Mike Lee

[champs]

Below taken from Mike Lee's web page. I've have followed his picks for many years and will miss his insight.


It is with a great deal of sadness and a very heavy heart that I must announce the passing of very a dear friend and a legend in the handicapping business. Mike Lee suffered a massive stroke on Sunday and passed away Wednesday evening. He was truly a man who loved what he did and one of the most honest men in this business.
He was a Dad, a Grandfather, a Companion, and a Friend to many. He was a Handicapper, a Writer, a Singer, a Musician, a Composer, an Impressionist and just an all around Nice Guy. He was nice enough to keep me on as his partner when he could have very easily let me go. He was indeed a real friend. Mike was very well respected by all, in this not so respected business. In the 25 years that I have worked with Mike, he always remained a low-key icon, preferring to just do what he loved and avoid the limelight when he could.

I know some of you will remember some of the awesome college football records he produced when he was writing for H & H Sporting Times. His 45-22 win-loss record earned him the honor in which he made his selections as much as ten days in advance of the games. His writing capabilities were evident in his analysis of games. Those of you familiar with his write-ups would often comment that even when they lost, they still seemed right! Mike also racked up a few contest wins adding to the luster he created for himself. A result of a lot of hard work!

Some of you who had the opportunity to meet Mike know that he could break out into an impression or song or re-create a scene from a movie at any moment. He loved to entertain.

To those who have been with us for so many, many years, thanks for sticking with us through thick and thin. To those of you who are new, thanks for taking a chance with, (as Mike referred to himself lately), an old time handicapper.

Some of Mike’s close friends who are in the business and for whom he had a great deal of respect, have graciously offered to help me get information to those of you who have subscribed to any of our services. I know that Mike would approve of having them help out.

I know Mike is probably off somewhere betting on a few horses, entertaining those nearby with his Elvis impressions and songs and looking at the card for the upcoming week.

I will wait for him to send me some winners!!!!

Respectfully and sadly,

Gail
Mike Lee Sports

[BettorsChat]

Sorry to hear this news

[champs]

Remembering Mike Lee

Meeting Mike Lee at a party you never would have guessed he was one of Las Vegas' most established and finest sports handicappers.

Not the way Mike played guitar, sang and did impersonations. He would be the life of the party, but by 10 p.m. you couldn't find him unless you discovered what room he was tucked away in crunching betting numbers for tomorrow's card.

It was this great work ethic, innovative thought process and original ideas that helped him win several prestigious football contests, including the 1989 Las Vegas Hilton SuperContest. Those skills carried him through 28 years of making a living as one of the most respectable handicappers ever in Las Vegas.

On Wednesday evening Mike Lee passed away at age 55 after suffering a massive stroke Sunday.

"A lot of professional handicappers are one dimensional people when you get them off the subject of sports," said Arne Lang, a sports gaming author and college football handicapper who knew Mike for 25 years. "They don't really bring much to the table. Mike was a lot more nuanced than that."

"Everybody has certain frustrations in life and Mike was a frustrated troubadour," he added. "Even though he never became a public troubadour, those close to him were regaled by his singing, song writing and impersonations."

"He could really get enthusiastic about a line in a song, or a good line spoken in a movie. Those things would stick with him. He really appreciated good lines. He was really an interesting guy."

He also wasn't too bad of a handicapper. In the last 20 years it's estimated Lee might have won more than a quarter of a million dollars by winning or placing high in not only the Hilton SuperContest, but other now defunct contests such as the Castaways Ultimate Challenge and the Sunset Invitational.

Lee may have been the hottest handicapper in Vegas during the late 1980's. His handicapping stretched across two generations, always with an emphasis on innovative power rankings.

"I'll miss his great sense of humor and on the money impressions," Dave Cokin, another veteran Las Vegas handicapper, said. "He definitely was one of the pioneers in the sports advisory field. He was a mainstay for decades, which is unusual in such a volatile industry."

A graduate of the University of Alabama and big fan of Bear Bryant, Lee’s writing, analysis and picks were featured in numerous publications. Among them were The National, Gambling Times, Sports Form (now called Gaming Today), along with Lee’s own handicapping publication The Moneymaker.

"I remember being in college at Auburn and getting the National sports newspaper from friends that would be coming back from Atlanta," handicapper Tim Trushel said. "Mike's contributions were the first things I would look for."

"When I met him several years later, he was so gracious and friendly," he said. "I was blown away that Mike Lee would be so approachable and helpful. Just a regular guy."

Russ Culver and Lee were friends for more than 20 years. Culver hired Lee to handicap for Vegas Insider when he was director of sports analysis there.

"One way to measure a handicapper is not how many winners they pick," said Culver, now an independent oddsmaker and sports bettor. "But by how much they contributed to the good of the betting community and industry."

"Not many people have contributed more than Mike Lee when you look at what he did in his newsletters, books, radio appearances and speaking at seminars," he added. "Everybody is out to make a buck nowadays. Mike did a lot to educate and share everything he had. He didn’t say, 'How much can I get for this?'"

