz.

We are having a GREAT season! We have won 7 out of the 8 weeks this season. We are up over 30 games this season and were 6-2 last Saturday and 3-1 Sunday! We are winning! A LOT! Guys going to Vegas are coming back happy.. YES, Happy coming HOME from Vegas. They are seeing how good selections can really make it a great trip! If you are playing the games, NOW is the time to sign up! Hoops starts in 13 days and we are going to continue winning! Don't get left out. Don't lose on your own!

I am heading to Vegas on Friday for the first round of a National Football Handicapping contest sponsored by the Las vegas journal and the M Casinos Sports book. Should be a great time. I will be on Las Vegas radio Friday night @ midnight. Ouch, that's 2am Oklahoma time. Hope I don't say anything offensive , actually I am sure I probably will. I always seem to. Should be a fun weekend. Have a great week and good luck! Jack
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In the middle of "one of those things"

Ok, so I am wrapping up a really busy friday. Football started yesterday and I juggled radio interviews and signing people up all day. I headed to the airport to get on a plane to vegas. Plane was leaving at 5:30. I had a radio segment in west palm at 4:45 so I did it in the parking lot of the airport and headed inside. Security took longer than normal so as I exited security at 5:15 I had a choice to make. Get on the plane thirsty or try and rush over to the airport sonic for a route 44 cherry sprite. I am a gambler so I thought I would risk getting a middle seat on the plane to get something to drink for the 3 hour flight. Here is where it gets sticky.. I got my drink at 5:19 and ran to the gate. They were boarding the "b"s so it was going to be close. I juggled my cell phone, a book and my drink down the jetway along with my luggage. I thought to myself,"slow down, you are here" and headed onto the plane to get a good seat. About the 3rd row, my roll on luggage gets snagged on a womans leg. As I swing around to free it, I lose control of my sprite , everything goes into slow motion mode and I accidently throw my sprite into the air. As it is spinning out of control towards the head of the lady in row 3, I do my best jerry rice impression and go diving on the lady in row 3 hoping this will end like the hundreds on cartoons I have seen where the disaster is divirted by some quick thinking and a really athletic move! I reach to grab the route 44 drink out of the air and I forgot the most important skill all good receivers have... Soft hands. The sprite cup crushes into itself and red syrup flyes in the air like a water balloon some fat kid had just crushed. Most of the cherry sprite went on my pants and down my leg with only 4 or 5 cups and 2 of the 6 cherries from the drink hitting the woman. As I climb out of her sprite soaked lap, I turn to her and said " it just doesn't feel like sorry is going to be enough. " She looked at me in shock and yelled" does anyone have a f@#"-ng towel!! Surprisingly, along with doing away with peanuts on most flights, southwest doesn't have a lot of beach towels laying around for sonic disasters. After holding up all of the "b"s and "c"s to dry up the seats, I couldn't see any benefit to sitting in the seat I had just soaked next to the lady I had thrown sprite on. I had used her right breast to leverage myself out of her lap and I just felt there was too much history there to spend the next 3 hours rehashing my mistake. I continued down the plane until I could no longer hear her cussing me to her drunk boyfriend and took my seat by the window. You know, you really haven't flown until you have experienced the 6 stages of liquid to sticky goo all at 30,000 feet. As I am starting to really stick to everything around me, a couple of 50 something vegas bound party girls sit next to me. As I am wrapping up my preflight stuff, I hear one of the girls say to the other " I think this guy sitting next to me pissed his pants. " This is not a good start. I explain to them what happened but I am not sure they bought it. We had a good start to the season yesterday and I am hoping for a huge weekend!! Hope this all was a good sign. The flight attendant just asked what I will be drinking... Think I will have water.

Now is a great time to get signed up if you are betting the games and/or heading to vegas. We normally kill september!!!

