Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Thursday 3/19/2026
Transcript
- Greg: What's up, ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, followers and foes. You have made it to another episode. is Thursday, March 19th, and this is yet another episode of Beliefs, Ballots and Bets. The show where for some reason you guys come on here and listen to me talk about everything from faith and family and politics and the real stuff all the way down to silly sports and a little bit of gambling. But you're here and you're listening. So let's let's get started. Quick reality check, we went one and two on last night's plays and ⁓ well, that's just not good enough. Truth is nobody follows losers. I know that and you know that. We're not gonna fix that by chasing though. We're gonna fix that by trying to get a little sharper. That's the plan today. We're gonna lower it down. We're gonna bet our three games. I think I've got three lines locked in that I really like. So we're trying to make some sharp plays and we're gonna try to get back into positives here today. And with that said, let's avoid any further delay. Let's get to today's picks. First pick is coming from a bit of a Homer spot. Those of you that know me know I am a diehard UGA fan. I'm a Georgia graduate. I'm a Bulldog at heart. I absolutely bleed red and black. So take St. Louis plus the two and a half. ⁓ It's a March Madness story. I have no analytics to back this up. I just know that Georgia doesn't win games like this because I'm a fan and I have seen this for years. And St. Louis has a kid named Robbie Avila. His nickname is cream Abdul Jabbar. He's a big goofy white kid that wears goggles. He is going to be a fan favorite. He is your typical March madness story. So St. Louis absolutely has to get the wind to roll into the weekend and play. So this kid gets his moment to shine. So thanks St. Louis plus the two and a half. That's should be an absolute lock. If there was such a thing, second play of the day, we're going to go with Akron plus seven and a half against Texas tech. I think the Texas Tech backers are still trying to adjust to JT Toppin being out. Texas Tech is only three and three straight up since his injury. I just don't think they're as dominant of a team without his athleticism, without him anchoring the paint. So give me Akron plus the seven and a half. I just don't think Texas Tech is going to run away and hide in this one. And then our final play of the day is also kind of leaning off the injury angle, but in a slightly different direction. We're going to roll with UNC. We're going to take the Tar Heels minus two and a half against VCU. Simply put, I just think this is an overreaction to the Caleb Wilson injury. I think UNC is still a much better team and kind of like with the Dayton Bradley game. If I can get the better team lay in less than three points, lay the two and a half with UNC or take them on the money line if you feel better that way. But I think UNC wins this game and I think we I think we're going to have a good day. Got three plays today, so to recap. Three plays are St. Louis plus two and a half. That is my Homer play. That is my anti-UGA basketball play. That is an absolute winner. It's gotta be. And then the two analytical plays with a little more research, a little more numbers crunching. We got Akron plus seven and a half and UNC minus two and a half. We're not chasing. We're not guessing. We're just betting numbers. And I think we've got three winners on the board for today. Let's get away from the gambling for a little while and let's talk about something real. As we mentioned from time to time with the betting, it comes down a lot of times to discipline versus emotion. And truth be told, that shows up absolutely everywhere. We live in a world that just seems to reward reactions and emotions. Everything is respond fast, get angry fast, chase what feels good in the moment, be true to your truth and what just it's all about feelings and emotions. But if we're following Christ, we're called to do the opposite. We are asked to not get caught up in feelings and emotion. We are asked to exercise restraint and patience. We are actually requested, it is required of us as Christians to choose what is right over what's easy, to choose what's right over what feels good. And let's be honest, folks, that's real hard because I don't know about you guys, but I like doing what feels good. I like following my emotions and I don't always like doing what the Bible tells me to do and I don't always like the answers that God gives me. But the truth is, we have to do that. It's hard and it's really hard when nobody's watching, but we have to stay in control, we have to stick to the scriptures, and we have to live the life the way the Bible calls us to because that is the ultimate goal. Even with something like sports betting, you take it as an example of, I stay disciplined? Can I stay honest? Can I stay in control? Or is this something and let's be real gambling is is an addictive thing and this is something that can gain control over you ⁓ If I'm being honest and I will share with you guys there have been many points in my life as a sports gambler and I have been gambling For the better part of 30 years now and there have been moments in my life where gambling Absolutely had control of me and I did not have control of it I never was missing meals or unable to pay my bills, but there was definitely times where I got caught chasing and I got caught betting more than I should because I got caught up in the moment and I was just trying to live off the emotions and not being patient, not being disciplined and not following what the plan was. Same thing is true in these days in life and politics and everything. It's just that everybody reacts so fast and that seems to be what gets the rewards. Nobody slows down. Nobody's patient. Nobody lets things develop. And typically, and we've all seen examples of this, when you don't slow down and when you don't take time to think, that's when bad choices happen. And the whole goal of this show and for me to get on here and spew any of this nonsense is to try to have some sort of positive impact, is to try to get people to make less bad choices, is to try to get people to focus more on their priorities, focus more on the important things like spending time with your family and your loved ones. Spending time in the Bible, spending time in prayer. These are the things that will have a positive impact not just on this life, but on your eternity. And at the end of the day, that is really all that matters. So let's take an opportunity. Let's get a quick reminder. Look, don't let any of this stuff, whether it's sports and gambling, whether it's politics and current events, don't let this stuff take over your life. Don't let this stuff ruin your day. This is all minutia. We all have the opportunity to make choices. We can enjoy the blessings in life. We can enjoy our family. We can enjoy our friends and we can enjoy the good things that God has provided us. Most of us have been blessed beyond what we deserve. And if you choose to focus on those blessings instead of the problems in life, I think you'll all turn out a lot happier. So that's it for today. It's a fairly, a fairly short show. There's not a whole lot going on. If something else comes up, we will get back at it. I just wanted to try to get this out there so we could get the three plays done before the action starts off today. So that will be it, but we will be back tomorrow. As we stated, we were one and two yesterday. We own it. That's just not good enough. But today we're trying to get a little sharper and try to do a little better. And as I like to close out every episode, this is what really matters, guys. The best advice I can give you is get in your Bibles, say your prayers, and spend time with your friends and family. God bless you all. Let's have a great day.