Super Bowl LX Betting Recap & Reaction

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? I've just been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe? Oh my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The 6th Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Sharper Square presented by Hard Rock Bet. We are part of the Volume Podcast Network. This is the show that makes the squares sharper and makes the wise guys pay attention no matter what time of year it is. I am Chad Millman. I'm joined as always by my BFF, my companion, my compadre, my co-host, professional better, Simon Hunter. Hello, Simon. Chad, how we doing? Dude. Wow. Wow. Wow. What an incredible Super Bowl. Truly. Incredible Super Bowl. People are complaining that it was boring, they didn't like it, whatever. For us, I think the second week in a row, between the second football week in a row, between the AFC title game that was a slog, but we were on the right side, and this game that was a slog, but we were on the right side, we've seen the most beautiful football we've seen in decades. We kind of nailed it, right? From the beginning, we love Seattle. From the beginning, we loved Seattle alts. From the beginning, we loved props tied to the Seattle narrative of dominating and New England having to come back. Our guests, Evan Abrams and Brandon Anderson nailed it. Brandon Anderson had the defensive special team touchdown money line parlay that cashed. we're going to go through all of it. All the categories, our final picks, we have a contest winner, thousands and thousands of contestants signed up. We had one man standing who won it with a 5-0 record to end the season. He's going to come on the show a little bit later. Before we get to all of it, Simon, I feel like you rarely go online and clap back. but you did on Sunday. Yeah, I'll never, I'll never, I never try to go up fans just because I get it. We're all irrational and emotional, but my God, we're the Patriots fans, loud and obnoxious. And I, and I will admit, we have Patriots fans that came to our live shows up in Hoboken, all class acts, very funny guys, great personalities. I mean, Philadelphia, Boston, very smart. Come on. People say salt of the earth. I say scumbags of the earth. I mean, just incredibly similar in many, many ways. And usually, again, most teams, any normal people will have self-doubt. These Patriots fans were so loud and so confident. Chirpy. Pretty chirpy. Usually I won't call my shot. It was a buildup of Saturday night when I'm out at the books and I have people coming up to me, Patriots fans, running their mouths, and then waking up to messages that morning yeah i got on social media i just said these guys are about to get blown out they're frauds and chad knows people in media will never put themselves out on those type of you know sticks because it's a bad look when it goes the other way if the patriots would have blown them out by 20 would have looked like an idiot i knew there was no world no world that would happen that's why i was so confident putting that out there because it's in my mind, the Patriots had a chance at maybe covering. In no world did I see them blow out the Seahawks. And like you said, the game couldn't have gone more to a T of what we predicted. So obviously got very lucky on that. And yeah, had a couple of drinks, was feeling pretty good after winning a ton of money. And yeah, hopped on social media, threw a video out there trolling these Patriots fans. And I meant every word I said of it. So I woke up next morning, rewatched it. I go, nope, not deleting it. No regrets. meant every word I said of it, but yeah, really, like you said, really fun Superbowl and I'm excited to dive into it here. You know, we loved that. We loved the Seahawks for the whole two weeks, right? Like I bet it immediately at minus three and a half the second it opened. And it's funny, you know, our contest winner, we've got an interview with him later in the show, ended up not jumping on the side partially because, well, I don't want to spoil it because I want people to listen to the interview. But I was a little bit concerned by Sunday morning when the line hadn't exploded to five, five and a half, even to six, as I thought it should, because the Seahawks were just so much better. So I was a little anxious about it. And I was actually on the road for the game. I was doing some book reporting and I was with someone who's like a market maker on the prediction exchanges for the game. And I was with this person during the game. And we were watching the pregame show and they had on, I think it was Kyle Shanahan. I think it was Fred Warner and then Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison. And I think Fred Warner and Rodney Harrison went with the Patriots and I forgot who Tony Dungy did. But Kyle Shanahan just dropped a little hint. I don't know if you saw this or not. I never watched the pregame shows and I could give a shit what the people picking it say. Kyle Shanahan had a really interesting, he's like, I think Seattle could blow this team out. And then he was the only one who predicted the Seahawks by margin. It was 24-17. team. And if I wanted anybody to sort of give me a rational happiness in that moment, it was Kyle Shanahan, who, you know, I adore as a coach. And then it was fucking great. It was just, it was awesome. We're going to get into it. We're totally going to get into it. Don't forget. Let's see. We can, you can get the shows, a little post-Super Bowl fog brain here. You can get the shows at Sharper Square on YouTube. Subscribe and like the video while are at it. Also Donald's from Spotify, Apple