Obit on Gold Sheet publisher Mort Olshan

[Stephen]

WE LOST A PIONEER 10/02/03 - Stephen Nover

Mort Olshan, founder of the Gold Sheet in 1957, will be buried Thursday in Los Angeles. The mainstream media won't be there because they didn't know Olshan probably was one of the 10 most influential men in sports gaming history.

Olshan was a true pioneer in the sports wagering field. Now, 46 years later, The Gold Sheet still remains the standard for every weekly football and basketball newsletter.

Olshan, 78, died from lung cancer earlier this week in Beverly Hills, Calif. The Gold Sheet is widely respected for its information, statistics and power ratings.

"He's up there with (oddsmaker) Bob Martin, in people who really made sports betting what it is today," radio talk show host and gaming analyst Larry Grossman said of Olshan.

Several generations have grown up learning about sports wagering and handicapping games by reading The Gold Sheet. Prior to the computer age, The Gold Sheet's power rankings may have been the most influential in the country.

"Much to his credit, he stayed the course," Grossman said. "He was ahead of the times, and the times caught up to him."

While the Gold Sheet’s information and statistics always are top-notch, the newsletter has drawn criticism for not being more successful in picking winners. Like all newsletters, The Gold Sheet has had good and bad years. It's never easy publishing picks a week ahead of time so subscribers receive the material well before game time.

However, nobody can question the integrity, credibility and honesty of The Gold Sheet. It all started with Olshan. There was no BS hype with The Gold Sheet.

"He always felt if you were going to wager on sports do so intelligently," said Chuck Sippl, senior analyst for The Gold Sheet. "He set the standard there. He always insisted we run a completely honest operation. He never hesitated to let his readers know what they were up against and how well they had to do to be successful."

Sick of scammers hyping 75 percent or more winners when 55 to 58 is considered an excellent year by professional bettors, Olshan posted a challenge. If anyone thought they could hit 70 percent or more winners in the NFL on 100 picks, Olshan would put up $100,000 to that person's $1,000. There actually were a few fools who took Olshan up on it.

"Nobody could ever do it," said Carl Giordano, managing editor of The Gold Sheet. "They'd get halfway through the season and realize they could never make it.

"On each occasion, he (Olshan) gave them their money back because he knew it was impossible.

"It irks us whenever someone says they can hit 75 percent when selecting more than 100 games in the NFL. I know it's not true. The lines are too accurate and there are too many variables. The edges are too small."

Minneapolis was the sports betting capital of the country in the 1940s before Las Vegas came into prominence. Leo Hirschfield was considered the foremost oddsmaker, and Olshan worked under him as a statistician.

But, following the Kefauver Senate hearings in the early 1950s, sports betting was driven out of Minnesota. The Lakers basketball team moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960.

"He (Olshan) told a story that part of the reason the Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles was because after the gamblers left Minnesota there was nobody left to attend the games," Giordano said. "Attendance took such a nose dive because they were all guys who had bets on the game."

Olshan moved to Los Angeles in the '50s and first published The Gold Sheet in 1957. Giordano, whose father also worked for The Gold Sheet, said the newsletter has been out every week since then during football and basketball season.

The Gold Sheet will keep publishing. Olshan sold The Gold Sheet to five of his long-time employees three years ago. Gary Olshan, Mort's son, is the company president. Mort Olshan had remained a consultant and guiding force and also wrote his occasional column.

His column style was that of an essayist. He wrote eloquently, not just about sports, but of politics and current affairs. He was well versed not only in sports gaming, but also in life. Olshan was a marine in World War II and fought in Okinawa.

"He never talked about it," Giordano said. "It came out one day during a discussion on a write-up of a game. He said he didn't like using war as a reference for a football game.

"He wrote that college football is a game played between kids on a Saturday afternoon. War is 20-year-olds crawling on their bellies through barbed wire with guys shooting at them."