Have a great weekend!
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Nfl wrapping up their mess and jersey shore

As we head into the last week of July my thoughts are obviously on the fall. I am looking at some marketing changes. I am adding some additional cities to run the fat jack sports hour and basically ready for the nfl teams to report and close in on the season.
As I have been traveling this summer I have been flying a lot. I get bored when I fly really quick so I always take movies/ tv shows to watch on the plane. Normally I take some old favorites to pass the time. Old school ,wedding crashers , anchor man etc. As I headed into late spring I found myself really looking forward to the jersey shore show every Thursday night. I couldn't get enough of their fighting, making up , fighting again , smushing ,fighting and fighting each week. I think the attraction for me is the fact they live the exact opposite life than I live. I am married, 2 kids , don't drink and live in Oklahoma. They ... Well they are jersey shore. No matter what was going on with my life it was never going to match what Ronnie and Jenni were going thru each week. This summer has been filled with the "Miami " season of the show as I fly around the country. For those of you that haven't seen that particular season, it is just like the other ones except it takes place in Miami. Instead of them not showing up to sell tshirts on the boardwalk they aren't showing up to sell gelliatto. The new season starts in a couple of weeks and the gang is in Italy. I am getting excited for the show and the timing couldn't be better. Football , school for the kids and jersey shore. Sounds like quite a fall shaping up. An Oklahoma poker player named Ben lamb has made the final 9 in the main event at the wsop. Ben is going to be this years player of the year at the wsop and he has had a really big summer. I had 2.5 percent of Ben in the 50k event a couple weeks ago and made a little money off his 9th place finish. He wouldn't sell me part of his main event. He is hot and has a good chance of winning it all. 2.5 percent of 8 million would have been nice but oh well, should make for interesting tv for the next few months. I have known Ben for about 6 years and have played a lot and I mean a lot of poker with him. He is good but not any better than 3 or 4 other guys I know. The other 3 or 4 would have gladly given me 2.5 percent of them so although I am pulling for Ben to win, I'm not pulling that hard. He is going to make somewhere between 2.5 and 10 million this world series so I don't think he cares too much if I'm pulling for him or not. Have a good week and if you are planning on betting the games this fall and/or going to Vegas , now is the time to sign up ! The prices are discounted until 8-1 and then are at full price! Don't pay more in a couple of weeks. Sign up today and win this season!
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Middle of the summer and starting to get going!

I am still in Florida as we start heading downhill towards football season and school starting again. I have had a great couple of months. Lots of winning. 48-10 since April in the nba and our free baseball selections!! That is a really nice run that I expect will continue right into football season. The nfl hasn't got their act together yet but I feel really confident they will. The fact is, almost 80 percent of my selections are NCAA during football season. Think about it, tuesday- Saturday are all NCAA games for the first couple months of the season. Although we have killed it during the nfl over the last 4 seasons including an 18-3 average on Monday nights over that time! I love the nfl but if the take a bit to get things together it won't be the end of the world. NCAA teams are going to report in a couple of weeks and come September we will be turning a nice profit. Have a great July and stay cool! It seems to be a little harder this summer than normal in Norman. Lots of cool stuff coming involving my wife over the next few months so stay tuned and if you are going to be playing the games this fall , sign up today to get the best prices of the season! They go up again this weekend! Don't miss out!
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Summer , wsop etc

I hope you all are having a good summer so far. Mine has gotten off to a different start then in years past. Normally I am in the middle of day 3 of my "Florida swing". Every year for the last 8 years , after memorial day, I have headed to Florida with my family. I have a lot of clients there and we meet and talk about the summer and beyond , I meet with the radio stations that carry my show and obviously hang out with my family. It is a great time to shut down my engine and get it back to neutral. I get some work done and play a bit. This year is a little different. My son is playing on a more competitive baseball team and we are staying in Oklahoma for that along with basketball, football and other camps. I am trying to balance my kids need/want to improve in the things they are interested in and my desire to what I want to do. Exactly. As most of you know, that is really what parenting is all about. Some people balance this better than others but parenting is the ultimate compromise. Monday we got so hot at my house we went to Sams and bought an above ground pool. Because we are normally gone in the summers, it wasn't important to have a pool when picking out our house but this year it became important. The good news is , it wasn't that hard to put the pool together. The bad news is we put it on a hill that made the pool slant about 20 degrees. We have the first above ground pool in history that has a deep and shallow end. After much debate with my self proclaimed "family lifeguard" wife we are draining the pool and moving it to a flatter spot in the yard.