pods, wherever you get your pods. Here's some roundups. We finished the contest portion of the season with 24 points. So that was the final, I think it was nine weeks, including the playoffs. That was good enough, Simon, for 375th place. To put it in context, nearly 5,000 people signed up for the contest, which is miraculous in and of itself since it was a late in the season addition to our program. So that 375 was basically good enough for top 8%. I feel okay with that. We had a tough run there in the playoffs. We cratered in the conference final weekend and in the divisional round weekend. So I feel okay coming in where we did, considering how bad things turned there for a minute. Yeah, basically did nothing. You just saw the record there. Basically, it was 500 since the contest started. So, yeah, dug ourselves into a pretty horrible hole and crawled out. And, yeah, luckily, two biggest bets of the playoffs happened to be in the conference championship and the Super Bowl. So, yeah, I got kind of lucky that it worked out that way. Our contest picks were Seattle minus four and a half cashed, the under 45 and a half cash. Ramondre Stevenson, under 53 and a half rushing yards cash. Drake May over 19 and a half completions that cashed. The one that lost, we had the Pats plus three and a half in the first half. So we finished four and one in the Super Bowl. Our total contest record for 2025 from the beginning of the season, five picks every week through the playoffs, 60 and 50, 55% basically you tell me as a professional better you can go 55% in the season you're taking that every time yeah but I would say we're both disappointed that the Tennessee Titans dictated our season we were in a contest for a lot of money and I told Chad if we had just gone the other way in the Titans you'd both be sitting here with half a million dollars so it's pretty sickening we had a really good year but that's how close the margins are if you just lock in on the wrong team you can't get it right you crush yourself and um yeah great year but i i am one of those people i don't remember my wins i remember every loss and that's what's going to hurt me in this offseason i'm gonna be sitting there it's gonna be i don't know may 2nd 11 o'clock at night and i'm like the damn tennessee titans cost me a ton of money it's funny you mention that because we're going to get into that. And by every account, I should have been freaking thrilled with the Super Bowl. But all that's in my head is the two things that kept it from being monster, monster Sunday. Our name bets, Chad's choice was Seattle alt-line minus six and a half. That one, Simon Says, was the first quarter under eight and a half. Barely a sweat. There was like a second where it could have been a sweat when when the patriots played at their best and then it you know went exactly our way a couple people ask about that why i blindly bet that every year and shout out to our guy evan abram sent me the numbers since 2000 the year 2000 in the super bowl first quarter unders now 18 7 and 2 so like i said every year people you can bedside you can do all this hard work like i said that tuesday show put all your money into this bet every year because every year it's a winner these you saw it right the teams come out flat it doesn't matter i mean my favorite stat ever tom brady the goat what was he played in 11 super bowls he has three total points in the first quarter in those 11 super bowls so now that's a josh mcdaniels yeah yeah that's true he's a josh mcdaniels step but just to remember in the future people 18 7 and 2 first quarter unders in the Super Bowl since the year 2000 so it's a great bet every year brass balls was New England's first drive being a punt so we cashed on all these uh you just mentioned Evan I want to call out two particularly the prescient clips from when Evan came on the show two weeks ago obviously everywhere you look you hear Patriots strength the schedule I think Seahawks strength the schedule is also just as important in this game only 11 of 120 Super Bowl teams had a harder strength of schedule than the Seahawks Those 11 teams went 8 in the Super Bowl So I also kind of believe I like that stat. That's a good stat. Love that. If you look at the single postseason, I believe Darnold has the fourth highest passer rating of any quarterback all time. You look on the other side, Drake May, 113 passer rating during the regular season, down to 84 in the playoffs. I don't really care why that's happened, But I also think that's baked into why the line maybe isn't three and it's even four and a half and five and getting juiced up at the moment. They've won nine straight. They've covered four straight. Only four other teams have even done that. Nine straight and four straight. Nine straight wins, four straight covers, entering a Super Bowl. 2016-17 Patriots barely survived versus the Falcons, but won the game and covered. 2000 Ravens blew out the Giants. 1986 Giants blew out the Broncos. 