Lee’s 1981 book called "Betting the Bases" remains the hottest selling baseball book at the Gamblers Book Club in Las Vegas. It originally sold for $3. It now sells for $8.95 because of rising printing costs.

"People still use it today," said Howard Schwartz, owner of the Gamblers Book Club. "Some of the concepts are still valid."

The first congratulatory call Culver received seconds after he won the 1999 Hilton SuperContest was from Lee, who was screaming how happy he was for his buddy.

"A lot of people in the (handicapping) industry want to see how much money they can make and how fast," Culver said. "They're all aggressively trying to pursue the same dollar. They’re all competitors."

"Mike didn't believe handicappers should be competitors. He wanted to win, but he also wanted all the other handicappers to win as well. He didn't have a mean bone in his body."

Most touts don’t get a lot of respect. Many don’t deserve respect. Mike Lee was one of the exceptions.

"In an industry where egos rule over substance, Mike Lee was as humble as they come," handicapper Bryan Leonard said. "He was a quality handicapper and an even better person. Each and every one of us should strive to be as well liked as Mike. He will be missed by everyone he has ever met."

In the last few months Mike had become an exclusive handicapper for ****** as part of the ****** Experts team.

"He more than proved his 'capping abilities during his stay at ****** Experts and his Surest Winners were a big hit with our customer base," Shawn Torrey, director of ****** Experts said. "He is sure to be missed. It's a sad day at ****** for sure."

It's a sad day for everyone in the gaming industry.

Steve Nover cvers.com

[champs]

Mike Lee: An Appreciation

By Kevin O’Neill

September 9, 2004



Mike Lee died yesterday. He fell ill suddenly while working on his newsletter last weekend and recovery was never really an option. He was only 55-years old.



Mike was a groundbreaking sports handicapper who was well ahead of his time. If he wasn’t the first public handicapper to use computers to formulate power ratings and create user-friendly statistical presentations back in the 1980’s, he certainly took the art of statistical handicapping to greater heights. The result was stunning performance and a lasting influence on an entire generation of sports handicappers. 60% seasons were de rigueur, and old-timers still talk about the football season in the early 80’s when Mike went 45-22 in a weekly sports publication with a deadline requiring that the games be picked ten days in advance.



More importantly, in an “anything for a buck” industry dominated by self-interest, he was a fine man, friendly and kind, funny and entertaining. He was much more than a handicapping mentor to so many of us, he was a good friend as well.



Mike’s kind gestures were many and frequent. When I wrote a book on football betting in 1996 I sent a copy to Mike, telling him that I had been a subscriber to his newsletter since I was in high school, and thanking him for his influence on me. His supportive response (he gave me a great review in his newsletter, helping me to sell a lot of books and get established in the handicapping world) and return correspondence sparked a friendship that continued to this day. When I told Mike of his influence on my handicapping, that I had subscribed to his newsletter in the mid-80’s when I was still in high school, he was delighted. I was perpetually 17-years old to Mike, and he continued to call me “young man” and treat me as though I was still an eager young cub handicapper.



While long-term 60% pointspread records are no longer possible in the information age, and those who handicap year-round can’t help but suffer from burnout at times, he still retained his enthusiasm for football. Mike’s many friends in the business delighted in his phone calls and emails early on Sunday morning. He couldn’t wait to share the information that he had discovered when he would arise before sunrise to begin work on the next weekend’s football card.



Mike grew up in Atlanta, graduated from Alabama (he was a huge admirer of Bear Bryant), and was a radio DJ in the southeast before heading west to make his mark. No stranger to the guitar, Mike’s dead-on Elvis impressions livened up many a Las Vegas social affair and his storytelling was legendary. Whenever former Senator Max Cleland of Georgia was in the news Mike reveled in telling all who would listen how a girlfriend in Atlanta left him for the charismatic wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran. Mike loved horse racing and had he focused his considerably analytical skills in that direction instead of on sports, he would have been a recognizable pace-handicapping authority.



Sports handicapping is not an “if you build it, they will come world” and Mike’s passion for handicapping didn’t make him a wealthy man. In recent years he involved himself in some business relationships outside of Mike Lee Sports that he later regretted. In almost any other field an industry leader would have paid Mike a handsome sum to follow his passion on his own terms, but unfortunately that’s not how it works in the sports handicapping world.



I saw Mike for the final time just a couple of weeks ago. Sagely knowing that a book signing at Gambler’s Book Club would have plenty of down time, Mike thoughtfully fought the Friday afternoon Vegas traffic to visit. Mike has suffered some health problems in recent years but he looked good on that day. While he didn’t bring his guitar, Mike’s storytelling and Elvis impressions were near their peak. It was a delightful hour.



Mike demanded that I sign a book for him, and I’m glad that I did, because had I not inscribed it “to Mike Lee, a true mentor” I wouldn’t have had a chance to remind him of his influence on me, and note the mark this honest and good man made on the handicapping world.



Sports bettors everywhere join Mike’s long-time girlfriend, Las Vegas journalist Lynda Collins, his Mike Lee Sports business partner Gail Fayad (who has a touching tribute to Mike at www.mikeleesports.com), his son, his two grandchildren, and him many friends in mourning his passing. R.I.P.