 This is covering the spread here are your hosts Jim Saunas and Dr. Ed Fang What is going on everybody welcome on into covering the spread? That's right here on the fan dual podcast network and number fire Come today we are getting you set for the return of NASCAR talking with PJ Walsh of the action network about how he bets on NASCAR and His favorite bets for this weekend on Sunday. My name is Jim Saunas I am a senior writer and analyst for a number fire.com joint here as always by Ed Fang You can find his work over at the power ain't calm Ed. We are back sports are back We had UFC on Saturday UFC again tonight. We have a bunch of NASCAR is coming up So slowly dipping our feet back into the sporting waters. How you doing? I'm doing pretty good. Yeah I mean, I really wanted to get out and watch the UFC will not get out. I really wanted to watch the UFC couldn't find anyone to do it with and I found it hard to say hey, honey. Happy Mother's Day Eve. Can we watch some guys kick the crap out of each other? So that did and I was definitely reading up about it and caught some highlights later But I really do regret not catching it live Yeah, because one of the benefits was that you could really hear every punch because there was no fans there And I couldn't find highlights in which I could really catch that and so I kind of you know regret not doing it live where you get the SPN plus feed and you know really Really get the true action just because there's no fans and the noise associated with it And I think that that's something that's gone kind of overlooked with like this discussion around having sporting events with no fans is like When you're at like a high school game, you can hear every word the coaches say every word and you get to hear that And I feel like it's underrated how cool that is to hear all those factors So I understand people you know are wary of the no fans thing But like it is pretty cool down that additional experience I think the good thing for the USC stuff is that That was the big card on Saturday, but we can still bet on the card on Wednesday There's one coming up. That's a little bit bigger on Saturday Do you when I think that one's on ESPN proper? I believe I could be totally wrong on that But like we can watch this and get exposure to it get some action on it And I think that having it without paying 70 bucks for it is is enough to at least get me to like try it Even though as mentioned last week, I'm pretty squeamish as a human being Yeah, no, it's definitely good to have some sports back and Yeah, I know it's good to have these other events and then we're gonna talk some NASCAR today Yeah, indeed we are we're gonna talk with PJ Walsh. He is a writer and editor for the action network We're gonna discuss NASCAR's return on Sunday at Darlington They also have a race on Wednesday at Darlington They are then racing the following Sunday at Charlotte and then Wednesday again at Charlotte whole lot of NASCAR coming up So we're gonna talk to PJ about how to bet on NASCAR some drivers He likes at Van Duel sportsbook for this weekend and more if you want to get some UFC betting discussion For the Wednesday card if you listen to this right away or on Saturday We did have a broad discussion about UFC with Barry Cohen last week So just go to the covering the spread podcast feed and hear where Barry gets his data what type of What type of markets he likes most all that stuff is at the beginning of that interview with Barry So just search for covering the spread wherever you get your podcast and while you're there Please leave a rating and review as well Because those do help us out quite a bit and then we'll have more stuff coming up in the coming weeks as well You're uncovering the spread Van Duel sportsbook is now available in Colorado, but what's a sports book with no sports? Well, it's fan duel anything book Fan Duel's newest free game each day You'll pick one free prop like the weather stocks or anything Pick it right to win five bucks inside credit then play again tomorrow play fan duel anything book free only on Fan Duel sportsbook must be 21 plus max bonus $50 visit Van Duel comm slash audio for turns gambling problem call 1-800-522-4700 Now before we get to PJ head NASCAR is free Can I get you to to watch some NASCAR on Sunday with the sports? I ate us at what time is it on Sunday? It's at 3 30. All right, so I Think it's honest. I'm gonna jump in a little bit I think we got to sell you on this and I get you into some NASCAR Maybe we'll get PJ to sell you as well, but I think that it's worth it just because I think that it'll fill the void a little bit at least for sure. All right So let's bring PJ Walsh in again He's a writer and editor at the action network find him on Twitter at PJ Walsh 24 talking some NASCAR for this weekend Covering the present Let's bring PJ Walsh into covering the spread PJ I appreciate you taking some time before what is going to be a crazy stretch for betting on NASCAR How you doing today? I'm doing well. I'm very excited for some real racing. So let's go. Have you dabbled in the eye racing stuff I know you had some stuff up on the action network for it Were you actually betting playing any DFS for it to fill the time or has this been just kind of like a Down period for you. I did a lot of betting in a little DFS. Okay, a