71 Cowboys blew out the Dolphins. So those teams, nine straight wins, four straight covers, 4-0 straight up, 4-0 against the spread in the Super Bowl. If you think Seattle's dominant, that's the stat you want to hear. Like they're just going to roll away with this one. That's basically what happened, right? I mean, it was just glorious. So nice job, Evan. Nice job, Brandon. Nice job, Simon. Nice job, Chad. one online hater accused you of wearing a toupee last week because of all of our collective flaws I feel like what you do have is an incredible nest of hair so congrats on your new toupee that you were able to afford after winning so much money on the Seattle Seahawks yeah definitely watching that clip it just I immediately missed that warmth of that hair I'm not gonna lie Chad my ears are so cold but yeah I Chad knows I'm crazy superstitious so if I win my biggest bet of the year on the Broncos there's no chance I'm cutting my hair before the Super Bowl I gotta let it ride but yeah as soon as I woke up Monday morning I went got the haircut that the hair was it was too much it got it gotten too wild but um yeah I this this game there's so many avenues to go I did see the Cal Shanahan clip you saw just because I think Cowherd um put a video out talking about because i think colin took the patriots and he basically was just saying how much regret he had before the game had kicked off because when you hear a guy like kyle say that a coach will never say a team has a potential of getting blown out right they're in the league that's what that's what sort of that's what shocked me like you never hear a coach use the term blow out that was really really i mean these pre-game shows are are fluff right we talk about all the time you know where the show the pregame show with the stuff not the fluff that was the most interesting thing I've heard in a pregame show in decades and it's funny because I told Chad I've been complaining to Chad about how the college football for the national championship game they had on you know Nick Saban the head coach of Notre Dame like they had on some really brilliant minds and we've been lacking that in my opinion on football right like not to hate on these talk shows you're you're putting on these dudes who are in their 70s who haven't played in nfl in 40 years and they're nonsensical they they literally give you nothing to gain from a guy like kyle or sean mcveigh we all anytime you hear them speak you need to listen like they are the smartest minds in this sport and um yeah kyle had a great line as well that he had who is he to say anything about the seahawks he hasn't scored a touchdown on them in the last two times they played which i love that line where it's like he can be that humble where he knows he's one of the best minds in all football he couldn't he can't score on them right now like he is in full tilt mode so um yeah going into this game again i i thought the cx had a chance to to blow them out i really did base it on i thought may would struggle to me we got luckier because sam darnold also struggled yeah there was dude every single time he dropped back when it was still close you know in the first half let's say especially those first drives because the way the the Patriots were playing defense they were jumping every route I just thought oh my god this is going to be a recipe for some kind of pick six for the first score that's what it looked like to me I don't know like you saw it the same way but it was scary to me you can tell right away when Sam's on or off and immediately could tell he was just off because all of his throws were behind or leading nothing was on target the entire game in my opinion like the entire game he didn't have any i mean drake may who played terrible he had the best throws of the game no doubt like that throw to mac collard for the touchdown and i told you going to this game i knew both both head coaches mentalities were the quarterback that's going to dictate who's going to win this game because one of them is going to slip up and make a mistake and a turnover sam never was really put in the position for that right they had a couple at the very beginning kubiak let him kind of sling it eventually they just turned right to the run right and even when they got down the red zone there was a couple times where they needed like a third and seven to pick up a first down sam was taking the third and four throw so like he was taking the check down to get go on fourth beyond a fourth and three or fourth and two because they were going to settle for the three just never put the ball on turnover and you know christian gonzalez did have a chance at a pick in the end zone right before half that should have been a walking touchdown json had beat him easy on the route the ball was terribly late and behind was almost a pick so it's like sam on his worst game still threw for two yards no turnovers on the flip side drake may showed his inexperience what we talked about coming into this that's what i kept beating home was like i get a ton of pros betters their whole point was i can't believe you're betting on sam darn was a four-point favorite in the super bowl and my whole view was that i can't believe you're taking drake may under seven point dog against the number one defense you've seen him struggle now three straight weeks against defenses this is they're going to be the best defense he's faced and it proved that i mean the way people are talking about the cox now is ridiculous like yeah it's getting 85 bears it's a little over here they're not even last year's eagles team i honestly think was more impressive because they did against mahomes and that chiefs team like this drake may he looked totally out of it from the get-go like not like happy feet bath throws late throws um we talked about that shoulder injury I knew as soon as the game ended something would come out that he was shot up I knew right away as soon as he missed that week of practice it's like they're gonna baby and try to keep it cool he's obviously got a big injury and then you saw you know Will Campbell who's been dragged through the mud you know 14 pressures NFL record in the Super Bowl basically he's playing on apparently a torn ACL or MCL like he's going to get surgery or something like that with his knee I don't know the exact injury