Wiseguys? Mike Valenti Starts 1-4 In NFL Picks As Michigan Media Backs 49ers

We have great admiration for our sports critics, who dedicate their livelihoods to expressing their opinions on the performance of Michigan’s athletes and teams.

We also engage in a similar practice here, and several of these individuals are associated with Playinmichigan. Therefore, we genuinely believe that there is nothing objectionable about having some provocative and bold perspectives in the realm of media.

However, we made a decision to switch things up and closely monitor a few performances this autumn.

Playinmichigan will be monitoring the NFL picks made by media members in the market, as Michigan online sports betting kicks off for its inaugural full football season.

Each week, we will evaluate selections based on their individual spreads and formats, and share the outcomes.

Let the most skilled conversationalists (and proficient writers) emerge victorious!

Detroit gambling trend-setter Mike Valenti starts off slow; Rico Beard hot

Let’s give credit to Mike Valenti for this.

Valenti, the drive-time radio host of 97.1 The Ticket for a considerable time, has consistently discussed gambling on the most popular media platform in the market. Consequently, with the introduction of sports gambling in Michigan, Valenti was in an advantageous position to provide authoritative content on the subject.

Valenti was accompanied by co-host Rico Beard on his radio show last summer. Together with a couple of producers, they engage in making weekly NFL football picks, and we have the privilege of joining them on this exciting journey.

This week, Valenti made three unsuccessful bets on Colts +3, Chiefs -5.5, and Washington +1, while Beard successfully picked the opposite team in all three games.

Both men bet against Valenti’s beloved team, the New York Giants, and placed their bets on the Broncos to win with a -3 point spread.

In the end, the Lions managed to Goff both men, leaving Valenti and Beard, who had placed bets on the 49ers with a -8.5 point spread, as victims of the surprising backdoor cover that had everyone talking throughout the state.

Beard had a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, while Valenti had a record of 1 win and 4 losses.

Detroit News: Columnists Niyo, Wojo lead the way

Just to be transparent, I occasionally do freelance work for the Detroit News and have developed a good rapport with these individuals, if that adds any context.

Since what feels like the dawn of time, the Detroit News sports section has been providing reliable weekly NFL picks, a beloved tradition for sports enthusiasts.

Surprisingly, in contrast to the Valenti show, the San Fran backers emerged victorious in this case as the News selected the game with a -7.5 spread. While evaluating these picks, we are relying on the pickers’ honesty in verifying the current spreads while making their selections.

We are unsure of how to handle Lions beat reporter Justin Rogers. Rogers openly admits to not putting much effort into his picks each year, although he is a likable person. For this year, he has chosen the home teams (including the Lions on Sunday) in his published picks, but he has also selected San Francisco and the spread. We consider this a non-pick on his part. (shrug emoji)

After the first week, the columnists find themselves in a tie for the lead, with John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski both achieving a 10-6 record. Rogers falls behind with a 6-9 score, while James Hawkins, the Michigan basketball beat writer, trails further with a 6-10 record.

This week, it is worth mentioning that none of the “best bets” turned out favorably for anyone. Wojo opted for the Packers with a -3 point spread, while the rest went for the Chiefs with a -6 point spread.

Detroit Free Press: Lions pickers fall victim to backdoor cover

In a surprising twist, the Detroit Free Press has decided to discontinue their long-standing tradition of publishing NFL picks by writers, even though gambling is now legal for readers.

Nonetheless, we managed to discover the Lions picks and will evaluate them accordingly.

Jeff Seidel, Shawn Windsor, Dave Birkett, and Carlos Monarrez made their predictions on the score.

I established this criteria prior to considering the backdoor cover, I assure you. However, I have concluded that we will compare the score predictions with the kickoff spread for their respective “bets.”

All four individuals would have chosen the 49ers with a -9.5 point spread, resulting in all of them being unsuccessful.

Therefore, a score of 0-1 for all of those individuals.

Any other NFL pickers we’re missing?

On Sunday, we posted this call on Twitter as well. If there are any other Michigan media members who are making picks, we would like to include them in our tracking. Please reach out to us (@Play_Michigan) and let us know. It would also be fantastic to have some women participating.

We would like to highlight our colleagues within our PlayUSA network who are also participating in pick-tracking this year.

• PlayPennsylvania is keeping tabs on the Barstool guys.
• PaOnlineCasino is tracking Colin Cowherd.
• PlayIndiana is grading Pat McAfee.
• PlayColorado is currently keeping a close eye on Mark Schlereth.

Wiseguys: Playinmichigan’s NFL media picks tracker

This is the updated winners grid, which will be refreshed weekly.

Picker	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win percentage
Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News	71	62	3	.533
John Niyo, Detroit News	69	64	3	.518
Mike Valenti, 971 The Ticket	21	21	1	.500
James Hawkins, Detroit News	63	70	3	.474
Justin Rogers, Detroit News	54	74	3	.424
Rico Beard, 971 The Ticket	18	29	1	.385
Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press	3	5		.375
Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press	2	6		.250
Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press	2	6		.250
Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press	1	7		.125

Let the most competent, or perhaps the least inadequate, intellect prevail!