little DFS to frustrate me Enough betting the limits are so low. It was you know, I was talking to some friends and other better It was enough to wet your appetite sure to kind of take the place of racing, but it's not real racing No, so the limits were low, but it was fun. I enjoyed I enjoyed betting on it but I'm really excited for real races real limits and a real sweat and Someone other than William Byron getting the win which is always welcome for sure So PJ when we start things off here because we haven't done too many NASCAR shows here uncovering the spread We had one before Daytona But I think it's good to get just broad discussions around NASCAR because a lot of people listening probably have not bet NASCAR before Maybe looking to do so now that it's kind of you know, one of the only shows in town So what steps do you take before you lock in a bet for a specific race? Are you a data type person? What's your process looks look like for betting on NASCAR? Yeah, I I really like looking at historical results of the same track. I like similar tracks Which may be a little different so it's there's always the argument of the recent form versus historical data I try to blend them as well like when we go to Charlotte next week I'm gonna look heavily on Vegas, but I don't really care about Vegas right now because I don't think a mile and a half When they'll fall off is going to be similar to Darlington with a ton of fall off. So I'll look at Really the last three races of Darlington, but more emphasis on last year because of the new arrow package So, you know, we have a totally different car in 2019 and 2020 that we had 2018 going back So I'm gonna use that race. I'll use the first four races We're really the first three races this season I don't care about Daytona because that just doesn't correlate to non super speedway racing So I'll use the first three races not because I really want to but it's it's really all we have So there's so many unknowns, you know with no practice. We'll have a starting lineup and no qualifying So don't even have to make a fast lap there So I'm really gonna look at the last couple races of Darlington and in those first three races minus Daytona And I think that the tough part there is kind of what you alluded to where There hasn't been a similar track and I guess there isn't really quote-unquote similar track to Darlington But like let's say we had actual like data for this year Which tracks would you put in that quote-unquote similar bucket to Darlington's? I've always struggled with this personally when it comes to Darlington specifically What do you deem as being similar to that track? Yeah, I go intermediate with tire fall off and like you said, there's not there's not a ton You know, there's not a 1.3 egg-shaped Unfortunately not but I would go with I think homestead is probably the closest comp this This week they're using the same tire as homestead. So that has a little bit of correlation to homestead I'll use auto club a little bit just because the tire fall off is so big I'll also look at Chicago. I think those three are really the big That I care about but there's not a lot like you said So this is this is one of those races where it's really gonna hurt not to have practice Because for me and and I'll admit my biggest flaw is the NASCAR better is I get caught up in practice Is I'll have I'll spend the whole week doing, you know looking at historical results current form I'll have what I think is a really good, you know top 40 and then someone will catch fire in practice And I'll I'll get caught in the wave of all the all the emotion in the hype and darling There's a track where and specifically those high tire wear tracks where I found with this aero package I think that the fall off in practice correlate to the race So the fast cars in practice are fast in the race or auto club Alex Bowman set the world on fire in practice and dominate the race Conversely when we get to Charlotte it may save me from myself a little bit because no practice I'll have a good set of good set of rankings based on historical results And what happened to Vegas and because there's no practice I won't get caught up on you know Martin Truex Jr. Being the class though I probably should at at Charlotte When he goes there, so it's tough it really is gonna be tough without practice this week But that that's the fun of it and the odds makers don't have that information either so that may actually give us an edge So PJ there aren't a ton of bets that you can make for NASCAR But you do have winners top three five ten and matchups. Is there a particular marker that you like the most? I Gravitate mostly towards futures outright winners just because the limits are there You know you can bet matchups and you can bet those props But if you can get more than 250 down or even to win $250 on some of those so they're more complimentary for me my My win-loss statement is all gonna be tied to if I hit the race winner And if I lose the race winner and do well in matchups and might you know bite into the losses or conversely If I win and win some matchups it tops it off a little bit But it's really the outright winners, especially as you get into the weekend when the limits go up That's what I grab it I'll gravitate towards with that. Yeah, absolutely And it's it's tough