Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

[jack stewart]

Question for John Kelly. John I was a guest on your radio show several years ago back when I owned and was running Sports Watch monitoring service. You made a point that I must have a second income at Sports Watch beyond the customary monitoring fees paid by the handicappers.

No monitor should have any other income unless he's dishonest. I get your point and sorry I failed to respond other than to deny that I had any additional income.

I ran Sports Watch for twenty years. You were not the first person to ask me such a question. I respect that as an interviewer you asked the tough question. So, what exactly was your question based on?

Is my legacy to be that Jack Stewart may have been dishonest at Sports Watch? There are plenty of ways a monitor can be dishonest and all of them would probably indicate additional income for the monitor. Here's a short list. (1) Sell the handicapper picks either to individuals or a consensus service, etc.. (2) Operate a sports service on the side. (3) Give a handicapper preferential treatment with a better record than earned or just give that handicapper a win instead of a push or push instead of a loss on games that land on or close to the pointspread OR count a hancapper's game that he posted AFTER the game had started, etc...

Was I guilty of any of the above or anything else not listed in my 20 years of running Sports Watch? Let's clear the air. It's not the American Way to convict someone by rumor and innuendo. I'd like to hear from anyone with knowledge or questions about the above subject. And in return I promise down to earth answers to any questions or statements from all who would like to respond or anyone who has any questions about the sports monitoring industry. Sports Watch was, by the way, founded about 27 years ago which makes it the oldest sports monitoring firm in existence just beating out the Sports Monitor in Oklahoma City.

 

[Toronto FC]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Is this an advertisement?

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

No, not an advertisement. I sold Sports Watch and have no financial interest in the business.

 

[John Kelly]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Jack, I was simply asking the questions that came to mind. I had no agenda except to be a respectful skeptic. The sports advisory business is fraught with dishonesty. In most businesses, the good people far outnumber the bad guys. In the tout business, it's the other way around, bad guys dominate. I'll assume you were a good guy dealing with dirty people.

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

You would assume wrong JK. First off, I was not in the sports advisory business, I was a sports monitor. Are you saying most people in the sports monitoring business are bad and outweigh the good guys?

The sports services that pay a monitoring fee are generally the good guys in the business as opposed to the guys that don't pay a monitoriing fee and thus, are much more able to lie about their true records.

There are always some bad apples that do pay a monitoring fee and lie about their records anyway. My policy at Sports Watch was to terminate those firms.

 

[WVU]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Stick around Jack. We can use you around here.

12io4j2w90

 

[RogueScholar]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

I'm curious why you're bringing up this issue years after the fact, Jack. Do you feel that John Kelly's questions on-air were inappropriate and/or disparaging? Do you feel he had a good-faith reason for asking them?

 

[trytrytry]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

u were a guest 3 years ago one time and today you need to have the air cleared?

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

I will be 70 years old in May. Yes, I should have cleared the air three years ago when I was on the air. But is it really too late to bring this subject up? I don't think so. I'd like to do it while I still can. I'm not questioning JK's right to ask the question but a monitor lives and dies by his reputation and to me reputation is everything. If John Kelly did have a good faith reason for asking the questions I'd like to hear what it was or hear from anyone who might think there was good reason.

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

A question for JK. John, you have such a low opinion of those in the sports advisory business and yet many were guests on your radio show and also on Winning Wednesday. If you really feel most are dishonest and "dirty" I haven't heard you asking them the tough questions such as you posed to me as a sports monitor. Why not? For example, a few days after I was on your show your guest was sports service advisor Big Al McMordie. McMordie made a point of saying some very negative things about me. He said I had made a lot of mistakes and also that Sports Watch only had about nine or ten handicappers signed up for monitoring. You had to know that was a gross misstatement as a result of interviewing me earlier--I monitored about 28-30 'cappers. I would have expected you to correct that statement by Big Al but you didn't. You also didn't query him as to what those mistakes were that he said I had made.

One of those mistakes Al thinks I made was back when I monitored his sports service and he called me to ask why he hadn't been given credit for a play he had made. I told him because he hadn't left the play on the voice mail. Al said no problem, just check with Ruth at the Sports Monitor and she can confirm the play. I told Al I didn't do that. If I did anyone could turn in plays to Ruth and not me and then call me to check with Ruth whenever they won and if they didn't win I probably wouldn't hear from the sports service. I stood my ground. Al didn't get credit for the play and next year he quit being monitored by Sports Watch. So yes, Big Al, probably saw that as a mistake on my part. I saw it as just doing my job.

 

[BigDaddy]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

lets see was a guy that runs a sports monitoring business dishonest?
:LMAO

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

You are skeptical, BigDaddy? Well bring it on. I ran Sports Watch for 20 years. Someone must have a story somewhere about me being dishonest in all that time. Let's hear it. If not I'd suggest don't assume one person is dishonest just because you think others in the same industry might be.