I just landed in Vegas for the wsop. I will be here for a few days and will send updates with any exciting developments on my twitter account. Nba is ending great and the summer baseball is going great. 9-2 in the last few weeks and ready for a great summer ! Lots of guys taking advantage of the early bird 2011-12 season package prices. If you are planning on going to Vegas or playing in the fall , now is the time to get signed up. Have a good week!
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weird things that happen and gambling swings

I am on my way back from Vegas today. I went for a couple of reasons. First, the world series of poker is coming up in a couple of weeks and I thought it would be a good idea to get out and play a little before it starts.I have been spending most of my time with hoops selections and kids stuff.it is amazing how hard it is to leave my family these days when I don't absolutely have to. The belliago has its wpt 5 star poker series going thru the weekend so it was a good appetizer to get me going before next month. Next, we are 15-3 in the nba playoffs and as you can imagine I wanted to continue to capitalize on the great run. I am getting things set for the fall and am excited about what is going to be a huge season. For you poker players ,as you can imagine , most of the talk in Vegas was about the state of online poker. Everybody is pretty upset about the d o j deciding to shut down full tilt , pokerstars etc. Although I don't play online poker , I do think it is funny how the department of justice decided this was the most pressing crime out there. Yes there are millions of dollars being wagered but the world trade organization and basically every other group governing free trade and commerce around the world says it isn't illegal to play poker online. If the united states wants the tax money from this sport then they need to stop fighting it and start taxing it like they do every other pastime where money is made. It obviously has nothing to do with gambling. America offers more types of gambling then almost any other country in the world. They are home to the "capital of gambling" and almost every state in the union has at least a lottery and gaming. Amazing to me how hypocritical we can sometimes be. Gambling is less addictive then drinking, smoking and many other things that are legal and again , Gambling and addiction have nothing to do with the department of justices decision.
Just ask the millions of Americans that play the horses, bingo , lotto, the stock market and many other forms of gambling in America to mention.
The swings of a gambler are honestly the deciding factor between winning players, losing players and those that don't bet anymore. I am amazed at how many times a year I hear " yeah, I use to bet on the games but I gave it up ". What that means is , when I was winning it was great but when I started losing , I didn't have the will power or safe guards to stop the losing. Most of these that say that have good jobs and apply structure to the rest of their lives but when it comes to gambling , they don't or can't. As my clients and I are in the middle of a 15-3 hoops run over the last 3 weeks , it reminds me that anyone can be a good winner. Decisions you make on the hot streaks are easy. Grade yourself as a gambler on how well you react when things aren't going so well. It doesn't happen much for me but I will tell you , my overall success during any given year has very little to do with my decisions during runs like this and a lot to do with those bad runs and things aren't easy.
On my flight out here I was sitting on the isle and the 90 year old woman sitting in the window seat handed me her McDonalds bag, her magazine and 2 cups and said" will you hold this until that woman runs by so I can put my tray table up?". I was raised well and know that there isn't much you don't say yes to when a 90 year old woman asks so I spent much of the flight holding some womans trash! We just got on the plane to go back and a pretty drunk guy just sat next to me. After asking if the flight attendant for a drink before we take off and getting angry when he was told no , he sees the pilot and says " hey I will be damn we have a f**** woman flying this plane. " I replyed "yep, and we have a black president too. How much longer til you think you are gonna pass out? ". Might be a long flight.

