# Lee Sterling From Paramount Sports Shares His Best Gambling Advice

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 5 Sep 2026, 8:50.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/a895727a-87f5-4862-8d24-b4bb017cc5b1/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Lee Sterling, gambling expert from Paramount Sports, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to share his best gambling advice for the college football weekend ahead including the Oregon Ducks taking on Boise State, the massive line in the Apple Cup on Sunday between UW and WSU, plus the Seahawks’ opener coming next Wednesday at home. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Want to make a little extra pocket change for this weekend?
[0:08] Speaker 2: Yes, I do indeed. Well, look no further than Paramount Sports'
[0:12] Speaker 2: Lee Sterling to tell you how. Before you do anything,
[0:16] Speaker 2: before you put a dime on anything this weekend, before
[0:19] Speaker 2: you head to the Emerald Queen Casino Sportsbook this weekend
[0:22] Speaker 2: and bet some college football NFL action. Be sure to
[0:25] Speaker 2: tune in to our friend Lee Sterling. And by the way,
[0:27] Speaker 2: if you want to win a pair of seats for
[0:28] Speaker 2: the Apple Cup, we've got three pairs of tickets. Listen
[0:31] Speaker 2: to Lee's take on the Apple Cup. Text in the
[0:33] Speaker 2: score of the game that Lee gives us, plus your
[0:36] Speaker 2: first and last name to 49451, and we'll draw three
[0:39] Speaker 2: winners for a pair of seats for the Apple Cup
[0:41] Speaker 2: on Sunday. Here he is back again for, I figured
[0:44] Speaker 2: it out, Dick. This is year 27 on the radio
[0:46] Speaker 2: show with us. 27 on the radio show. our handicapper
[0:52] Speaker 2: from South Florida Paramount Sports, Lee Sterling. How are you, man?
[0:56] Speaker 1: I'm good. Boy, you're aging us a little bit there.
[0:59] Speaker 1: And year 28 may not be able to make it.
[1:02] Speaker 1: I just barely did a 12-minute mile.
[1:08] Speaker 2: Well, if you're doing a 12-minute mile at the age
[1:11] Speaker 2: of 78 years old, you're doing pretty good, man. Because
[1:14] Speaker 2: we know that you started this thing when you were
[1:17] Speaker 2: 53 years old with us on the radio show. So
[1:19] Speaker 2: it's great to have you back. Well, why don't we
[1:21] Speaker 2: first of all, let's just jump into some college football. Dick,
[1:26] Speaker 2: the picks early in the year are always kind of random, right?
[1:29] Speaker 2: Like Iowa... and Northern Illinois. Hawkeyes given 31 and a
[1:33] Speaker 2: half at home against Northern Illinois. I don't know how
[1:37] Speaker 2: many folks are betting on that one, but if they are,
[1:39] Speaker 2: who do you like on that side?
[1:41] Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know what Northern Illinois is doing
[1:44] Speaker 1: leaving the MAAC. I mean, they made some hay there,
[1:48] Speaker 1: but they're going to have a real tough go in
[1:51] Speaker 1: a new conference here. And Sometimes it's money. I'm not sure,
[1:56] Speaker 1: but what kind of rivalry do they have with North
[1:59] Speaker 1: Dakota State and Wyoming, teams like that? Joining the Mountain
[2:04] Speaker 1: West Conference makes no sense at all. How about this?
[2:08] Speaker 1: They return zero starters on defense. They used to be
[2:12] Speaker 1: really tough up front. We know a couple years ago,
[2:14] Speaker 1: two years ago, upset Notre Dame, but this is a
[2:17] Speaker 1: team that under a new head coach, Rob Harley, going nowhere.
[2:23] Speaker 1: Not that Iowa's great, but they're going to play both quarterbacks,
[2:25] Speaker 1: and I think they're going to try to throw the football,
[2:27] Speaker 1: see who they've got that can take them into the
[2:31] Speaker 1: heart of their schedule. So I like Iowa. I think
[2:33] Speaker 1: they win this game here 40-7.
[2:35] Speaker 3: All right, USC, it's a night game, so there won't
[2:39] Speaker 3: be 12 people at their game. There might be 20
[2:41] Speaker 3: people at the game tonight. They're giving 22 at the
[2:45] Speaker 3: Coliseum to Fresno State.
[2:48] Speaker 1: You know, I think Fresno State's a little overrated tonight.
[2:52] Speaker 1: I think that Southern Cal has the type game breakers
[2:56] Speaker 1: at the skill positions that can really do some damage.
