LAS VEGAS -- We have been lucky to see a number of TREEmendous things in Vegas over the last 30 years, including a freakin' volcano, the faux Eiffel Tower, the SlotZilla ZipLine over the length of Fremont Street downtown and the High Roller Ferris Wheel.
Now we have The Sphere.
The Sphere is the brainchild of James Dolan, who owns the New York Knicks & Rangers. If you haven't seen pictures of The Sphere and its 580,000-square-foot LED screen, check out the cover of Time Magazine. The outside of The Sphere has captivated Vegas with images of an eyeball, a basketball and even a GINORMOUS pumpkin for Halloween.
Of course, everyone now wants to advertise on The Sphere, including a company called CamSoda, a leader in adult entertainment. Daryn Parker, VP of CamSoda, offered Dolan ONE MILLION bucks to broadcast a webcam show of Brandi Love on the outside of the Sphere. Stay tuned and we'll let you know if Jimmy Dolan and CamSoda strike a deal!
IF YOU'RE COMING TO VEGAS!!!
Can any other city in the world match Vegas? DON'T think so. If you're coming to town this week, you can see
U2 at the Sphere, Usher at Dolby Live, Billy Idol at the Chelsea, Lionel Richie at the Encore Theatre, Earth, Wind & Fire at the Venetian Theatre, Diplo at the XS Nightclub, or the Wu-Tang Clan at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
And for all my cowboy friends, you can YEE HAW for hours at the PBR Teams Championship at the T-Mobile Arena. If you're not into any of those, just stop by Casa Ecks and we'll put some shrimp on the barbie!
SNAKES AT THE SLOTS!!!
One of the downtown casinos responded to a disturbance the other day. There was a man playing video poker with a baby stroller next to him.
Kinda odd, but not all that strange.
However, there was no baby, no dog, but a SNAKE! When they asked the man about the snake, he claimed it was his 'service animal' and it 'brings him good luck.'
ONLY in VEGAS baby!
LOX & BAGELS!!!
Put another LOX into the winner's column last week, pushing the record to 5-2 (71%). Looking to build more heft into the bank and buy that island for Mrs. Ecks-Rated, gonna go big game hunting and take the Buffs over the Bucs.
Okay, Buffalo looked HORRIBLE against the Patriots last week, losing 29-25, but that was on the road. At home, the Bills have been MONEY, winning 13 of the last 14. That's 93%, or if I was screaming, NINETY THREE PERCENT!
Looked at Baker Mayfield's stats the last week few weeks, and after a solid start to the season, it looks like the Baker has run out of dough. And since Tampa's running game is virtually nonexistent, 46 yards against the Lions two weeks ago, and 73 against Atlanta last week, the Bills defense can zero in on the pass.
Thinking about taking the money line rather than laying 8.5 points, but either way, we're gonna CIRCLE THE WAGONS!!!
------------------------------
Benjamin Eckstein is a nationally syndicated sportswriter/oddsmaker. His column, America's Line, with the Ecks & Bacon appetizer, has run in the New York Daily News and over 100 other papers since 1988. You can follow him online at www.americasline.com. He is beloved by most, when he picks winners, and detested by others, when he picks the occasional loser. If you wanna a piece of Eck, hit his Email...ben@americasline.com.