but you knew this guy whose whole draft thing coming out was he has short arms but he is so strong he's impossible to push through every play that you just get bull rush you could not put any weight on that one leg so between the May injury the Campbell injury like everything about that I just I think we were both in sync of we just couldn't find a reason to back the Patriots where me and Chad we want to bet the dogs we talk all the time that should always be alarms to people we're so heavy into a favorite when we're such heavy dog bettors especially that trend we gave out right it was like 10 and 1 the last 11 Super Bowls where the spread was above four and a half yep and not that we thought it was due to go the other way but it was just like well this is I talked about it I think it had gone the other way the dog had gone too much value that we were getting two free points on the favor but that's why me and Chad both took the Seahawks team minus six and a half, right? That's where the value to us was, where this line just felt way off. And, you know, when Sunday morning came, I really did load up on the Seahawks because I just kept, and the more I thought about it, I looked into it. It's like, this is such a bad matchup for this Patriots team, but I'm not going to lie. I really did think there was a chance there for them to come back because of all those field goals. Like it was never more than a two point score game. Right. And you saw, Well, Drake May, the arm talent, he can strike fast. But, you know, we talk all the time, the game changer, the thing that decides these games with the quarterbacks are their turnovers. And Drake May, two picks, one fumble. You know, it's just they were in an impossible scenario. And at the end of the day, I don't know about you, but I am one of the people that I do blame Vrabel and Josh McDaniels. I think they totally got outcoached. Scheme-wise, they failed. And I hated how Vrabel was playing this game, where he was playing to keep it close rather than try to win. Like, I get it. You're not going for a fourth and one on your own 39 because it's a 9-0 game or a 12-0 game. But that 12-0, I don't know about you watching at home, it felt like that was 40-0. It's like you guys can't get a field goal, let it go in a touchdown. So I really do question Raywell the most coming out of that game where I hated the way he coached it. He played too soft and kept thinking, Sam Darnold will make the mistake. I'm going to be able to get back in this game where I just thought the other way. The Seahawks were never going to let Sam Dorn make that mistake, and that's where he messed up. Well, that was the flip side of why we loved Seattle so much. We truly believed that what we had seen over the previous three or four weeks and the way Seattle was calling the games, they really weren't going to let him be in a position to screw it up. They had to win big against the Rams, but they had really started to figure out how to get Sam Darnold to not be making mistakes. I agree with you. First quarterback in NFL history, zero turnovers through the playoffs. He was amazing. He was totally amazing. He tried to make some turnovers in the regular season, zero in the playoffs. He tried to make some turnovers in the Super Bowl. He really did. Collinsworth's like, he's a real gunslinger. It's like, please stop saying that, Collinsworth. Christian Gonzalez was out of his head that game. I mean, he was like Lester Hayes, just knocking every ball. He was the best player in the field other than Walker. He was unreal. And there was one play, I think it was towards the end of the first half, where the Seahawks could have gone up 12-0 with a field goal. And to your point, 12 might as well have been 40 in this game. And they did let Sam Darnold try to throw like a short out that if he was a little bit behind on that throw, that's a pick six. And so Kubiak did let him stretch a little bit. For the most part, it was, you know, give it to Kenneth Walker because they had found some kind of success where they were able to run against this Patriots defense. He was amazing in this game. Like you, I loaded up on the Seahawks. but, but I loaded up on the Seahawks, not all at three and a half or four and a half, which was available. I did three and a half. I did four and a half. I did six and a half. I did nine and a half. I did 13 and a half. I did 16 and a half. I did 21 and a half and 25 and a half. So like my line of demarcation for break even on all of those bets was I think 10. If they won by 10, I was at least making money on those bets. And then it escalated from there. They ended up winning 29, 13. I think it was 16. So I ended up getting the 13 and a half as well. And to your point about like what you remember, you know, they were up 29, seven, they were up 22 points. It ends like that. If the Patriots don't get that garbage touchdown, I'm having maybe the best weekend I've ever had as a better in my entire life because, well, just because like everything was compounding, right. And by the time it got to like Seattle minus 21 and a half or something. I think it was like plus 600, right? And so like the biggest one was Seattle minus 25 and a half at plus 1200, which I wasn't going to get. But then after they have that touchdown, Kenneth Walker breaks it for a long run. They're up 36, 13, and it gets called back for a holding penalty. And it crushed me because now all of a sudden like what could have been a miraculous amazing glorious never had a day like this in my life I took a side I went all in on that side I used all of our lessons and some guy held someone and it just cost me that extra, you