Gold Sheet founder passes away

tuleythetout · Sep 30, 2003

I haven't seen this posted here...so I wanted to pass on the news that Mort Olshan, who started a football newsletter in 1957 that became widely known as the Gold Sheet, died Monday afternoon from lung cancer. He was 77.

I never met him and only talked to him once over the phone, but I know many other people in the business who spoke highly of Mr. Olshan. The Gold Sheet has had critics over the years, but I think most would agree it was a pioneer in the field (I, for one, got many of my earliest lessons in football handicapping from checking out the Gold Sheet).

Jigsaw · Oct 1, 2003

I for one never want someone to suffer and hope he had as little pain as possible. His publication was a godsend for handicappers because it had a treasure trove full of information but their picking service will go down as legendary. They cost bettors in the billions. They couldn't take that information and turn it intop winners know matter how hard they tried of the @ 60 years in business.

Fishhead · Oct 1, 2003

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jigsaw:
I for one never want someone to suffer and hope he had as little pain as possible. His publication was a godsend for handicappers because it had a treasure trove full of information but their picking service will go down as legendary. They cost bettors in the billions. They couldn't take that information and turn it intop winners know matter how hard they tried of the @ 60 years in business.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Very sad to hear of Mr. Olshans passing. Always seemed like a classy guy. However, what jigsaw says here is 100% correct. The Gold Sheet was a wealth of great information, including some of the best power ratings in the business. But their selections over the years were horrrific. Almost got a sense they were TRYING to pick losers. In fact, I knew many wise-guys that would bet the opposite of their selections.

THE SHRINK · Oct 1, 2003

A very sad day indeed...

After a 3 month struggle with lung cancer, Mort passed away...

He was one of the good guys!!

TheRx.com would like to wish his family & friends the best in these difficult times..

THE SHRINK

cingu · Oct 1, 2003

ken

was mort a member of the tribe?

MangoMan+ · Oct 1, 2003

Mort thought because he was the first that his picks were the best. What a mislead fool. Always took shots at everyone else. funny quick story. A friend of mine bought the gold sheet plus their telephone service. After two years of losing consistently on the phone service I asked him if he was ready to quit the gold sheet. He blamed it on his interpretation of the stats and said he played the wrong phone games even though they only hit about 45%. Amazing!!!

scott · Oct 1, 2003

Mort was a stand up guy, a true gentleman. He was the biggest chain smoker I've ever seen and that's the only thing I could say on the minus side. I have the privilege of being included in his "The Best of The Gold Sheet" chronicling his best & most informative articles from 1957-1987. Mort & I did business with never more than a handshake. I don't care about the pics, he played a huge part in the early years and was very influential. Lots of people used his power ratings (pre computers) but they wouldn't admit it! .....ScottyS

ChuckSims · Oct 1, 2003

One of the funniest lines about Mort Olshan was from Russ Culver. Russ said, "If Mort has (team), I've got the other side".

wilheim · Oct 1, 2003

Mort Olshan will be missed. I remember subscribing to the Gold Sheet back in the early 70's. I could not wait every week for it to arrive in the mail. Mort in those days, usually had a column. The Gold Sheet tought me how to handicap, it always had intelligent tips for any type of bettor. I still use it on-line.

wil.

BigGamesOnly · Oct 1, 2003

Man, that old rag is still around??? I remember reading that when I was betting in the 80's. I never played their picks but they sure had a lot of good info.

exilarch · Oct 1, 2003

Wilheim: "The Gold Sheet taught me how to handicap." Same here, Wilheim, absolutely. I first started buying it when I was a serviceman at Fort Knox, KY. Louisville was a great gambling town in the very late sixties.

wilheim · Oct 1, 2003

It still has good info, unfortunatley in todays information age most of it is redundant. I have never used it for picks, just information. Sometime you have to know what to look for. In the pre-internet era the Gold Sheet, for me, was invaluable.The Gold Sheet

wil.

Sodium Pentethol V · Oct 1, 2003

The only FB publication I ever bought besides S&S college preview.

I haven't seen one in probably 20yrs,
but like SS said back in the day anyone that claimed to not read it was lying.

He will be missed, I patronize his site once in a while and actually prefer their formatted logs.

TheGeneral+ · Oct 1, 2003

God bless Mort Olshan

hookem+ · Oct 2, 2003

I don't post too often, and don't even have much time to lurk anymore, but just couldn't resist this time. I've always enjoyed reading the Goldsheet, and have subscribed for 15 years. Their printed picks have never been terribly good, but for some reason, I decided to subscribe to their call in picks 2 years ago. My realized record using their call-ins for football (college and pro):

2001: 110.0 - 74.5 59.6%
2002: 100.5 - 77.5 56.5%
2003: 25.0 - 19.0 56.8%

Not sure why I even bother to post this, but I've read so many potshots taken at the GS picks in the last few years, and I wonder how many of those who did so have ever actually used them or even knew what they were.

As an aside, I was offered a deal on their March Madness/NBA stuff in March/April of this year. Hot off of 2 winning seasons, I took it. The results there were terrible (62.5 - 80.0, 43.9%). But for football, I've seen 2+ winning seasons.

I never met or talked to Mort Olshan, but as I stated before, I've always enjoyed his publication, as well as his columns over the years

RIP Mr. Olshan

Gold Sheet founder passes away

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