Owls a better investment than the stock market

Wear pink to the Linc for the Tuesday home game against Ohio.

By Mike Gibson
The reality is a brutal 2-5, not what any of us expected at this point.
It's disappointing and unacceptable to me and probably even moreso to Al Golden and his players. The sad truth is that the difference between 2-5 and 5-2 is probably 15-20,000 less fannies in the seats for Tuesday's Susan G. Komen Cure Owls for the Cure game against visiting Ohio University.
Disheartening is probably the best word for it from my perspective.
The perception of Temple football suffers locally seen through the prism of 2-5.
Yet the perception of Temple football is slightly better nationally, thanks to some significant covers.
It's amazing what people think of you when you put money in their pockets on a regular basis and that's just what this Temple team has done to the "Joe Plumbers" of the betting world.
Temple is 5-2 against the spread (or 4-2-1 in some books, counting the Friday 4-point spread that favored Western Michigan). On the Saturday of the game, the spread went to 4 1/2 and that's the line I'm counting, so Temple is 5-2.
In a stock market that has shown short-term losses of 20 percent just in the time Temple has played those seven games, the "Temple stock" has shown stark gains.
Not bad in a recession.

My philosophy with
the Owls, though, is that
I don't care if they cover
but I do care very deeply
_even to the point of
being pyschotic about it,
almost _ that they win
the damn game

For instance, if you bet $100 on the Owls in all seven games, you would have won $700 and lost only $110 (losses in Vegas and with the neighborhood bookie are $55 for every $50 won).
It doesn't mean anything to me because I don't bet Temple games. I will dabble in other college football games because I consider myself a little more of an "expert" on mid-majors than the Vegas bookies. My philosophy, though, with the Owls is that I don't care if they cover but I do care very deeply _ even to the point of being psychotic about it, almost _ that they win the damn game against whoever they play, even Penn State.
That said, after I lost my first "stone-cold-mortal-lock" of the season when Eastern Michigan beat Bowling Green two weeks ago, I took a break from the betting world last week to reaccess by financial portfolio.
I'm back this week.
I only bet games that I can be reasonably certain of winning, so my record is 3-1 on overall picks and 2-1 on stone-cold-mortal locks (thanks, Bowling Green).
THIS WEEK'S REGULAR PICKS:
CONNECTICUT (pick) at Rutgers _ RU is going to have a tough time stopping Donald Brown. UConn, 21-14.
GEORGIA TECH (2 1/2-favorite) at Clemson _ Line is only this close because it's in South Carolina. Paul Johnson might be the best coach in America. Georgia Tech, 23-7.
SOUTH FLORIDA (24-point favorite) over Syracuse _ When is the Big East going to kick Syracuse out for being non-competitive? South Florida, 43-10.
PITTSBURGH (3-point favorite) at Navy _ Pitt stumbled out the gate, but appears to have regained its stride since. Pitt, 24-14.
ARMY (getting 10) at Buffalo _ It took awhile, but Stan Brock's option is controlling clock and giving his defense a chance. ARMY, 17-14, in an upset.
THIS WEEK'S STONE COLD MORTAL LOCK:
WESTERN MICHIGAN (getting 2 1/2 points) at Central Michigan _ Dan LeFevour may be back, but the Broncos are the better overall team and quarterback Tim Hiller has a knack for making the big play at the right time. WMU, 27-24.