Written by Mike Piper

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In golf you have Tiger Woods.  In tennis you have Roger Federer.  And in the world of sports handicapping you have Lead Pipe.  While he is neither black nor foreign he is certainly in a position to transcend his sport, and one look at his recent record tells you exactly why.  There have been 11 betting weekends this season.  The Lead Man has lost money one time and enjoyed nine wildly profitable weeks ... including another ho hum 4-1 effort last week here at The Cleveland Fan. 

In golf you have Tiger Woods.  

In tennis you have Roger Federer.  

And in the world of sports handicapping you have Lead Pipe.  

While he is neither black nor foreign he is certainly in a position to transcend his sport, and one look at his recent record tells you exactly why.  

The Lead Man rattled off four of five last week, with his two dogs winning outright and Boise State in the clubhouse by halftime. If you're not counting, Lead is. That's 9-1-1 record on the season, with a sterling 4-1 record in winning weeks since coming to theclevelandfan.com. As a famous commercial once said, "It doesn't get any better than this." 

Lead would like to do a little something different this week as he looks at a few reader e-mails. While many of the e-mails are simply fawning gestures of thanks and appreciation for Lead's astonishing handicapping accuracy, many contain queries which are worth looking at and answering here. So, without further adieu, Lead opens the "Leader" Bag. Let's take a look. 

Dear Lead,

Do you wager each game evenly, or do you place a higher amount on games you feel better about?

                                       

Nicastro13. 

Dear Nicastro13, 

Good question.  

A common theme Lead sees with cappers and players is the idea of assigning "units" to games. If a capper likes a game he'll tell you to bet 5 units, if he doesn't care for it much he might recommend 1 unit, and so on.  

In theory this might seem like a good idea. However, Lead isn't into testing theories, he's here to make money.  

The best way to have a successful season is to bet on a few games you feel best about and completely eliminate the ones that have you on the fence. Falling prey to too much action is one of the biggest faults of the sports bettor. This is why Tony "The Ant" Spilotro was always driving hugely successful sports gambler Lefty Rosenthal crazy. Spilotro wanted to bet the whole board and Rosenthal knew the value wasn't there.  

Lead only posts picks he feels are worth full value, so that's where his bankroll goes. Nicastro, if you feel like getting action on other games, perhaps some low priced parlays might be the way to go. Save the real cash for the locks. 

Dear Lead, 

The last couple weeks you have recommended games in which a premier player was injured and might not play. Where can you find this info?

                                                 

Greg S. 

Dear Greg, 

Two sites will give you all you need to know. For pro games go to www.kffl.com and for collegiate sports, www.covers.com is the site to see. The great thing about these two sites is they link to ‘up to the minute' reports. This is why we at the Leadquarters are never in the dark. 

Now, what you all have been waiting for, this week's picks: 
 

How about the Owls of Rice, Lead asked last week who was going to stop them. As predicted, it certainly wasn't SMU. Look for a similar situation this week the Tulane Green Wave comes crashing into Houston to face the red-hot Rice combo of QB Chase Clement and WR Jarett Dillard in Rice Stadium. Rice has been very respectable after a 0-4 start and Tulane can't stop anybody. In what looks to be a high scoring affair, Rice is going to have too much. Cook with Rice, and let the house add the beans.

Rice -2 

Speaking of quarterbacks named Chase; Missouri QB Chase Daniel is having a Heisman-type campaign. He takes his squad into Manhattan this Saturday to face Kansas State. This also looks to be a high scoring affair, but Missouri will score at will against a K-State defense that is surrendering almost 400 yards a game, most of it through the air. They are also giving up almost 28 points per game and have allowed a ridiculous 21 TD passes. How the Wildcats are going to get Daniel out of this season long groove, Lead has no idea. Get this one before it goes above a touchdown. Missouri -7. 

As Lead informed you last week, for the third year straight the UNLV Rebels have prematurely packed it in. Whether it's the glow of the neon, the enticement of gambling on the strip, or perhaps simply the access to so many hookers, the Rebel players just cannot finish a season. Last week Lead recommended San Diego State as a dog, and they went into Vegas and one the game outright. This week the TCU Horned Frogs host UNLV at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. This is another pattern that you run into at this time of year:  one team has the post season squarely in their sites and the other team has already thrown in the towel. UNLV was employing a two QB offense, and one of those players, Omar Clayton is now lost for the season. This leaves them with the worse of the two options this Saturday. Travis Dixon has 4TD's to 6INT's. You get better ratios on the roulette wheel. The Rebels couldn't handle San Diego State at home last week. So you can forget about them giving TCU a game on the road this week.

TCU-13 

Florida hosts Florida Atlantic.  

Did you read those last four words?  

Yes, it is going to be that bad. Tim Tebow is pushing for the Heisman and Urban Meyer is going to turn him loose. Florida Atlantic can't stop the run; they give up over 5 yds. a carry. Tebow has accounted for FOURTY TWO TOUCHDOWNS. If he has accumulated that many TD's against SEC foes, what might he accomplish against Florida Atlantic? This is going to get ugly early. Look for Tebow, and Lead wagerers to be in the clubhouse by the 4^th quarter.

Florida -34 

Lastly, Wyoming coach Joe Glenn was reduced to flipping the bird last week after predicting a win against Utah and then being embarrassed by them on Saturday. This week he might want to keep that bird in the holster with the Mormons coming to town. More specifically Max Hall and the BYU Cougars are coming to town. Coach Glenn is facing a huge mismatch at the quarterback position as BYU's Max Hall gets better by the week, while his own man Karsten Sween regresses. Sween has thrown 16 interceptions this season and word around Laramie is that he has lost the team. So you've got issues at the game's most important position and a coach who is up for jack-ass of the year in division I football. This is no recipe for finishing a year strong. The Cougars are hot and the Lead Man loves them in this tilt. When you consider many hot cougars love the Lead Man, this looks like a match made in heaven.

BYU -11 

Because they had their e-mails included in this column, Nicastro13 and Greg S. receive a T-Shirt, courtesy of LP. Want to know the steam on any of this weekends games, shoot Lead an e-mail.