Thoughts On WEG Clerk's Betting Fiasco; NFL Wildcard Picks

Unfair practices by WEG come to the surface. The idea that mutuel clerks are liable when they make an irreversible mistake is questionable to begin with, but not allowing them to keep their mistake is just idiotic. For example, if a clerk were to take 20 bucks out of his till to lend to his friend for a race (I realize they aren't supposed to do this), and then his till is audited, he would be short 20 bucks and told to pay it. If the friend comes back in a race to pay the clerk back, does the 20 bucks belong to the track as well? Of course that wouldn't be the case.
The problem with the story below is that the mutuel clerk told others what happened. If the policy to pay for ones mistake is airtight, the clerk should have waited until after the race to tell management what happened. That way if the mistake becomes a winning one, the clerk just runs ticket through their machine, and takes the winnings, and tell no one. The fact that the patron who refused to pay for the mistake in the first place (which of course, was right on the patrons part) had the audacity to come back after the race and ask for the ticket definitely would complicate my solution. The clerk should simply have said to the patron, when the irreversible mistake was made, that "I made the mistake, I have to eat the ticket."
I'm sure that happens when the mistake is made for much smaller amounts many times, maybe even many times a day.
The fact that this had a huge outcome is the reason it made news:

Racetrack workers fight unfair practices

TORONTO, Jan. 2 /CNW/ - The Canadian Auto Workers Local 2007 has launched
a campaign to stop what the union calls "unreasonable rules and practices" for
racetrack workers held responsible for the payment of incorrect betting
tickets.
The most recent example of this occurred on December 1, when a betting
clerk at the Greenwood Teletheatre in Toronto mistakenly issued an incorrect
ticket to a patron. The patron had asked to place a $500 bet on a number 5
horse to win, but the final ticket read number 6.
The race started before the betting clerk was able to cancel the ticket
and correct the error. The patron refused to accept the incorrect ticket and
refused to pay the $500 that was owed. As is common practice with Woodbine
Entertainment Group it then becomes the betting clerk's responsibility to pay
the outstanding $500 fee.
As it turned out, the incorrect ticket became a winning ticket paying out
$7,825. Rather than allow the betting clerk to collect the winnings an
employer representative confiscated the winning ticket and subsequently
reimbursed the $500 fee. Woodbine refuses to turn over the full proceeds of
the ticket, which was in the teller's possession.
Based on past practice at the racetrack, the union believes that had the
ticket lost, the betting clerk would not have been reimbursed the $500.
Hemi Mitic, Assistant to the CAW National President, considers this a
blatantly unfair practice for betting clerks.
"Our members are being told to foot the bill for incorrect tickets,
regardless if they are responsible for the error or not, and then told that
they can't share in the rewards," Mitic said. "This is a double-standard that
our union simply won't stand for."

CAW Local 2007 represents over 500 workers at Woodbine and Mohawk
racetracks, as well as more than two dozen off-track Teletheatre operations in
the GTA.

Nobody lives forever. Hall of Fame sports writer Milt Dunnell dies at age 102.
From Wikipedia:

Milt Dunnell (December 24, 1905 – January 3, 2008) was a Canadian sportswriter, known chiefly for his work at the Toronto Star.

Born in St. Mary's, Ontario, Dunnell entered journalism with the Stratford Beacon Herald in the 1920s, later becoming the sports editor. He joined the Star as a sportswriter in 1942, becoming sports editor in 1949. He wrote on almost all sports during his career, which lasted more than fifty years, although his productivity declined somewhat in later years. In the 1990s, he was still writing three columns per week until the age of 94.

Amongst other events, Dunnell covered the Olympic Games from 1952 through 1968, Stanley and Grey Cup events, and the Kentucky Derby. He also wrote extensively on baseball for the Toronto Star, even well before the city received a Major League team in 1977.

Honours

In 1988 Dunnell received the Jack Graney Award for his contribution to baseball in Canada.

Dunnell was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

The city of Toronto named a baseball diamond after Dunnell on June 10, 2006 at Bond Park in a ceremony attended by Dunnell.

Internet Gambling Ban in the US is an infringement of American's rights ISP monitoring tied in with the government happens a lot in middle eastern countries, it is shameful that it happens in the US (Land of the Free) as well.

Orchard Park woman wins big at Fort Erie slots.

Erie County removes itself from two lawsuits looking to get rid of the Buffalo casino

Senecas to begin expansion construction this month on temporary casino. Total slot machines to go to 244 from 135. This doesn't bode well for Fort Erie Race Track. The big $300 million casino is expected to open by June 2010. Again, Indian casinos are only good for the Indians. Buffalo doesn't get it. In Ontario most of the winnings is pretty much treated as tax dollars, when Indians run the show, only a fraction of monies lost by the masses gets such treatment.


NFL WILDCARD PICKS

I did it. I finished one game over 500 for the season. I celebrated the amazing feat right at midnite on Monday night:)

I don't feel good about this weekend's games at all. There are fishy point spreads, and the matchups are hard to handicap. But here goes:

First off, Seattle only opens as a 4 point favorite, and they are now 3 and a half points, which means that Vegas have been getting lots of Washington action. I just can't see how Seattle won't romp here. They seem that they've been coasting a bit this year, and sometimes take it easy, at least that is my perception. I think they will step up here and beat Washington handily. What am I missing here. Washington is a hard team to watch much of the time.

Jacksonville is 2 and a half in Pittsburgh, but the game started out a pickem. All the top football handicappers are going with the Jaguars. Ding ding ding. I actually really like Pittsburgh here. Big Ben will live up to his nickname. I expect the Jags to make a few costly mistakes.

Tampa Bay just seems to get it done regardless of who their quarterback or running back is. They might go far this year. The Giants historically gets a lot of action.
Give the 2 and a half points in this one. Look for Eli to have a very frustrating game.

San Diego is 10 points. They should beat Tennessee, but they seem to come up with unexplainable terrible games as well. Especially earlier in the season. They seemed to have an easy season. I think the Titans will cover here, but I'd be surprised if they could pull it off.