to find a ton of markets with NASCAR, which is one of the frustrating things But hopefully you know NASCAR I think has been making an effort to try to expand that and hopefully we eventually get there But it's definitely a frustrating point here I want to go back something you had talked about before a bit PJ was talking about balancing practice current form and track history and The issue that we have here for this weekend is that we don't have any practice prior to the race So how does that alter your approach? I know that like you kind of alluded to this before but with no practice being there How does it change your mindset as a better? Yeah, like this week is it's so toughly we talked about before because there's not a lot of a lot of data there conversely the odds may be soft and I don't think they're soft so far But we'll see what happens in the weekend. But you know as a better I am I'm being more conservative this week than I think I would normally like we talked about if we just had a run of races We had a better idea. Maybe they they're supposed to run homestead and Atlanta another tire fall of track I forgot to mention if we had that data plus Auto Club going into Darlington and practice Yeah, that may be a hammer type of race because of the way practice correlates to To Sunday so this week, you know, I'm really taking a conservative approach I've played chase Elliott 12 to 1 early just because he's been the best car this year I've taken Tyler Redick as a long shot, but that's all I've got. I'm really waiting for the starting lineup tomorrow as well But I'm gonna be conservative see what happens on race day when limits go up And then potentially on Wednesday, it'll be interesting because we've never had a full race worth of data three days before in similar conditions Right, we always look at the second trip to attract. Well, how did they run in the spring? Well conditions in the fall or summer are so different than they are in the spring The teams have gotten better the cars have gotten better the weather is different three days later That may be the best data we've ever had Conversely, the books are gonna have it too and the odds makers are gonna have it as well So I'll be conservative this weekend as much as I can with real racing back You know, I say that now we'll see Sunday morning after a couple beverages are flowing The golf match is starting. We'll see if I'm able to be conservative But the plan is we can serve of this this race and then Wednesday be a little more aggressive based on the data we get That sounds good We'll also have some Xfinity and truck series races sprinkled in to starting with Xfinity and Darlington on Tuesday Are you gonna bet those series and and if so, how are they different than the cup series? Yeah, I really do like betting them They're they're easier and more difficult if that makes any sense They're easier and that the edges are there is if you know what you're doing you follow it The edges are there The problem is that everyone else can see the edges So it's more about being able to find out when the odds are opening as opposed to finding the driver to bet I think people who bet the sport and do it a lot You know who's gonna be fast, you know, there's a lot of equipment changes, too So you'll have like the KBM trucks they're owned by Kyle Busch and they're the best best equipment of the truck series they'll have young drivers come in and they'll be swapping out so the books may not know a name but You want to bet them because he's in a KBM truck, so they'll open them 30 to 1 but as soon as that line opens It's 8 to 1 so it's all about Getting that line and also after they go off the board for practice and qualifying someone pops in practice It's finding that opener right when they reopen after practice because if you wait 15 minutes It's gone. So the edges are there and it's more about monitoring the market when they reopen than it is about finding the edge Which is different than cup Yeah, and I think that with the XINITY series this year has been kind of fascinating to watch because there are so many guys Who dominated last year and are just gone like everyone graduated effectively So we've seen four new winners and four races So I'm pretty pumped to see what happens on Tuesday on the XINITY side for the cup series We've talked a little bit about the first four races this year We've also had a long layoff since those four races Things are pretty interesting right now How much weight are you going to put in what we saw those first four races, especially for teams like You know hen drink motorsports and joe gibbs racing where the performance that we saw in those four races deviated from what we saw in 2019 I think that this for me at least is especially pertinent for gibbs because they were so bad outside of Daytona This is the question that's been driving me crazy for the last 10 days as I've seen out You know odds popping up because it's all we have which is tough and the reason I bet chase Elliott is Through the first four races, even if you remove Daytona Best driver rating most fast laps most laps led so he's been the best car. He hasn't won yet. He's been the best car But they've had this long two and a half month layoff, which is usually The layoff we see in the offseason like you mentioned What happens in november