Have a good weekend and let me know if you are going to Vegas and/or planning on playing the games in the fall. Prices will never be less. You can also get the rest of the nba playoffs for only 129.00!!!! Let me know.
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Heading home and feeling better.... Hope it holds!

Well, I'm back on a plane heading home from Florida. I have found I have had the urge to do blog entries when I'm flying. I think it is the combo of nothing to do but think about things and the lack of quality movies available on netflix. I have all of the equipment to keep me busy , my cell phone, an ipad etc but I have watched every season of the office about a thousand times and I am down to "pure country" as the only even half way good movie I haven't seen. I watched " the switch" on the way out to Florida. It was a c+ at the very best. Hard to see how someone would leave their donor semen just lying around at a party.
I am feeling better about things then when I left. First, I haven't had a losing selection in 10 days! That is a nice run! Also, a week with my wife was great. We really don't do that enough. No kids, no little league no problem! I am missing the kids a little but we had a great time. Movies, sun fest and good food. Sunfest is a 5 day music festival in west palm beach. Espn 760 got us tickets and we had a lot of fun. The guys at 760 are great and really get it. They are some of the first to show their appreciation for my business and it isn't a coincidence that they are thriving in this economy. I am on in over 20 markets and they are one of the best. Sunfest was fun but Caryn and I have decided we might be getting a little old. The combination of Caryn quiting drinking and me not being able to pick up drunk chicks has really put a damper on a music festival. Jason maraz and celo were 2 of the main acts when we went but problem was , all of the drunks also knew they were the 2 main acts so all of them wanted to cram around the same stage we were at. Being with your sober wife , shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of sweaty drunks is like being a priest at a porn convention. Not comfortable! My wife starting getting pissy at a couple of really drunk love birds that were trying to have sex without anyone noticing and she seemed to feel like they were going to interfere with her ability to hear celo sing f-you. After a couple of no so subtle comments to the drunk lovers and celo singing 3 songs that nobody cared about we decided to get a corn dog and go back to the boat. Oh well, maybe next time.

We were 3-0 before I left for Florida and won every day last week! We are really really hot. It is amazing how fast the profit grows when we get on one of these runs. We normally hit 1 of these every 5 or 6 weeks but this was a strange year. Lots of break even weeks and more losing ones than we were use to. A lot of the clients getting these winners are paying 100.00 for the month or less so everyone is deep into profit over the last 6 weeks or so! We are going to continue this run thru the playoffs and pick back up in the fall!! Don't miss out on the best prices of the entire year. Prices go up this week so don't wait. All of the selections are less than 50.00 per week for seasonal and yearly packages. Have a great week!
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Kids. Etc.

Well, spring is finally here! I love the spring. The grass turning green, basketball wrapping up and the hopefulness of a great summer and a really big football season after that. I will tell you however, that with all of that optimism , today I have been a little ( actually a lot) sad.

Here is the problem.

