Author: Clayton Neider

Thank You Matt Rhule

by Clayton Neider, posted in NCAA Football

Thank you Matt Rhule. Thank you for taking the chance on a broken program. Thank you for stepping in and being the leader Baylor Football needed. Thank you for building a program that Baylor Nation can be proud of. Thank you for giving us hope again.

Matt Rhule has been the hottest coaching name in sports in the past couple of weeks. He has accepted a head coaching position at the Carolina Panthers. He struck a deal for 7 years, 60 million dollars with incentives up to 70 million. I could not be happier for him and his family.

I was lucky enough to give some tennis lessons to his son and the thing that was very evident is that he is a family man first. His son loved everything tennis and football related. It was clear that Coach Rhule is a dad to his children and a husband to his wife before he is a coach.

1-11. The 2017 football season is one I will never forget. I was at every home game and was wondering if this guy could turn it around. Against my better judgement I trusted him in these moments of absolute failure but he told us of a better time ahead. He talked about a time where Baylor would be contending for a Big 12 Championship. Baylor nation was just too blind to whole heartedly trust the process.

The bad times make you appreciate the good times. This last season could not have been more sweet. Standing in Mercedes Benz stadium after the crushing loss to Georgia I looked back and was proud of how far the Baylor Bears had come. This was in large part due to Matt Rhule.

Matt Rhule, Baylor Nation is sad to see you go. Many are grumpy and angry but we will always remember what you have done for this program. We will always remember how you instilled strength, hard work, and consistency. We will always remember the 2019 season with a shot at the playoff. We will remember your vision for Baylor Football and the young men that you had a huge impact on. We will always remember your dedication to your family first and your love for the game of football.

Baylor Nation thanks you and wishes you the best at the Carolina Panthers.

Trust The Coin

by Clayton Neider, posted in Action

Sports gambling is stupid, idiotic, and you will always lose money, but I freaking love it. Any new tactic or insight I can gain into the world of sports gambling is huge. What if I told you that winning bets and making money is simple? Flip a coin.

Gamblers love to think they have locks and that they are smarter than Vegas. The simple truth is that they are not. Every gambler when looking at spreads may think oooooo that spread looks good. This is music to the ears of any Sportsbook. The reality is that Vegas sets the spread to a mathematical 50/50. So if you think that a spread looks good and that a certain team will for sure cover, think again.

The reason for this topic is my experience in a NFL game Pick/em league this season. There were 10 people in it and we picked 5 games a week. Every Wednesday night our commissioner sent the spreads for every NFL game that week. We would then choose 5 of those games to bet the spread. This allowed us to choose spreads that we thought looked “good”. I started out really hot leading the league in the first week. I felt good, I boasted and by Week 4 my pride had gotten the best of me. I was dead last.

I had no hope going into Week 6 and so instead of using my own knowledge I turned to a higher power, “THE COIN.” I thought that a coin couldn’t do any worse than me and so I would do coin flips for Week 6. I would flip a coin for each game to see if I would bet on it and then I would flip one to choose which team I took. In the first week I went 4-1. And from this point on I used “THE COIN” for the rest of the season. I wouldn’t do any research, any stat checking, or any other measures that I used to do. I would simply “Trust The Coin.”

Fast forward to Week 16 and I am on top by 2.5 games in prime position to win. I had only done coin flips for previous weeks. I was 10-14 with my own knowledge and with the coin I ended up going 36-22-3(3 pushes). The coin had given me a win percentage of 62%.

I ended up winning my league by a half a game with an exciting finish in Week 17. I won the league because of Jameis Winston’s pick 6. That shut out everyone else and I had won my league by flipping a coin.

The spread is truly a 50/50. Vegas does an amazing job at using data analytics and stats to come up with these spreads. It is crazy how close these spreads are time and time again. So many times I have just lost a bet by a point or two. There needs to be a good reason to take a certain team by the spread, otherwise it is just a coin flip. If you ever need/want gambling advice from me, I will say 3 words to you, “Trust The Coin”.

