Allow me to begin by stating the obvious here – it’s a good time to be a New England sports fan. Not only are the Red Sox in the World Series after taking down their hated rivals, but the Patriots are unbeaten.  The Pats are extending their NFL-record winning streak every week, with no end in sight.  But to make things even better for Bostonians, the Pats have covered the spread in every game this season, except for a Week One push against the Colts.  So New England fans get the double joy of not only cheering on a winning team, but winning money on those games as well.  Live it up while it lasts, guys.  You’re living on borrowed time.

That’s a situation I have very little experience with.  Being a card-carrying fan of the Saints and Ole Miss, teams that are notoriously hard on their supporters, my monetary interests usually dictate that I must bet against my team.  At times it’s nice, because you’re either going to win money or win the game, but it presents you with an awkward situation where you are actively rooting to lose your bet and your money.  I don’t like to be conflicted in this way, but what are you going to do?

The worst, though, is when you bet against your guys and they cover the spread but lose a close game.  It’s the old double-whammy, and it’s one of the big reasons why it’s hard to be a big fan and an effective bettor at the same time.  I’m basically resigned to a life of small-time betting because I can’t separate myself emotionally well enough to be rational about my bets.

Take Mississippi State’s 38-31 win over Florida last weekend.  Florida was laying 24 points, and I generally stay away from favorites that big, especially in road conference games, but my distaste for the Bulldogs helped convince me that they would get killed in that game.  They should have, too, but that’s a story you can read at www.fireronzook.com, one that would take me far too long to go into full detail about.  I’m a superstitious guy (also a big no-no for bettors), and I’m fully convinced that Florida would have won that game if I hadn’t bet on them.  Instead, the Gator defense watched Jerious Norwood, the skinniest running back in Division 1A, run for 124 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone.  Ranked teams should not be punked like that by teams as bad as the Bulldogs, and you can be sure that the final nail in Ron Zook’s coffin was hammered home by State.

Speaking of coaches on the hot seat, how about Dave Wannstedt and the Dolphins?  Where in the hell did they come up with that whipping they put on the Rams?  Teams that must pass effectively to win, like the Rams, will encounter trouble against good defenses from time to time, but where did the Miami offense come up with that outburst?  The Dolphins had scored 55 points in six previous games before posting 31 on the Rams.  Mike Martz will find out soon enough that a coach can be a smart-ass with the local media when he’s winning, but the writers will bite back hard when said coach suffers embarrassing losses.  Congratulations, Mike, you have ensured that the Dolphins will not have the first winless season in NFL history.  Believe me, sports writers won’t hesitate to kick a man while he’s down, and Martz is going to get his share of punishment this week.

I hope none of you guys had money on the over in the Penn State game last week.  Here’s the eye-popping scoreline of the week – Iowa 6, Penn St. 4.  Yes, that’s a football score.  What a barnburner!  I hope JoePa didn’t fall into a geriatric slumber on the sidelines while watching his offense light up the scoreboard.  I have never seen two safeties in one game, much less by the same team.  But for those two safeties to be your only scores is truly amazing.  I can’t imagine what Nittany Lions fans must have been thinking as they watched that old man continue to run his once-proud program into the ground.  But hey, they can take solace in this – it wasn’t their lowest-scoring game of the year!  Ouch.

That’s it for me this week, folks.  Keep your bets on the right side, and all you New England guys watch out for that game at Pittsburgh this weekend.  It’s gonna happen sooner or later, and the clock is ticking.