I am currently at the airport heading to Florida with Mrs fat jack. My mother is watching the kids for a few days while I take care of some business in wpb. For the last couple of months I haven't been traveling much. Instead I have spent my time doing everything I can to have a great end to the hoops season and being a daily taxi for my kids. My role in my kids life in changing/evolving over the last few months. Jackson , my 6th grader , is playing baseball for someone other than me. He is also in the middle of offseason football practice. Yes football in April and yes , the 6th grade. Here is the deal, where I have always been a coach in the spring for his sports , this is the first time in a long time I am "just a parent". It took me a couple of weeks to get use to not coaching and just sitting in the stands and watching but I am doing a better job of that. Jack is doing great in both sports and although both coaches aren't doing things exactly like I might like them, I am trying to be as good as I can and let them do their jobs. None of this is exactly why I have been sad but it is important to seeing the big picture of what's going on day to day.
Ok, here is the problem...
As I am taxiing my kids around I think about how things use to be. I was everything. Parent , friend coach etc. Now you take away coach. I am 2 things instead of 3 and much more parent than friend so its actually 1.5 or 1/2 what I use to be! My days are spent driving from practice to school etc and I can see them growing up! I don't like this!! I have invested a lot of time , money and attention to these kids and I don't think I like that my roll has changed.I use to play golf 4 or 5 times a week now I play 4 or 5 times a year! I used to hang out with 10 to 15 other guys after work and on the weekend. Now its 2 or 3 "dads" and a few friends that have hung on to our friendship even though I am not much good to them unless little league or elementary school are in the plans. Unlike 10 years ago when I was the life of the party now look more like a guy named abdoul running the meter for the kids on my cab. Now some of you are probably saying " jack, that is life. That is what raising kids is about. ". Well , I think that is a bunch of crap! Think about it, anything else in your life that you put that much time and money in to you are going to get rewarded for. If I had put this much time and effort into working out I would have the body of a jersey shore cast member. If I had invested the same amount of money in the market as I have in my kids I could have 500k or so more than I currently do.
What worries me is most people say this is normal and it is going to get worse! They are going to keep growing up. They are going to rely less on me and more on others and eventually , as people tell it to me, I am going to be rewarded for all of this work and money with them leaving my house and going somewhere else to live! I guess I am suppose to like this but as I am leaving my kids for a few days I don't like the feeling. I can't imagine I am going to enjoy the day I say goodbye to him as he goes off to college!! Problem is , I like hanging out with my kids. I like who they are. I think they are funny. I don't think I am going to be good at "hanging my hat on the fact that we did a good job" as they leave for months at a time. I kind of hope that over the next few years my kids really start to annoy me and get more on my nerves. It might make them leaving for college or whatever when they are 18 a little easier but as for today and the sick feeling when I am have with me only leaving them for a few days, it isn't any fun! I am not sure yet but it is seeming like raising these kids might , in the end, not be as great a deal as I had once thought. Don't get me wrong, as of today it has been the most fun and most enjoyable thing I have ever done but I am affraid at some point ,the joy I have now , may come at a cost to my heart later.

We are having a really nice nba playoffs and are ready for a huge week! Also the lowest prices of the entire year are up and ready so sign up before 5-1-11 and save hundreds of dollars vs waiting until the fall!! Have a great week!!
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Spring is here. Time to check in and pick it up a notch!!

Well, it has been a few weeks since my last entry and for that I am sorry. I have received emails from some of you wondering "what was up" so I wanted to check in. When I wrote my last entry I was dealing with some betrayal from a couple of friends and a football season that had started great and ended with a terrible bowl season. The good news is, we still turned a small profit in football and the super bowl trip was great. Nothing has changed with the betrayal other than it has been funny to watch a couple of the parents try and "helicopter" their kids into situations with sports and their kids friends. The funny thing is, the parents that are doing this have kids that probably really need it. They most likely aren't going to achieve the goals their parents have set for them on their own so they need daddy and mommy to continue to manipulate things for them. I am not sure what the goals of the kids are or would be for themselves but it is clear that hasn't factored in with a couple of them. The other kids and parents whisper about how these kids aren't very good at the things their parents want them to be good at but they keep trying to get them up to speed. It looks to me like these 2 parents are trying to make up for some of their own short comings as a kid. Problem is, the apple normally doesn't fall to far from the tree and the kids are starting to look and act a little too much like their old man to excel. The parents of the kids that are most likely going to be ok either way have for the most part stepped back and are letting other (non parent ) coaches make the decisions and it is becoming more clear to everyone who the parents are with an agenda. Undersized and slow are a hard way to try and make teams on their own so daddy needs to help. I get it.

As for the service, basketball has not been great. After 9 straight seasons of winning, it looks like this hoops season will end down. Not over yet but not looking great. The good news is, the last time I didn't turn a profit in an entire season in football or hoops, the next season was one of my highest win percentages I have ever had. Fact is, one bad season is typically followed by a huge winning season. In a business where consistency is the key, we are the best. look for a huge fall football season!