they bring new stuff. They bring new cars They have new technology for Daytona and then going forward But for me is how much can they actually work on the cars? So that that's the hard part for me is there's a lot of smart people in the garage I'm sure they're meeting constantly and talking about okay. We were at auto club. That was a fall-off track What did we learn there that we can put into the car at darlingson? But do they have time to actually do that to the time to get to the shop and update the car? So it's a very long non answer to answer your question. I don't know I'm acting like those first three races Mean something because it's it's all we have and I don't I don't think they've had enough time to really get to the Get to the shop and rebuild something from the ground up They'll probably be able to tweak a little bit But then also do you really want to throw something completely new with the car when you can't practice it? So I think what they're going to do in this race is is they'll go safe They're going to go with what they thought was their best setup coming in They usually use the auto club or vegas throw it in there see how they do and then have the The second car at the shop getting ready to go to darlington. Okay. What we learned on sunday wednesday. Let's put in something new I think the other tough part about like the the early season schedule is trying to like figure out how we want to view guys in new equipment because like Our sample on matty benedetto With wood brothers is super small. We don't have a great read on him at this type of track We don't know what to expect necessarily out of like chris busher So I guess I want to spin it back to you with regards to those guys Drivers in new equipment How are you kind of evaluating them based on those four races? Or are they just kind of people you want to take more of a wait and see approach on from a betting perspective? Yeah to go. I've actually My favorite bet right now is tyler retic. I really like tyler retic at this racetrack And that's because of I looked at xfinity stats for him at this racetrack as well I think this this track sets up really well for him in terms of big fall off. You got to run the wall It's the same tyler's homestead, which he's really good at. He was really good here the last the last two years in the xfinity series For de benedetto and busher. It's tough. I feel better about busher He's continually gotten better. I think he's gone 17th 13th and 12th at darlington the last three years He was good at auto club solid auto club top 20 top 15 cars So he's more of someone if matchups we get more robust matchups. You'll look at probably more of a dfs option Maybe a top 10 if those markets open De benedetto is hard because I really love it. I think he's really talented and I think that this this equipment's good for him I just don't know and i'm still a little still a little gun shy from i have a 301 to win bristol In the fall last year and he lost the lead with 10 laps to go because a laugh car newman wouldn't get out of the way So I think he's going to be good. He seems just in terms of of the odds movement and For meeting even you know in the dfs community like you guys is a lot of people seem high on them And I think he's going to be overvalued come race day But tyler reddick's my guy. So if if he finds a way to win this race, you guys may not see me for a few months Sounds good pj So for the first four races back the cup series won't have any practices prior to the race You've talked about how you might overreact to practices. So do you plan to just crush it? for these four races I I hope so I always hope so. I always hope to I always hope to crush it, you know and in nascar I always it's so frustrating and Lovable at the same time because your bed is never over You know if you're betting anifel and you have a three-point underdog You bet him plus three and they're up 40 to three with four minutes left the game's over you can turn off the tv There's been a lot of situations where you have a seven to eight second lead There's three laps to go the caution comes out there to wear check everyone has to pit and it changes everything, right? so You know I plan to crush it and the goal is always Beat the market. Obviously you want closing line on value You want to bet chase a 12 and hope he closes it six and that gives you a better chance to fill out a better card But my goal is always just to pick the fastest cars if you have the guy who's leading with You know has the seven second lead with five laps to go and the caution the phantom caution comes out And he loses the lead on pit road and loses the race, you know, you gotta throw your hands up and say That's just that's just the nature of the sport. So to answer your question that i'm hoping to crush it I'm hoping to have the guys up front late in the race and see, uh, you know See how it ends and see where the chips fall So that's the goal that's the goal always right and I think this year's been perfect for what you were talking about because In Daytona chris busher rekt with like five laps left He was in one of those cautions and then suddenly He's gunning for the win on the final lap because he was able to work his way back and then in las vegas They had that weird Caution at the end where a bunch of people pit deep