The Jerry Problem

by Clayton Neider, posted in Football, NFL

Jerry Jones is the worst owner in all of sports. He has built the most valuable sports franchise in the world, but inappropriately talks to the press, oversteps his role, and even turns his back on the cowboys and leaves games early. He is a disgrace to the team and is a disease that needs to be cured. This is not the man I want to own and manage The Dallas Cowboys.

Time and time again I hear Dallas fans look for problems in the organization saying its the coaching staff, the quarterback, the defense, or anything else. It is a different “problem” every week. One thing that has been consistent over the last 30 years is, The Jerry Problem. Dallas rightfully so wants Jason Garrett gone, but lets take a look at The Jerry Problem.

The Dallas Cowboys get off to a hot start at 3-0. The fans are beginning to believe once again that this is “our year.” A phrase that I have heard all my life. The Cowboys were #4 in the power rankings per ESPN coming into week 4. Kellen Moore had reshaped the Cowboys offense to a pass first attack that was shredding offenses. Dak Prescott threw for over 900 yards in his first 3 games. The Cowboys are on track for it to be “our year.”

Fast Forward 3 weeks and we are reminded that greatness can only last so long, especially considering the records of the three teams we beat. This three game stretch reminds us that it once again is not “our year.”

The Dallas Cowboys face a tough decision in deciding to extend Garrett or look elsewhere. Jerry Jones has loved Garrett for many seasons shown by the following statement, “We have a lot invested in Jason. Jason is certainly, in my mind, the coach that could turn this thing around and cause us to have a great year.” Throughout the season he has reminded the Cowboys that he is the guy, “I wouldn’t make a change & give us a chance to do what I want to dream about doing.” and “There will be no coaching change.” Jerry Jones believed in Garrett until he didn’t.

Jerry Jones flips his opinion of Garrett overnight and states, “we’d have zero chance” to win a Super Bowl with the current head coach. This couldn’t be the same man that believed in Jason Garrett just a little over a month ago. At 6-6 leading the NFC East, Jerry Jones idiotically goes to the media once again to publicly indicate that Jason Garrett will be fired after the season is over unless he wins a Super bowl. This is incredibly inappropriate for a team atop of the division controlling their own destiny.

Imagine your boss giving you an impossible task. Now imagine the pressure of this task knowing if you don’t finish you would be fired. This is the scenario that Jason was put under and is down right idiotic of Jerry Jones to say. If I knew I was going to be fired within the next two months, I would have no incentive to work and the team showed it on the field. In the next few games you saw a flat Cowboys team that had no energy trying to rally behind Dak Prescott. The issues on the field have one explanation, The Jerry Problem.

Jerry Jones only option with a team 6-6 vying for the playoffs was to fire Jason Garrett mid-season and promote Kris Richard as the Interim Head Coach. Richard played football at USC under Pete Carroll and joined him on his coaching staff at Seattle where he was the secondary coach and helped develop talent that included Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor. AKA “The legion of boom.” Dallas hired him as the defensive backs coach in 2018 and he has done a phenomenal job helping the Dallas defense turn into a top 10 defense. In the offseason after his first year there was much speculation about him being promoted or even becoming a defensive coordinator somewhere else.

At 6-6, who would you rather have, a lackluster, hand clapper, emotionless Jason Garrett who has no reason to fight to win the division? Or would you rather have a fiery Kris Richard with a lot to prove with the capability of winning the division and doing some damage in the playoffs.

A team that has top 5 talent in almost every area on the field is now #14 in the power rankings (Per ESPN). This seems to have always been the case for the Cowboys in the past 20 years, a talented team that grossly continues to underperform.

The choice was simple, the choice was obvious, the choice was necessary. Jerry Jones has been the problem, is the problem, and will always be the problem for The Dallas Cowboys.