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![]() Matt Fargo - 2/26/2008 1:51 PM 2007 Record 72 Wins 90 Losses - 5th National League Central 2007 Money ($1,525) Moneyline ~ (944) Runline ~ 88-68 Over/Under 2007 Review After years of starting off the season with solid play, the Reds didn’t tease their fans last year as they started the year 31-51 which led to the firing of manager Jerry Narron. The good news was a finish of 41-39 which could carry over into this season... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/24/2008 7:13 PM 2007 Record 71 Wins 91 Losses - 5th National League East 2007 Money -$1,135 moneyline -2,334 Runline 90-62 Over/Under 2007 Review The Marlins finished with a worse record for the 5th straight season so they did the typical Marlins solution and got rid of their two top veterans Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. Back in 2006, many predicted well over 100 losses but they surprised and fin... |
![]() Triple Threat Sports - 2/22/2008 4:53 AM When the Bracket Buster started a few years back it was a great idea that provided a few games, most of which were interesting and meaningful. Since then the monster has for the most part swallowed itself whole as there are matchups within the 50 Bracket Buster games that even the most die hard college hoops fan would be hard pressed to watch. However, there will be some good games, and we have na... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/21/2008 4:45 PM We knew coming in that St. Mary’s was going to be a good team and possibly challenge Gonzaga for the West Coast Championship. We just weren’t sure how good. The Gaels finished 17-15 last season but they came into this year with four returning starters including six of their top seven scorers, 75 percent of their scoring offense and 80 percent of their rebounds from a year ago. The big concern was... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 2/20/2008 3:06 PM by Max Powers - 02/19/2008 For the past couple of seasons the Missouri Valley Conference has been the media darling of the NCAA Tournament. They have become a major player in the college basketball landscape despite being a basketball only mid-major conference. Through creative scheduling MVC teams amass high RPI numbers that the selection committee can't help but notice and therefore they have... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 2/19/2008 3:27 PM by T.O. Whenham - 02/19/2008 A - Adios. Now is the time every year when we see just how ruthless the NFL can be - it's the time when formerly valued players get tossed aside by their teams to clear up cap space. There have been some impressive names given a pink slip so far - Trent Green, Zach Thomas, Byron Leftwich, Alge Crumpler. That's just the tip of the iceberg, and a reminder to every cur... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/19/2008 11:51 AM 2007 Record 71 Wins 91 Losses - 5th National League West 2007 Money -$2,067 moneyline -1,414 Runline 72-84 Over/Under 2007 Review Now that the Barry Bonds circus is over, the Giants can concentrate on winning baseball games and not having to deal with home run records and steroid allegations. He was a huge draw but this is a better team with him gone. The Giants were a MLB-worst -$2,067 last... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/17/2008 10:28 AM 2007 Record 70 Wins 92 Losses - 4th American League East 2007 Money -$1,896 moneyline +$475 Runline 82-73 Over/Under 2007 Review 2007 was yet another disappointment for Baltimore as the Orioles finished with a losing season for a franchise record 10th straight season. Only Tampa Bay had a worse pitching staff as the Orioles finished with a 5.19 ERA and they were the only two teams with an... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/14/2008 12:36 PM Michigan St., Indiana, Ohio St. and Wisconsin came into the season being the four teams that were going to fight it out for the Big Ten title. While all four remain at the top of the standings, they are all looking up at a team that has no business sitting in first place. Or does it? Purdue is coming off a solid 22-12 campaign last year but it lost its two best players, David Teague and Carl Landr... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/12/2008 12:30 PM 2007 Record 69 Wins 93 Losses - 5th American League Central 2007 Money -$108 moneyline -$664 Runline 63-88 Over/Under 2007 Review The Royals lost 93 games last season and while it wasn’t a cause for jubilation, it was the first time in four years that Kansas City had not dropped at least 100 games. Now after four straight years in last place, it’s time to get out of the cellar in the Ame... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 2/12/2008 12:03 PM by T.O. Whenham A - Ascension. Few would be able to name the team at the top of the Big Ten standings at first guess. It's Purdue. It might seem like they are upstarts compared to the four other likely tournament-bound teams in the conference, but the Boilermakers proved they belonged this weekend by completing a season sweep of Wisconsin. Add in a sweep of Illinois, a solid beating of Ohio Sta... |
![]() Big Al McMordie - 2/11/2008 11:33 AM Inside the Numbers, By Big Al McMordie As we pass the mid-point of the NBA season, let's take a look at some overall season stats. What correlates more with success, a good offense or good defense? Well, let's take a look at the highest scoring teams in the NBA: They are, in order, the Suns, Warriors, Lakers, Nuggets, Jazz and Magic. What stands out is that these are good teams... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/11/2008 10:57 AM 2007 Record 68 Wins 94 Losses - 6th National League Central 2007 Money -$1663 moneyline -$1639 Runline 83-70 Over/Under 2007 Review Losing seasons are becoming the norm in Pittsburgh. After posting the worst record in the National League last season, the Pirates have now failed to finish .500 or better in 15 straight years which is just one year shy of the Major League record set in 1948... |