in adedos running second with like to with on the final restart And it's been kind of like you said your bet's never dead no matter where we are Yeah, yeah, they're just like most other sports you want to look at right when the race starts So you want to bet a nfl it's I I try to focus so much on the result of okay. I bet this on Friday now it's sunday right before kickoff. Do I still like this bet? You know, how did the market move? Do I would I still make this bet right now? Or if I can get out of it So apply that to nascar and nascar even you know, we talk about fantasy dfs and betting all you can do is pick The fastest cars at the best prices after that You can't control it in a one race sample But you continue to do that in the long run and you'll end up winning more than you lose So that's always the goal Now we have seven chances in 11 races to do that so it's gonna be magnified a little bit more You know, if you're right, you're right And it's gonna feel like you're a king and if you're with a few times you're gonna feel like a zero But that's just the nature of the sport All right, let's put it all together here pj based on the odds at vandal sportsbook You already mentioned tyler retic who I believe is 110 Any other drivers you're eyeing whether it be at their win odds right now or looking for match-up bets at other sites and trying to find drivers So you think maybe better than the market is expecting for them at darlington Yeah, retics definitely won. I love them at the fan dual price at 110 and he's one I'll definitely look to back If top fives and top 10s come out because you'll still be able to get You know decent two to one maybe for a top 10, you know bigger for a top five So so reddix a big one specifically group bets with him I played chase at a couple places early at 12 to one. I really like him like I mentioned He's been the best car this year. He just You know cautions come out at inopportune times. He's led the most laps run the most fast laps So I like chase. This is a feel type racetrack And I think if if someone like kurt busch floats in the 25 to one range He's been really good here and sneaky good this season So he's another guy I'm looking forward to then for those top guys It's tough because we don't know where they're going to start. So It's tough to pass here. We don't really know how it's, you know, how it's going to race So it's going to be tough to take someone like You know kyle buscher harvick and then they got to start 11th But if they're starting first or second and the odds don't fluctuate too much That's what I'll probably move on those on those top tier guys once we find out starting position It also feels like it's tougher to get behind guys with shorter odds Just because there's so much uncertainty heading into this weekend Like the first lap they run on the track is going to be undergreen flight conditions and There's going to be rust. I mean like I feel like we're expecting too much to not expect rust So at least from my perspective it'd be hard to bet those guys Regardless just because the odds are so short for them. Are you having a similar hesitancy? Just because there are so much unknown getting behind a driver at a short number Yeah, I find myself you nailed it on there looking more towards a long shot in that middle tier You know if someone like eric jones floats into that mid 25 in a range look at him I really like alex bowman for the same reason I like chase He's been really fast this year and was the dominant car at a tire fall-off track like auto club So you're right It's hard to bury your car this early on one of those drivers up front And we really don't know how they're going to race to me it makes sense They're going to say listen guys and the drivers meeting where they're all going to get together We we have a competition caution at lap 30. Let's go easy. Let's let everyone save their stuff Let's all just kind of fall in line unless you're so much faster and you can make a clean pass. Let's everyone take their time Hang out wait till lap 30 because from what I've read I don't think that they can actually make passes at lap 30 as long as you beat the pace car out You can make big adjustments to your car. So I can see the first 30 laps everyone kind of hanging out in line Then the big adjustments are going to come They're going to get back on the track and then they'll probably get turned loose and we'll see some real racing there So at that point To me, I'm going to want the guys who are starting up front Starting for a second and third because I don't think there's going to be a lot of passing They'll get the adjustments Then they'll have the clean air and some of the race will be gone will already be gone So yeah, it's tough to bury your car on those favorites. I'll admit that I'm sure I will once once we get to race day. I'm sure I'll find a way to do it But right now I'm really focusing on that middle tier in the longer shot guys Yep, absolutely. That is PJ Walsh Make sure you follow him on twitter at PJ Walsh 24 and check out his work at the action network as well PJ We appreciate the time. Good luck to you and your liver over the next couple weeks and hopefully we can talk to you Thank you so much guys. