What’s the spread?

Reading the following excerpt reminded Joe of one of the all-time great sports radio calls, courtesy of none other than Joe’s good friend, the late, great “Big Dog,” Steve Duemig.

Some caller — if Joe remembers correctly the guy’s handle was “Ohio Herb” — started unloading on Duemig for not being enough of a cheerleader for the Bucs. So Duemig turned the tables on him and said, “OK, you say what you think I should be saying about the Bucs. Give us what you got. The floor is yours.”

And Ohio Herb, given one of the largest platforms in the Tampa Bay radio market, had this to say.

“I think the Bucs are great.”

Yep, that’s was it. That’s all he could muster. One six-word sentence.

Duemig erupted, hung up on him, screamed and hollered for most of the rest of the show, and belittled the guy for years. Literally. The “drop” (radio slang for sound effect or recording) of that one-sentence sermon was used for years as a gag on local radio.

The reason Joe brings this up is Joe heard a gambler say last week, “Good teams win games. Great teams cover.”

By that logic, the Bucs are not yet great.

In an article on the four-letter, the Bucs are shown to have one of the best records in the NFL but a lousy one against the spread. They are OK on the over/under.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
ATS: 3-5
O/U: 5-3

What we know: The Bucs are just 4-8 ATS on the road during the regular season since the beginning of last year … a trend they hope to reverse this week in Washington after their Week 9 bye.

So if you like to wager on the Bucs, there is fresh statistical data for you.

The best team against the spread? The Packers at 8-1.