This has been a tough summer for all of us. Nothing about this insane pandemic has been fair to anyone as it has touched virtually every person on earth in one way or another, whether that be from a personal standpoint or a business one. We sincerely hope that you and yours stay safe and well until this thing is behind us- and that will happen. There are too many brilliant people working at too many incredible labs. Someone will come up with a vaccine, or a cure- or both, by design or by accident. Either way, we'll take it.

For everyone in the sports business, it just gets crazier every day. From a strictly personal viewpoint, I am really tired of professional athletes- who are GROSSLY overpaid to begin with, using their platform to gain a little more name recognition by cramming their public policy demands down our throats when there is very little, if any, reason to listen to their political or philosophical rhetoric. If NBA players want to put their stamp on racial change, play a season for free. Donate your entire salary to any one of several organizations who can actually get something done if given the chance. Boycotting playoff games, ostensibly to bring attention to a real problem that could not possibly have more attention focused on it than it already has, serves no purpose. Solves no problems. Same with any other professional athlete participating in any other type of protest. You are certainly within your rights to protest, but if all you've got is a way to disrespect the flag by sitting, or kneeling, or turning your back during the National Anthem, when in the majority of instances the only uniform you've ever worn is the one they handed you with your signing bonus, I have no interest in anything you have to say. Let's turn this whole argument around and look at it from a different perspective: Just as I would have never had any interest in paying to see Julian Bond... or Jesse Jackson... or Andrew Young... or Martin Luther King, Jr. or John Lewis play basketball, I have no interest in hearing any pro athlete's views on public policy. There was nothing "part-time" about those five. They didn't show up occasionally to get their 15 minutes of fame. They were all great leaders who time and time again literally put their lives on the line to accomplish changes that were long overdue. That is not to say that more changes are also not long overdue, but anything pro athlete's do to "bring attention" to the problem cheapens the sacrifices made by those who have actually lived the problem. Perhaps we could get a group of pro athletes to boycott a few games to make sure everyone knows we need to do something about the Covid-19 Pandemic. I guess I'm not sure that everyone knows about the problem.    

Enough. Let's talk football. It's about to begin and this season, more than any other since sports gambling was legalized in 1931, information will determine whether you win or lose. It's been tough enough since HIPPA laws started making it difficult to know the injury status of players beginning around 2004. But it's one thing to watch a player wheeled off the field after an obvious knee injury where you are pretty sure he won't play next week regardless of what the injury report says and something very different knowing whether or not a key player, or players, are not playing because they tested positive or they're in voluntary quarantine. This season, if you don't have some really good sources, you're in a world of problems before a game kicks off.

So, here's what we've done. In conjunction with four other handicappers- all guys I have known for years- we've put together ten people, each one in a position to have great information about a team (or teams) and we feel like we'll have the best information possible on the teams we play on, or against, this year. We have paid for this information and the people we're working with are either part of the staff, work for the school, have a professional relationship with the team (media, part of the team's medical staff- trainers, doctor's assistants, etc.,) or have a personal relationship with a player or coach. We will not have specific information about specific players. Let me say that again- we will not have specific information about specific players. So, if the starting well-known quarterback is out, we will not be told that the quarterback is out. What we will have is a number. We've assigned a value to each of what we consider the four most important positions on both sides of the ball. Offense: Quarterback, Lineman, Running Back, Wide Receiver. Same for Defense: Lineman, Linebacker, Cornerback, Safety. Starters and backups only. If one of those players (who was expected to play) will be out for the game, his value goes down as a minus number. Add up the total value of Offensive players who will be out, and purely for example, it might be -20. Add up the total value of Defensive players who will be out and it might be -18.

Works the same way in reverse. If a player everyone thought was not going to play winds up ready to start, he would be reported to us as a + number. So, the day before a game, the report we would get on a team might be something like: -12, -17, +4, +5. Yes, I know- you'll have somebody out there who will absolutely know everything about every player for every team and when they tell you that, you are welcome to tell them that I said they are just flat out liars. We had a helluva time working out this system because the people giving us the information walk a very fine line giving out ANY information about a team. The only people who will agree to tell you everything are the ones who don't know anything. The people who do actually know things that would help us will not get specific enough to put themselves in a position that endangers their job- or worse. So we have to be smart enough to figure out the impact of types of players either playing or not playing. Obviously, we built into the values a few numbers, or combinations of numbers, that give us a pretty good clue about what exactly is going on. Personally, I think the system will generate some great dog opportunities for us. I think it's going to be an exciting season from a gambling standpoint. Different, to be sure, but we really don't care. All we want to do is cash the ticket.

So, here's the deal. Season Service is $1250 if you pay the total up front. That will include every play we make, thru the Super Bowl and will include Bowl Games, Playoff Games, Championship Games- if they play it, you'll get it. If you're skeptical about the season, I understand. You can split the season into three $500 payments- one when you sign up, one October 1st and one November 1st. Your Service will end after the Conference Championship Games. Bowl Games, College Playoff Games, the National Championship Game, NFL Playoffs and the Super Bowl will be a fourth payment of $500 which will have to be made no later than December 15th. It is all based on what we've had to spend up front. If you're already signed up for the season, you're good to go. I've never gone back to any customer for any reason and asked for more money. I'm not about to start now. If you have signed up, please send a email to me at rainman@therainman.com give me your name, when you signed up and what you signed up for, I'll verify everything and email your codes back to you. Please be sure and include your mobile phone number and your carrier (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.) so I can get you set up to receive the plays by text.

If you have any questions, please call me at 800-933-5308 or my cell at 901-461-4600. Good luck this season.

Rainman