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks Covering the future One final big thank you to PJ Walsh of the action network for swinging by and talking some NASCAR Ed have we convinced you yet that NASCAR is worth your time on Sunday? Yeah, well listening to PJ was great and I definitely you know while he was talking about his bets I exercised my NASCAR expertise, which involves clicking on the link to check out the odds at Fandall Sportsbook And I could see that chase L is eight and a half to one now. So Um, PJ got him at 12 to 1 definitely some closing line. Well, some some proper market movement. Yeah, um for what he's saying so Uh So yeah, so I think it's going to be interesting I'm hoping to get some of mine So let's move to covering the future as well because I'm kind of hoping for some closing line value here and discussing someone We talked about with PJ a little bit. That's Matty Benedetto And I may be buying into the height that he alluded to But it's still early in the season Which means that sportsbooks may not be fully accounting for the changes that were made in the office And that's kind of why I want to go here to Matty Benedetto because of the drivers who changed teams this year I would argue the biggest one was Matty Benedetto Going from Levine family racing to Woodbrothers racing where he gets access now to penskey racing equipment That is Joey Logano, Brad keselowski, Ryan Blaney, three of the fastest drivers in NASCAR So far this year, that's way different than where D Benedetto was previously We should have been looking to buy into him early in the season And it almost would have paid off as mentioned with PJ D Benedetto finished second in Las Vegas partly due to some late late late race strategy But he was picking his way forward before that as well He had a top 14 average running position in all three races outside of Daytona so far this year And that's even with some luck working against him at times in that span Now D Benedetto is going to a track where he had an awesome run last year while still in bad equipment He had a 14th place average running position in that race and finished eighth Now we get that equipment upgrade And the guy who was in this car last year finished ninth in that race one spot behind D Benedetto So the car has top 10 upside D Benedetto himself has shown that he Can do that himself in bad equipment and I think that the biggest lingering question Is whether or not he has the upside for a win And I think that that is the biggest legitimate mark against D Benedetto because he was close in Bristol last year Couldn't quite close the deal Didn't get it done in Las Vegas But I think that with this speed and talent combination That upside is at least there and I'm going to potentially buy in a little bit too early in order to get him a 50 to 1 He's 50 to 1 right now at Vandalsportsbook So I think that's a good number for D Benedetto for this weekend's race at Darlington Vandalsportsbook also has early odds poster for the Coca Cola 600 in charlotte next sunday And in that one D Benedetto is 75 to 1 and If we're talking closing line value The odds that D Benedetto closes that race at 75 to 1 given that there are two races before then both in Darlington Where I think he could do well the odds that he closes at 75 to 1 are minimal at best so I think D Benedetto is going to perform well in these two Darlington races So I am fine betting him at 50 to 1 for sunday or At 75 to 1 for the following sunday. You can also get Ryan Blaney at 28 to 1 for that Coca Cola 600 race So I think that now would be a good time to check out those coke 600 odds because They're interesting and a lot of them are Potentially longer than they should be so if we're going to sell you on nascar ed We've got plenty of opportunities going forward to try to do so That sounds good. I mean do you have any sense for like Just the variance in the performance in terms of some guys having more variance and others less Or you know, I mean you talked about how D Benedetto didn't hasn't finished But that could just be randomness and exactly bad luck, right? Exactly because I think the other thing too is we were talking about that with regards to upside He hasn't been in position to to show The ability to close a race all that often in his career because his equipment's been so bad And we've only seen him once in that position so far this year and he finished second like, you know, that's not that far off from What we're talking about with a win So I would feel safer like fandals sportsbook doesn't have top 10 finishes or top five finishes posted yet or podium finishes I think that those might be better markets for him, but I think even in the winners market There is viability there and I think that add what you asked is a pertinent question because Even a full season of NASCAR is a small sample. It's 36 races So we talked about small samples for NFL and those are smaller at 16 games But NASCAR is also pretty small 36 races. So I think Talking about sample sizes is relevant here too Because we really don't know and especially for D Benedetto the sample on him in relevant equipment is for races So I think that's a good question to ask Yeah, for sure. And it's like not it's like the variance in the results, right? Which is Pretty hard to pin down even if you do a big sample size. Exactly. So I think that he's interesting for sure and We'll know a lot more about