Good thing I don't bet football. Back in the day I made occasional large bets on selected Cane games. Almost always it was when they were playing number one -- surest bet there was back then. They always played their best game.
The Canes were great investment in those years. No question about it. Miami opened 1986 by covering the first 9 in a row. There was an older guy named Jack who I met in Las Vegas at the wise guy sportsbook called Churchill Downs. He was fascinated by the Canes and loved to talk to me since I was from Miami and a long time Canes fan. Jack was convinced the Canes would cover every game all season and win the national championship.
Then it went the other direction. The Canes won the last two regular season games but didn't come close to covering either one of them. Definitely some sluggish qualities had crept in. Jack was concerned for a few weeks. But then he tried to pretend everything was okay when Churchill Downs opened Miami -7.5 in the Fiesta Bowl versus Penn State. All the other major joints were using -7. Jack insisted that was a great sign for Miami, since Churchill had a long history of opening bowl numbers that were sharper than typical and hinted toward the outcome.
I told Jack I hadn't been in town long enough to evaluate any thing like that. I'd take his word for it.
Jack was crushed when Penn State won that game. Then he died a year or two later. I really don't remember if he lived to see the Canes championship the following year. Once his health began to fail I didn't see him at Churchill anymore.
When I started appearing as guest analyst on the Stardust Line radio program in fall 1988 the chief oddsmaker Roxy Roxborough was cohost on that program. He knew I was from Miami. Heck, Roxy's parents lived in Coral Gables. His dream at that point was to eventually retire to Coral Gables. But later he got obsessed with hitting Pick Six race wagers so that took him out of the country, as far as I know.
Roxy didn't understand the big line move that year on Miami versus Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. He thought he opened it too high then the bettors pushed it even higher. There was no national championship at stake for the Canes. I forget exactly but I think Roxy preferred something like -5.5, he opened it -6.5, but now it was Miami -8.5. Several points higher than he believed proper anyway. On that Stardust Line program Roxy was basically miffed and thought the bettors screwed up. He challenged me about it and asked what the heck was going on. I said (paraphrased), "Roxy, that Orange Bowl atmosphere is overwhelming. It's not going away merely because a championship is not on the line. In competitive games Miami at home has been underpriced for years. Ridiculously underpriced. You should basically double the home field advantage. Start from there. That will get you closer to where the line should be."
He basically accepted it. I was surprised. Roxy was always feisty on that program. This time he said, "Okay, I see."
That was it. He was always taking notes on that show. I always wondered what they were.
Then as soon as the program ended I was chastised by several of my friends. They were telling me to shut up on that program. Don't be telling the chief oddsmaker he's undercutting the home field edge in the Orange Bowl.
I was at the game. Miami won and covered easily.
A decade or so later a guy named Kenny White took over as Nevada chief oddsmaker. I don't know him and have never met him. He always kept a lower profile instead of appearing on radio shows, etc.