We are currently at the airport heading back from florida after spring break. Had a great time. Went and watched the Miami heat play san Antonio and the thunder while we were here. A special thanks to lee sterling ( paramount sports ) for taking my son and I to the san Antonio game. Really good seats and also thanks to espn 760 for the great seats to the okc game. I always learn a lot when I watch the teams live. Miami looks to really be struggling with the relationship between the big 3 and the point guards. I think chalmbers and bibby are doing a pretty good job but they seem to get an ear full from at least 1 of the big 3 everytime down the court. That may in the end be their demise. Chemistry has a lot to do with the teams that win it all and although the big 3 are doing a better job getting along on the court and distributing the ball, the other roll players seem to be getting a lot of the runoff from those 3. We will see.

April is going to be a busy month. We offer the lowest prices of the entire year for the service in April and a lot of my smarter clients take advantage of the savings. Signing up for the entire year in April basically gets you all of hoops for free. That is about a 2k savings over paying monthly. It is also the debut of fatandsassymama.com s new sassy gourmet club. This is a really exciting and new concept into entertainment and cooking for families and my wife is very excited. She is also going to be cooking at the home and gardens show the first week in April . I will be heading to Vegas for poker in the middle of the month and a huge month with the kids. I tried to convince my son he wasn't any good at baseball and his time might be better spent on the boat fishing with me. He didn't buy it and we are locked and loaded with baseball, spring football, 7 on 7 and probably basketweaving until sometime in June. I told myself years ago that these would be the years I would be sacrificing a little of my happiness/ free time for the kids to find their ways in sports / school etc so I guess it is that time. I would like for jack to be good at a sport or 2 but will be excited when it isn't 2 or 3 sports all the time. I like "my time" and fishing for marlin is a little better than baseball in chickasha. No offense. Caytie is wrapping up basketball, starting soccer and softball is in a couple of weeks. Like I said, gonna be a busy April. I will try and do a better job of checking in. Have a great spring!
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4 left and catching up

It has been awhile since I have had a blog entry. I have had a pretty crazy December. After what has been a good football season turning a profit each of the first 4 months of the season, the bowl season was horrific. The worst in 10 seasons. We are still turning a profit on the season but nothing sours a good season like a month of giving profit back. Now we are down to 4 teams in the nfl playoffs and should be a great finish to the season. A lot of good defense and opportunistic offenses. A lot more points last weekend then expected by most but we released 1 total and it was over in the steelers game. Easy winner. The other reason I haven't been blogging is because frankly I haven't felt much like sharing. My marriage is great and in fact caryns cooking stuff is really taking off. The kids are great and business is good. It is a disappointment from others that has put me into a funk. I always pride myself on knowing who my friends are and who is most likely to betray me. Normally I am correct but I was fooled. I was fooled by people that will look you in the face and smile and then behind your back they do the opposite. That type of environment is alive and well where I live. I remember growing up and there being the same type of behavior going on with some of my friends parents. They would do anything to position their child. Problem is, eventually the childs merits , personality character etc will be the judge and jury as to the success or lack thereof as they go through school and life. The only thing my friends parents accomplished was to create some enemies and some skeletons that people don't forget. Not much has changes in 30 years and it is still going on. As I said, I am not surprised by this, just shocked I didn't see it coming. Basketball is going great and the kids are having fun. After that, who knows but I do know there is a long way until graduation for my kids and it will be interesting how things go. My guess is the best and the brightest will be happy and flourish and the others will not. Mom and dad will have very little to do with that. But I suspect most of you that were and are successful in life already knew that.

The nfl playoffs are good and hoops are going great. If you are interested in turning a profit or going to Vegas, now is the time to sign up.

Have a great week and live like a person that likes what they see when they look in the mirror. You don't get many chances to display courage and do what you know is right. Choose courageously for you and your family.
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