his upside. I think after these two races But even it's when you can get him 75 to 1 for charlotte I'd lock that in for sure. It's finishing things up here with quarantine corner for this weekend as we have Now passed 50 days Since the NBA was shut down. I think we're at like eight or nine weeks now. I've lost count We have it up on our chalkboard in our kitchen. How many days it's been so that I've done it a bit So I've lost count, but what's your quarantine corner for this week? Yeah, so I'm going with afterlife It's a netflix series and I probably would have never clicked on it except it was written by Ricky Gervais And I think I've talked about how amazing Ricky Gervais is his stand-up special humanity is Is just side-splittingly funny And the thing I like about afterlife is that it is both very serious. So he plays a man who has just lost his wife and his love of his life to cancer And he's dealing with that and he's thinking about suicide And you know, it makes you think about some Very serious things. Yeah, so for example, he's talking to a guy And he's like, well, have you ever Have you ever thought about committing suicide? And the guy says well suicide would be too good for me She kind of makes you just It's just kind of shocking you makes you think about life versus death and a lot of things But the other thing is it is just hilarious because it's Ricky Gervais And it's not like every episode isn't really hilarious, but I nearly crap myself Watching the last episode Both my wife and I have really been getting into it. So it's for me It's like a good mix of you know serious versus comedy versus You know it kind of reminds me of like the best literary fiction that I like Um With the humor and the seriousness and death and and concepts like that. So after life on netflix Ricky Gervais show It's so hard to like do both well So I think that hearing that the show does that is interesting for you in What's kind of been like a weird time? If you found yourself gravitating more towards comedy as like a release or How have you been kind of doing that from like a media consumption perspective? How are you handling that? Yeah, um So it always tends to be the time of year where I tend to engage in comedy more Partially because it is the off season Partially because I would like my content to be less serious and a little bit more funny So I tend to think about that stuff. Um, I don't know if it necessarily has anything to do with the pandemic I don't know. I mean, I think there's a lot of a lot of ways to to deal with that But one thing I do want to mention like, you know, like I'm reading gravity's rainbow right now by thomas pinchin And most people think it is like a very serious. It's a very hard Book like if you cut if you got asked anybody it's really hard But it's also one of the most hilarious things I've ever Encountered and I think you know that that's not like It's not something you really talk about with like serious books, but it really is freaking hilarious Um And uh, so that I mean is probably the biggest way in which uh, I've you want the balance You want the balance? Yeah, like I mean that book is great because it's a balance, right? Like it's really comedic, but also very serious about It's set in world war two and you know, he's he's in germany right after the allies Win and it's it's basically a free-for-all. So it's comedic in some sense that way in which he's just interacting with all these people And there's there's no rules and it's it's very serious in terms of like, you know, what Where's our role in life and can we do anything against they and and the machine and um, you know, the industrial military complex But it's also just side-splittingly funny. I'm sure I'm sure my family's like what what the what are you reading over there? And I think that's very characteristic of some of my favorite books ever and it's also very characteristic of afterlife It's it's it's not always funny, but it's funny. It's just Uh, it makes you laugh in a way You know, it's kind of timeless too You know, like, I mean gravity's a rainbow was written in like 1970 whatever And to still make you laugh however Later is is, you know, you know, and for me like, you know, my jokes are about I don't know. They're just not as funny. They're just not as timeless, right? Yeah So um, I I think it's it's good to appreciate, uh, you know, how the best have done comedy Yeah, and blending those two is so tough But I think that when you can do it it makes the comedy even better if you can properly blend those two things And I think that's kind of relevant for my quarantine corner because uh, it's it's actually a podcast But if you've watched the wire, which I desperately hope you have I actually I think pj mentions in his twitter bio that he hasn't We should have asked him about this, uh, but um The ringer is doing a podcast which is recapping every episode of the wire. It's with jumelle. Helen van latin It's called way down in the hole and It's fun to just go back and listen to like deep dives on Every single episode throughout the series because I watched the wire for the first time Way too late in life. Honestly, like I should have watched this a very long time ago But it was my first fall working with number fire my co-worker brandon gadoulas said, hey, you should watch the show