Written by Mike Piper

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Players, the house has thrown in the towel. After 13 rounds of being pummeled by the Lead Man, this bout has been mercifully stopped. The scorecard reads 11 rounds for Lead, one for the house and one round was a draw.  If you were not on board for this amazing run, borrow some money from one of us who was.  Always hysterical, wildly profitbale ... it's The Lead Man with this weeks Lead Pipe LOCKS!

"No Mas."

-Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran, quitting his fight with Sugar Ray Leonard. 

"No Mas."

-Larry "Pockets of Dust" Lavetti, One of Lead's 19 bookies over the last three seasons. 

Players, the house has thrown in the towel. After 13 rounds of being pummeled by the Lead Man, this bout has been mercifully stopped. The scorecard reads 11 rounds for Lead, one for the house and one round was a draw. In theclevelandfan.com arena it was 7 rounds in favor of Lead with one round narrowly going to the house. 

All this despite the fact that Lead came into this battle as the underdog, fading the house's edge at every turn. The house knew going in that only 5% of monitored handicappers can beat the 52.4% needed to defeat them. They figured Lead for just another tomato can that they could work over, thus taking down the winner's share of the purse. But just as Apollo Creed underestimated "The Rock," the book did the very same thing in underestimating "The Lead," and they both paid dearly for it.  

Lead had the eye of the tiger all fight long and pounded on the odds maker's soft touches like Colorado State and UNLV. When the house put up their "Duke's" Lead cashed in with powerful combinations. When the house displayed a 37 point spread haymaker, Lead was not intimidated. The house has never before run into someone with the combination of guile, smarts, moxie and guts which LP possesses. These are the makings of a winner, and it's these characteristics that allowed Lead the ability to go wire to wire, taking down the cash, the belt and the ring card girls along the way. 

You might ask, what's next for a great champion like the Lead Man? After he has soundly defeated his nemesis, what can possibly be left? Well players, the goal from here on out is simply to keep yourself in good shape. What does this mean? It means don't blow what you've earned up to this point. You have taken down both the purse AND the ability to wisely select your upcoming battles. This is the time of the season to tone it down a bit and make sure you continue to be involved only in fights in which you have an edge. At the Leadquarters we like to call this practice of picking easy fights "Roy Jones-ing". 

In other words; be smart. 

The fact of the matter is the number of college football games is significantly slashed starting this week. On top of this, many games such as conference championship games and the like are tough to beat. Just because your bankroll has recently swelled, (courtesy of the Lead Man) doesn't mean you should carelessly give it back in the next month. Again, YOU are the King. It is YOU in the clubhouse with a huge bankroll - YOU call the shots. Make no mistake about it, Lead is calling his. Lead is not going to bet the Army/Navy game just because there isn't much other action. He's not putting his hard earned cake on the halftime total of the Blue/Gray game. If Lead does get the gambling itch he might try a couple low priced parlays. He might dominate a local middle school's "pick em" contest over the holidays, but he will NOT get reckless. He will continue his practice of wagering for value, and value only. And please, don't be afraid to go UnLeaded players, if you want to "Be like Lead" these are rules you must adhere to. 

There are a few games to look at this week, so without further adieu, in the words of Michael Buffer, "LLLEEETTTSSS get ready to GGGGGAAmmmBBBLLLLLEEE!  

Bowl eligibility is on the line as the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs travel to Reno to take on the Nevada Wolfpack. Nevada is a team that has had some injuries and hard luck losses, but make no mistake about it, they can move the football. Louisiana Tech's defense has been exposed all year long and this trend should continue against the strong "Pistol" offense of Nevada. Lead looks for Nevada qb Colin Kaepernick to continue his fine season against the nation's 108^th ranked pass defense. Last year Nevada beat the Bulldogs 42-0. This year Tech will put up some points, but will struggle to stop the pack. All this adds up to Louisiana Tech, in Reno, calling 911.

Nevada -7. 

There will be only one more college play for Lead this week players. He likes the money line in the New Mexico State vs. Fresno State tilt. New Mexico State is a 13 point dog, with a money line that can be had at +420. Why does Lead think they can win this game outright? Two reasons; 1) The game is going to be a wide open shootout and 2) These teams are dealing with quite a few injuries. Fresno State could very well win this game, but you only have to win this bet one in four times to turn a profit. New Mexico State wins this game at a higher ratio than that. Make a small wager and see if you can hit a nice return. New Mexico State moneyline +420. 

BYU had value as a two touchdown favorite, but at 15.5 and seemingly still climbing, has made it UnLeaded. 

In the pro's, the best game on the board is the Chargers. Although tread lightly here, when two of the biggest head coaching morons in the league clash anything can happen. Chargers should cover the 5. 

Stay tuned next week for Lead's tips on betting the National Basketball Association. 

Congratulations on a fine football season players. Have fun from here on out.