[2:59] Speaker 1: You know, they took out their starters in the fourth quarter.
[3:02] Speaker 1: And if you looked at the final score, you're like,
[3:04] Speaker 1: Oh wow. You know, it was a game. It really
[3:06] Speaker 1: was not a game until they started freely substituting here.
[3:10] Speaker 1: So I think Southern Cal, uh, has by far the
[3:14] Speaker 1: better quarterback and early in the season, that's very important. So, uh,
[3:19] Speaker 1: Sometimes you've got to lay it if you want to
[3:20] Speaker 1: play it. Romper Room Special, we're going with the Trojans
[3:24] Speaker 1: here with about 20,000 fans. 48, Fresno State, 16.
[3:30] Speaker 2: All right, so take USC, give the points. We'll stay
[3:33] Speaker 2: in college football. Oregon and Boise State this weekend from Eugene.
[3:38] Speaker 2: And I don't know about you guys, but when I
[3:39] Speaker 2: think of Oregon and Boise State, I think of LeGarrette
[3:41] Speaker 2: Blount sucking a guy right in the face. That's all
[3:44] Speaker 2: I think of, by the way. So maybe we'll see
[3:46] Speaker 2: more of that this weekend. But Oregon giving 24.5 in
[3:50] Speaker 2: Eugene against Boise this weekend, Lee.
[3:53] Speaker 1: So what I think of more is the game two
[3:55] Speaker 1: years ago. We saw Oregon, and what did they have
[3:59] Speaker 1: to do? They had to return a kickoff with 10
[4:01] Speaker 1: minutes to go, 100 yards to tie the game. And
[4:04] Speaker 1: then the last play of the game had to kick
[4:07] Speaker 1: a field goal to win the game. So what's changed
[4:10] Speaker 1: with the team this year? Well, they're coming off a
[4:12] Speaker 1: resounding beatdown, lost to Indiana. And the only real change
[4:19] Speaker 1: is their coordinators. You know, they got two new coordinators.
[4:22] Speaker 1: I don't think Boise knows how to prepare for this game. Yeah,
[4:26] Speaker 1: Boise's getting their quarterback back. But other than that, they
[4:29] Speaker 1: lost a lot of guys in the portal. Just don't
[4:32] Speaker 1: have the money in their collective to keep enough good
[4:35] Speaker 1: players in the trenches here. And I think Oregon is
[4:39] Speaker 1: going to be ready to go right out of the gate.
[4:40] Speaker 1: They can't stumble here. Ducks also 7-2 against the spread
[4:44] Speaker 1: versus non-conference opponents. Give me the Ducks, 48-17.
[4:50] Speaker 3: All right, well, this is about as big an Apple
[4:52] Speaker 3: Cup spread as I've ever seen. Huskies minus 23 and
[4:56] Speaker 3: a half. Is it big enough?
[4:59] Speaker 1: Yeah, so what's your wife going to do in this game?
[5:01] Speaker 1: You guys going to the game, Dick?
[5:02] Speaker 2: Of course we are.
[5:03] Speaker 3: She'll be wearing the crimson. Yeah, she'll be wearing the crimson.
[5:06] Speaker 3: I don't think she's going to be yelling very much, though.
[5:08] Speaker 1: Yeah, not much at all. I think it's a tough,
[5:11] Speaker 1: tough matchup for them here. You know, they keep just
[5:15] Speaker 1: revolving door coaches. I think Kirby Moore might... uh, be
[5:19] Speaker 1: one of the better coaches. Just don't think that he
[5:21] Speaker 1: has the talent here. So bring in a kid from
[5:24] Speaker 1: Cal Davis, probably get the start here. Um, just too
[5:28] Speaker 1: many new faces on defense. I think it started as
[5:30] Speaker 1: many as nine new players on defense here. And, uh, uh, Washington,
[5:36] Speaker 1: I think they've got to obviously, uh, create an identity,
[5:39] Speaker 1: find a running back. One of the guys they can
[5:41] Speaker 1: go to, or at least, uh, one a and one B,
[5:44] Speaker 1: I think the defensive line, uh, as long as they're
[5:48] Speaker 1: as good as last year and they'll be good, but
[5:51] Speaker 1: they've got to get more sacks, only 24 sacks last year.
[5:53] Speaker 1: So I'd like to see him get to the quarterback more,
[5:55] Speaker 1: but I think Williams is going to have a big
[5:57] Speaker 1: game here, a quarterback. They want to get some positives
[6:01] Speaker 1: going with him. And I think he's going to have
[6:03] Speaker 1: a huge game. He might throw for 270, 300, might
[6:07] Speaker 1: run for 80, a hundred yards here. Oh, Huskies dogs.