know the final two legs of that ladder which was it's rough i'm not gonna lie it makes you feel better that was like a 6k not 6k six figure swing for me um because i had a ton of parlays tied to the under and uh yeah the i basically i'm pretty sure i gave it on the show mac holland's anytime touchdown hit which was really lucky and obviously seattle defense um yes i always parlay the defenses that I bet on the teams with and uh yeah that was a nice payout as well so yeah for me you know between Denver and the Super Bowl close to a seven figure into the season and between my clients and my group a nice 10 I mean eight figure I should say end of the season and uh gonna get a really nice bonus hopefully uh see what that'll be I need golds at an all-time high so I'm probably not gonna get any gold but um yeah having fun trying to figure out what I'm I get paid out and just because, you know, these are long seasons, few form between great seasons. And, yeah, to end that way in the last two games, obviously, it's a great feeling. And especially a game like this where, you know, confidence can always leak, especially when you have two weeks leading up to a game. And, yeah, neither of us really wavered, honestly. Like, even talking about the sharp calls and how I was shocked to hear some of the professionals, the most shocking thing was to watch from that show, which was Thursday to Friday to Saturday to Sunday, how the money came flowing in on the Patriots. And basically by kickoff, I think it was like 56, 57% of the bets and money were on the Seahawks. And obviously 43% was on the Patriots, which blew my mind that that many people late came in on the Patriots and were feeling so confident about them. And yeah, you said you were worried about how the line had to budge. I was the other way where it's like, A couple books had gone to five here in Jersey, and I immediately was just like, okay, money's pouring in here on this Patriots team, and I still know other groups like me taking positions on the Seahawks team. And now the number has moved against it. It has moved up as well. This is like alarm bells. I told you the books were stuck. They could not go to six and a half, in my opinion, on the Seahawks. They would have shown their ass. They would have shown this is potential to be a blowout if they would have moved it. and uh yeah the the books are going to say they didn't do great i think that's a lot to do the predictive markets and then being dinosaurs and being slow to adjust to the new current market but overall you know that was a great i'm assuming a great super bowl for the books because you didn't get the you know you didn't you didn't get all the big touchdown guys right like jason didn't score I know Walker hurt him obviously but uh and the total went under and he had a blowout so um yeah it's like we always say the public does win and they got smoked the regular season they got their revenge for sure here in the playoffs and especially on this game but this was definitely we talked about it was the it was a very public side we knew that going in and um yeah props to us we we didn't let it bang us off chat we stayed stayed to it and my god we reap the rewards from it. We totally stayed focused. Good for us. Hope everyone listened. Let's hear from our friends at Hard Rock Bet. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's sports book. I know it's tough with no football, but like the song says, I bet I will survive with Hard Rock Bet. There's always something to bet on every night. Hoops, hockey, and so much more, plus all the great same game parlay, live betting, and player prop options you're used to if you haven't signed up with Hard Rock Bet yet. There's never been a better time. New signups can double their winnings on their first 10 bets, max $50. That's right. If you would have won $100 on your bet, make that $200. The Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook app is the only legal sportsbook for whenever you're in Florida. And it's also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado, and Michigan. Coming soon to more states too. Plus, Hard Rock Bet offers new promos daily. 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Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, a.k.a. Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a new age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you do when the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins, and if you can hear me, it's where culture meets the soul. A place for real conversation. Each episode, I sit down with people from all walks of life, celebrities, thinkers, and everyday folks, and we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shapes us, and what gives us hope. We get honest about the big stuff. Identity when you don't recognize yourself anymore. Loss that changes you. Purpose when success isn't enough. Peace when your mind won't slow down. Faith when it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out. If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to If You Can Hear Me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict? A villain? A nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was. No voicing of any skepticism or doubt. It'll cause so much harm at every single level if the British establishment of this is wrong. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpwright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Jermaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Jermaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth. Until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Producer Matt Mitchell. he's going to join us right now because he has, while we are giving ourselves so many bouquets of flowers for our brilliant Superbowl analysis and the courage to go with a dominant team at multiple levels, Matt Mitchell has a Superbowl bad beat to bring us back down to earth. Chad, I had a great Superbowl. it was absolutely my most profitable game of the entire NFL season, which is not common. Usually the Super Bowl is not the payload that I want it to be. It's always a mixed bag, right? It was great. I got everything I needed, right? Except for the two lottery tickets that I scratched, which are so stupid and so easy to understand because I don't usually love bad beat stories. I love turning the Super Bowl into a game of roulette by picking exact outcomes. So I took Seattle to win by exactly 12, and I took Seattle to win by exactly 22. Very uncommon. And they both paid 100 to 1. I bet on both of them. And I got to experience the absolute torture chamber of seeing not one of them, but both of those differentials in the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl blowout in which basically after each one was established, no team had a real either possibility or incentive to score. First at 19-7, and I thought, boy, this could really be the last. This could be it. And then I'm like, okay, all the other bets I needed, I go, what would really be great is a Seattle defensive touchdown, regular extra point, and then I'll get to 22. It'll be 29-7. And the next play, I got exactly that. nobody caught him i felt like my soul left my body and i was watching myself watch that play from above i gamble a lot i gamble ever i have been on six olympic women's hockey games already yeah i gamble i gamble a lot that experience of being like i feel like i'm being lifted above towards heaven. And then the goddamn Patriots are like oh now we pulling out all the stops and I do I want to call out Drake May whose goddamn shoulder didn hurt with four minutes to go in the fucking Super Bowl and fraught former Buffalo Bill, Stephon Diggs, who had a much worse night than I did, holding on to a ball in the red zone after getting rocked and spinning the ball as if only to me to set up the touchdown. So to Drake May and to Stefan Diggs for helping to ruin a 100 to one, 29, seven, perfect final score. I want to send to you this message. I would like to rear up and jackknife my legs and kick you both in the jaw with my foot bone. I wish my foot would go right through your skull. Do you drink before you came here? No, but I'm going to start drinking, and then I'm going to come back and light you on fire. We remember the bad beats. We just do. It was a glorious game. I'm glad we got to watch it. We want to bring on right now, we want to do actually one quick word from our friends at Z Biotics, and then we've got an interview with our contest winner. Matt, the football season is over. No more getting up early on Sunday mornings to record a show. looking forward to free and easy Saturday nights, enjoying some cocktails with our friends and family. Despite our incredible grit and resolve, we don't bounce back like we used to. And you've got kids to deal with every morning. That used to mean choosing between a great night or a great next day. But that was before we tried pre-alcohol. Z-Biotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration. That's to blame for rough days after drinking. Pre-alcohol produces an enzyme to break down this byproduct. Just remember to make pre-alcohol your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Matt, you've got a special occasion coming up this week. Tell us about how you're going to manage this. Well, Chad, as you know, at the end of this week, I turn 41. And so I'll be going to a fancy restaurant, enjoying cocktails with more than two ingredients, all the fanciest things. And I'm definitely going to make pre-alcohol part of my routine. You just open up the fancy little box, comes in these little airplane bottles. I just knock one back about an hour before I start. And the next morning, which is Valentine's day for me, a lot of obligations there. I feel great. I'm able to do all the things I want to do. I've got loads of energy. It's going to be great. And I know it's just a few weeks before your, what I assume is, you know, 65th, 75th birthday at the end of this month too. So I would highly recommend it. Yeah. I'm in training as we speak. Listen, I'm excited. You're going to be do that. Enjoy the best nights of the football season without sacrificing a great morning. Start your night with Z Biotics, pre-alcohol, wake up clear headed, focused, and better than ever. Go to zbiotics.com slash SharperSquare. Now you'll get 15% off your first order when you use SharperSquare at checkout. Plus it's backed by a 100% money back guarantee. So there's no risk. Subscriptions are also available for maximum consistency. That's zbiotics.com slash SharperSquare and use the code SharperSquare at checkout for 15% off. As promised, a very special treat. We're being joined by the grand prize winner of the Sharper Square Pro Football Pick'em Contest, presented by our friends at Hard Rock Bet, who are so appreciative of, by the way, that they were willing to organize this contest and put together the prizing very late in the season because we know longtime listeners of the show have enjoyed doing it. And that includes our winner, Kingston Chen from the great state of New Jersey, the Bayonne brother. I love New Jersey. Kingston, how you doing, buddy? I'm doing great. Thank you guys for this interview. I'm so glad you did the contest. I'm so glad you are the grand prize winner. You went 5-0 in the last