RECORD: 5-1

Like Doc Holliday in “Tombstone,” I don’t have a lot of very close friends, so I’ll fight for the ones I’ve got. Gino Buccola’s one of them. I came into TVG right as he was exiting stage left, and we quickly realized we had a lot in common. We’ve bonded over the years, and he had me in for a podcast to discuss my recent article detailing a 50-point plan to save horse racing.

We talked for 90 minutes. It felt like 10, and it may be the best piece of racing-related content I’ve ever had a hand in producing. At around the 60 or 70-minute mark, the wrestling fan that I am, I thought to myself, “is this what Ric Flair felt like?”

Gino says the finished product will be online late-Tuesday or Wednesday. I’ll have it on all of my social media channels, and if any one of podcasts, horse racing, or my irreverent brand of humor strike a chord with you, you’re going to want to check it out. I’m grateful to my friend for allowing me the chance to talk about my work and my passion, and hopefully that shines through in the discussion.

MONDAY’S RESULT: The college basketball game between West Virginia and Oklahoma State didn’t win any beauty contests. While West Virginia shot a paltry 38.8% from the floor and 55% from the foul line, Oklahoma State was even worse in scoring 41 points on 48 shots, and the Mountaineers easily covered the one-point spread in a 14-point victory.

TUESDAY’S PLAY: It’s a great night for college basketball, but I’ll focus on a game being played in upstate New York (shocker, right?). Syracuse hosts Virginia Tech and is a 4.5-point favorite as of this writing…but why? The Orange are 8-6 with one win over a power-conference team (a drubbing of Georgia Tech). Meanwhile, Virginia Tech is 10-4 with no bad losses and wins over Clemson (on the road) and Michigan State (on a neutral floor). I’m taking the Hokies getting four and a half, and I wouldn’t be stunned if they won outright.