[6:14] Speaker 1: Get it done here. 51.
[6:17] Speaker 2: To 16. 51 to 16. Dogs win on Sunday. Easy cover.
[6:21] Speaker 2: All right. By the way, Caden Pinnock, the quarterback for
[6:25] Speaker 2: Wazoo Lee, was here a year ago with UC Davis,
[6:28] Speaker 2: and he got beat by 60. 8-16, 50 yards, touchdown pick,
[6:32] Speaker 2: and lost 70-10. All right, well, we've got the Apple
[6:35] Speaker 2: Cup on Sunday. I don't know, Dick, I can't remember
[6:38] Speaker 2: a year where the Huskies played on a Saturday and
[6:40] Speaker 2: the Seahawks played on a Wednesday, right? And that's what
[6:43] Speaker 2: we're going to see starting this week.
[6:45] Speaker 3: We've got a Sunday and a Wednesday.
[6:46] Speaker 2: Unbelievable. That's what I'm saying. You said Saturday. Yeah, I
[6:49] Speaker 2: meant Sunday. Sunday, Sunday Husky football.
[6:52] Speaker 3: It's crazy.
[6:53] Speaker 2: And the Hawks on Wednesday. Three days apart. Yeah, Hawks
[6:56] Speaker 2: are at home giving 3.5. against New England, rematch of
[7:00] Speaker 2: the Super Bowl. We don't know about Nicky Manwari and
[7:02] Speaker 2: his status for the game on Wednesday night, but they're
[7:05] Speaker 2: going to raise the banner, the World Championship Super Bowl banner.
[7:10] Speaker 2: Tickets are going for $ 300 to get in the door
[7:12] Speaker 2: right now, which is like nine times as much as
[7:14] Speaker 2: you pay for a Dolphins game, by the way. What
[7:17] Speaker 2: do you think? Seahawks minus three and a half against
[7:19] Speaker 2: the Patriots on Wednesday.
[7:22] Speaker 1: Nine, 30 times. And you can get in for, you
[7:24] Speaker 1: can get in for 10 bucks. Problem with Miami, the parking,
[7:27] Speaker 1: you got to pay 50 to a hundred bucks. So
[7:29] Speaker 1: it's going to be a long rebuild here in Miami.
[7:31] Speaker 1: I wish I was in Seattle. I like this team.
[7:34] Speaker 1: You know, it's going to be tough. Teams are going
[7:36] Speaker 1: to be shooting for you. And New England's going to
[7:38] Speaker 1: probably be more aggressive from the start of the game.
[7:42] Speaker 1: But what has changed? Not that much here. I always
[7:45] Speaker 1: said from the beginning, they were probably one of the
[7:48] Speaker 1: worst Superbowl teams we've ever seen. And, I think Seattle's
[7:52] Speaker 1: going to dominate the line of scrimmage here and may
[7:55] Speaker 1: not be as resounding win as last time, but I
[7:58] Speaker 1: think they're the right side. Let's lay the three and
[7:59] Speaker 1: a half. Let's go with the Hawks here, 27-20.
[8:02] Speaker 2: I love it. By the way, VenueKings.com, first game for
[8:05] Speaker 2: the Dolphins at home is not until September 27th because
[8:08] Speaker 2: they start on the road for two games. Kansas City,
[8:11] Speaker 2: 86 bucks to get in the door right now. And
[8:14] Speaker 2: that's KC. Yeah, exactly. All right, Lee, you're the man.
[8:17] Speaker 2: Great stuff, and we will talk in a week, buddy. Thanks, man.
[8:20] Speaker 2: Sounds good, guys.
[8:21] Speaker 1: See you. All right.
[8:22] Speaker 2: Lee likes the Hawkeyes against NIU minus the points. He
[8:25] Speaker 2: likes all the favorites. Five for five favorites. Iowa, Oregon, UW, USC,
[8:30] Speaker 2: and the Hawks, five for five on the favorites.
[8:33] Speaker 1: All right.
[8:33] Speaker 2: We're going to break. Is it time to start the
[8:36] Speaker 2: funeral proceedings for the M's? Is it time to start
[8:40] Speaker 2: picking a plot for the 2026 Mariners? Do we call
[8:44] Speaker 2: the rabbi? Have him on standby. We'll talk to Chuck
[8:47] Speaker 2: next on 93.3 KJRFM.

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