 

[Heim]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

IMO Ruth from the OK Sports Monitor is the only honest service around. And you can see that based on the services that use them. The only thing I know about Sports
Watch is the touts that used that service where known 'puffers' re their record. If you don't think the tout business is predominately crooked then you don't get out much. You don't have to be overtly dishonest to favor a tout. Subtle things like finding a -2.5 for Utah or a 3.5 for Pitt depending on the side a tout gives out makes them happy. 55% sells....52.5 doesn't.

Lastly, re JK not asking the tough questions from all touts is laughable. Some touts don't even speak to him anymore because he only asks them about the losses not the wins.

The line 'don't have the player hate the game' describes the tout biz like no other...so don't take it personally Jack.

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

You are way off base Heim. Here's why. When I owned Sports Watch I am estimating about 90% of the guys I monitored were also with the Sports Monitor in Oklahoma City. Do you think they had better records at Sports Watch than at the Sports Monitor? I don't think so. Ask any of the guys I monitored how often they were able to lobby me for a win instead of a push or a push instead of a loss on a game that landed close to the pointspread. My policy was that my ruling was final and not debatable. I actually lost a lot of business and made some enemies amongst the sports services I was monitoring as a result of this policy--but it was the correct policy--you can't have the inmates running the asylum.

Glad to hear JK is asking the tough questions of the sports services. I still contend that the ones that get monitored are generally but not always the honest ones.

 

[lemonhead]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Being an "old timer" I used to keep up with the services Jack monitored back in the 80's. I never saw anything to indicate Jack was dishonest. In fact based on what I saw published in Football News (rip Roger Stanton) and Sports Betting Guide, I always thought his grading and policies were a bit more aggressive than Ruth's.

 

[John Kelly]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Jack, how many honest sports monitors, aside from Sports Watch, were there? Do you trust anyone in the business today?

I appreciate the touts who archive their selections using widely-available numbers. I believe Right Angle Sports, Vegas Insider and SportsMemo give an honest effort about recording their results.. The reporting of the results is a story for another day.

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

First, thank you WVU and Lemonhead for your supportive remarks. Lemonhead you really do go way back. Didn't think anyone still remembered Roger Stanton but he was a class act and very helpful in allowing Sports Watch to put our standings in The Football News and Basketball Weekly back in the 80's and 90's.

John, I can't comment on anyone else's honesty in the sports monitoring business--I will just say that obviously I am prejudiced but I do believe that my operation at Sports Watch was hands down the #1 monitor of all time in terms of honesty.

Also, Heim, has definitely got it right in terms of how a monitor can help a handicapper simply by favoring him in grading his plays that land close to the point spread. Only thing is Heim thinks that doesn't make a monitor overtly dishonest--I say it does.

 

[Hal01]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Jack, did you ever monitor Heim's buddy Gary Greene?

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

No, but I remember him--think he was on the radio a lot and also had a newsletter he put out in a lof of sports books.

 

[asportsguy]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

On the website (sportsmonitor.com) it only shows the handcappers picking above 50% . Is this how its works ???? Only the good guys and not the guys below 50% ???

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Not the way it should work in my opinion. At Sports Watch all records were shown no matter how good or bad. However, sportsmonitor.com is, I think, just a consensul service ranking handicappers. The legitimate monitor is thesportsmonitor.com out of Oklahoma City, however, as I look at their standings I only see cappers with winning records--seems like they used to list everyone win or lose but not sure about that.

 

[Viejo Dinosaur]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

Jack...thanks for coming on and posting your thoughts and comments...this is a tough crowd at EOG, but for the most part a fair one....

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

I agree. But it's been fun. It's also totally new to me. I've never blogged or posted anything till now. I think EOG is a great service for the sports betting community.

 

[ComptrBob]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

The legitimate monitor is thesportsmonitor.com out of Oklahoma City, however, as I look at their standings I only see cappers with winning records--seems like they used to list everyone win or lose but not sure about that.

To my knowledge, as long as they had a website, TSM of OKC has always hidden the losing capper's records. Readers have to pay to see the losers ... LOL.

For this and other reasons, their records are significantly skewed. They either are not honest or are incompetent by not determining whether or not a line is available when a capper makes a pick.

For anyone interested, JoeFlex of the old LVASports forum did an exhaustive study of their (TSM) methods. You can search the archives if you wish.

 

[jack stewart]

Re: Was I A Dishonest Monitor?

The sports advisory business is so tough because handicappers that don't get monitored run ads announcing 70-80% winners--total fabrications of the truth but it does make it hard for the legitimate guys to get monitored and then take first place at 56 or 57%. In any one year there are going to be plenty of handicappers under 50% and if those records are shown it could put them out of business. Sports Watch showed all records and maybe was one of the reasons we never had a lot of business. Another reason was some services didn't like my approach to monitoring. Now that I sold the business I notice the new owner has signed up a lot of cappers that weren't interested in being monitored as long as I was running the show.