and I tore through it in like two weeks and I've like rewatched since then and like It's my favorite show. I've ever seen and now they have this podcast which goes deep into every episode. They discuss you know What's important coming from that the themes that can come out of it and They pull audio from it because hbo is an investor in the ringer So I think they have rights to the audio and all that Sure So it's been fun to listen to that and they actually release the podcast really quickly because I consume a lot of podcast content So I need a lot of content, but they pump them out pretty quickly So if you watch the wire or are currently watching the wire given that the hbo I think they have like some weird free trial uh to watch it I'd recommend checking out this podcast Maybe not if you've never seen the wire before because they do Allude to things that happen later in the series I can't say spoil things because it was released in the early 2000s, but I would recommend it if you are a fan of the wire Uh, it's a great podcast, but also um They had a book about the wire Two years ago. It's called all the pieces matter. I forgot who the author that was, but Looking it up now Wasn't David Simon that wrote it or Jonathan Abrams Jonathan Abrams wrote it, but David Simon like Talked to him for it But I'd really recommend that too So if you're a fan of the wire first read all the pieces of matter by Jonathan Abrams And then check out way down in the hole by uh Jamel hill and van lathen. Have you watched the wire? I've seen I think two of the seasons. I remember the season where they went into the schools Yeah, it was like mr. Presbylowski. Yeah, his name. Yep presbo. Um Yeah, it was amazing I mean what what he was able to do and to take you into a world like that And what what I believe to be a pretty authentic way is is a remarkable accomplishment and Yeah Yeah, no, I mean, I think it's widely considered one of the best shows Ever made right and and I and I there's definitely some seasons like I I missed the drug bizarre season. Yeah um So there are five seasons five total seasons. Uh, there's the opening one There's one on the docks on season season two is about the docks season three is about like corporate political power uh season four is about the schools season five is about journalism, which I thought was interesting Uh, but season four my sister taught in baltimore, uh, when she came out of college and She watched that season and like confirmed that it's like very accurate so I think that that's the interesting thing is they do portray things well and delicately balance all of the the gray area involved with everything, you know, nothing's black and white and they Portray that that gray area so well. So I think we need Your homework can be watching all of the wire the entire series before next week Uh, that's gonna be pretty hard. Yeah I might I may choose to spend the time doing sports analytics Wouldn't it be nice that there was No, well, I'd like to I mean, I mean there's always work to be done for next football season. Yeah, so um But yeah, no, I mean it's been interesting for me because it's like I don't have a ton of time Sure, um To you know to do all these things. So, um No, but I think my wife would be my wife would get into a season of the wire. I think so. Um, it's it's like It's another show that like doesn't do comedy often, but when they do they nail it Uh, right. So I think that it doesn't really it's probably not as comedic as ricky jervais show But like when they do do it, they do it well when they choose to do it And it's uh, it's a great show. So I would recommend it for sure and again the podcast is way down in the hole And that's the one I've been listening to recently ed. That's all we got for today. What's going on for you over at the power rank Yeah, the power rank is where I usually put sports analytics on the internet Hasn't been much of that, but uh, definitely starting to do some work getting ready for next season And uh, just if you want to stay up to date with that, uh, go to the power rank.com Sign up for my free email newsletter and then I'm on twitter at the power rank Alrighty that is ed. I am at jim sonnis j i m s a n n e s. We have a lot of dfs stuff actually this week because we have Uh, nascar podcast for your dfs coming up tomorrow Uh, and then a ufc podcast of austin swain coming up on friday to preview saturday's card You can get those by subscribing to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed and then nascar podcast Two next week as well. So a lot of stuff coming up on the dfs side of things You can find that by searching for the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed Subscribe there and also subscribe to covering the spread while you are there big. Thank you to calvin theobald He is our video producer for According to the video side of things and shopping up the clips to the fangirl twitter account. Thank you cal As always, thank you to pj walsh for swinging by and talking nascar find him on twitter at pj walsh 24 And thank you to all of you for tuning in once again this week to talk some nascar back again soon here on covering the spread until then Good luck with your bets. Stay safe. We'll talk to you again soon. This has been covering the spread right here on the fan dual podcast network