week of the contest. Tell us how you did it. A lot of the credit has to go to the Sharpen Square podcast. I don't have my own models. I don't have, I don't research trends. So a lot of my insight and rationale behind those picks come from you guys. Damn straight. What did you end up doing for your final five? If I remember, I think I picked the total under. I did the first half under. I also had Sam Darnold throwing for under 1.5 touchdowns, JSN having no receiving touchdowns, and Ramondre Stevenson under for the rushing yards. Wow, so you didn't even do one of the sides. In my heart, I felt that Seattle was the better team, and I honestly felt they were going to blow out the Patriots. But then the episode leading up to the Super Bowl, you guys were talking about how a lot of the sharps were on the Patriots. So that gave me some doubt. And ultimately I just decided it was better just avoid who was going to cover or who was going to win the game altogether. Simon, you talked him out of the easiest bet of the day. Well, he did take a sharp side taking the under, right? So at least he did follow some of the sharp with taking the under. And he didn't follow the sharps by taking the Patriots. So I feel like he did well. He picked his spots. That's what it's all about, right, Chad? Picking your spots. You pick your spots. All in all, he made some very sharp choices, right? Like you and I had debated the Jackson, Smith, and Jigba under half a touchdown, so basically no touchdowns. We had talked about the Sam Darnold, like the under. Those were the sharp sides. We were with him on the under and the Ramondre Stevenson under his total rushing yards, too. Here's what's interesting to me, Simon. I'd like Kingston to explain himself here. You say you don't do models. You don't do a ton of research. You mainly just listen to me and Simon throughout the year. And that's how you come up with your five picks. And congratulations again on winning. How is it that you're gleaning from whatever we're saying, better talent information than Simon and I are getting from whatever we're saying? I mean, it comes down to luck, right? I went 5-0, but easily could have just went 3 or 2 or 2 and 3, you know. The game could have easily went over on the totals if that Kenneth Walker touchdown wasn't called back to a flag. If Sam Darnold didn't miss JSN on that throw, where I think he got a step on Gonzalez. As easily as I won the contest, I could have just also easily lost. Just thank you to Hard Rock Sex for sponsoring this contest, and it was super fun. Even if I didn't win, I still think it was really, really fun, And I hope moving forward that they would do more content like this. As long as we have a show, there's going to be a contest. I'm holding our sponsor to it. I think they saw how great it was. They saw how many people signed up. Literally many, many thousands. That's what's interesting here, Kingston. Look at us, Simon. Sharper Square. Just bringing joy and happiness to Kingston Chen's life. Kingston, congratulations on finishing number one in the Sharper Square Pro Football Pick'em Contest. Great job finishing 5-0 on the year. Great job on listening to me and Simon and figuring out what we were saying better than Simon and I actually figured out. Thanks for playing, brother. Thank you so much. And I just want to thank you guys. Like I said, I've been following the podcast for like two years. And every new episode, I always learn something new. Wish you guys continued success moving forward. You're welcome back on the show anytime. You're much nicer than most people. Thank you, brother. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Kingston Chen. Brilliant, brilliant season. Congrats to you. I hope you enjoy the free trip to Hard Rock in Florida. I was just there. Amazing property. For those wondering about the upcoming schedule, especially those new to the show, we got a lot of new listeners. We still have new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. It's a lot of NFL talk, a lot of NFL offseason, free agency, draft, futures. We do do other sports. We're going to have special guests. It'll be great. Stick around. It's still going to be me and Simon talking about all the fun things that we like to talk about related to the betting world. This has been Sharper Square, part of the Volume Podcast Network. We do want to thank everybody. from a wild beginning where we went from deciding we were joining the volume podcast network to launching a new show in a span of about 96 hours before the opening week of the NFL season to now what is it six months later we're through a Superbowl thanks to everybody who found us who stuck with us, who joined us, who came along for the ride. It was a glorious, glorious season. We hope you'll stick around for the rest of the offseason when we talk about all these things that I just talked about. A lot of NFL futures talk. We will be back on Thursday morning with a special NFL offseason mailbag episode. Watch or listen on YouTube at Sharper Square. Like this video, subscribe to the channel, download some Spotify app, pause, wherever you get your pause. rate, review, subscribe, leave us five stars, say whatever you want. Feedback is a gift. Until next time, love you. The one's a bad call. And I was upset at that bad call over there until I saw your bad call. Your bad call trumped that bad call. What the hell's the problem? I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? I've just been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe? Oh my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpwright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.