![]() Tom Stryker - 2/8/2008 5:16 PM One of College Basketball's Toughest Encore's Emotion plays a big part in sports. It doesn't matter if it's football, basketball or baseball, one team is usually "getting up" for another. Thankfully, this emotional part of the game exists because it leads sports handicappers and investors to an array of profitable opportunities. This specific technical situation is one of my favo... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 2/8/2008 11:40 AM 2007 Record 66 Wins 96 Losses - 5th American League East 2007 Money -$1344 moneyline -$1694 Runline 82-72 Over/Under 2007 Review It was once again another disappointing season for Tampa Bay who finished with the worst record in baseball for the second straight season. Part of the problem has been the struggles on the road as the Devil Rays have only 49 road victories over the last two ye... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 2/6/2008 1:45 PM by T.O. Whenham - 02/06/2007<p>Having the flu isn't a lot of fun. You probably know that from first hand experience. So do a surprising number of NBA players. Over the last couple of weeks the list of players who have missed time thanks to the flu is long and reasonably distinguished. Just take a look - Dwyane Wade didn't travel to play Orlando, Tracy McGrady didn't play Golden State, Yao Mi... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 2/6/2008 1:42 PM by T.O. Whenham - 02/04/2007<P>A - Aggies. It's been a pretty great 10 days for Texas A&M, with big conference wins over Oklahoma State, Texas and Oklahoma. The 17-point victory over Texas was particularly striking. The only problem is that the team preceded this nice string with three conferences losses in a row, and they weren't close in two of them. This is one of those teams I find s... |
![]() Big Al McMordie - 2/3/2008 3:08 PM NBA News and Notes, By Big Al McMordie The Cavaliers ended up with a 14-point rout of the Clippers, 98-84. On the surface it appeared to be a one-sided game. However, a closer look reveals a different story. The victory was tougher than it should have been. LeBron James returned after sitting out last week's loss against the Seattle SuperSonics due to a sore right ankle... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 1/30/2008 12:35 PM This is one of those topics that can be hit or miss since turnovers are usually so unpredictable in the NFL. Interceptions are more likely to be determined or “called” but fumbles, while contagious throughout a season, can happen when least expected and vice versa. Turnovers play significant roles in every game and the Super Bowl is no exception. In the first 41 Super Bowls, teams that win the tur... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 1/29/2008 4:20 PM by Josh Nagel - 01/29/2007<p>The NBA season started with some surprise contenders such as Orlando and Boston immediately making an impact and adding a new wave of needed respectability to the Eastern Conference. But lately it has been sleepers from the West such as the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers who have stepped up and shown the immense depth of the Western Conference. If the... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 1/29/2008 4:16 PM by T.O. Whenham - 01/29/2007<p>A - Alfredsson, Daniel. The captain of the Ottawa Senators had a pretty good night on Thursday when his team traveled to Tampa Bay. If you call seven points a good night, that is. The Swede scored a hat trick and added four more assists to help his team double up on the Lightning, 8-4. The offensive star hadn't scored in two previous games, so this was a heck o... |
![]() Lenny Del Genio - 1/28/2008 9:12 PM Key NBA Trends by Lenny Del Genio Every NBA team falls into a situation or two in which they either consistently kill or produce for their backers. The key for you, the player, is to identify those situations on a team-by-team basis. Two weeks ago, we identified a league-wide situation in which all NBA home teams perform poorly in. That would be playing their first home game f... |
![]() Ben Burns - 1/28/2008 4:21 PM The Secret of My Super Bowl Success by Ben Burns Although my personal Super Bowl winning streak goes back a number of years before my picks became available online for the public, this article will focus on the 10 Super Bowl selections that I have released since my picks became available for the public. I've begun by briefly discussing my basic playoff theory. That's followed by... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 1/25/2008 12:09 PM It’s pretty common knowledge in football that winning the rushing battle usually means winning the football game. That is the case throughout the regular season, the playoffs and ultimately, the Super Bowl. Obviously, picking which team is going to win the rushing battle is not the easiest of tasks since if it was, everyone would be likely winning money on sports’ most wagered-on game. Let’s do s... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 1/24/2008 3:43 PM by T.O. Whenham - 01/24/2007 Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott - one of the most bizarre, over-hyped MMA fights in recent memory. The unproven Internet sensation meets the has-been for glory and not much else at Elite XC 'Street Certified' on Saturday Feb. 16. It probably won't be much of a fight, but it will certainly be a spectacle. The question of interest, though, is whether there is a betting op... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 1/22/2008 10:09 PM This is a follow up to an article I put together last season prior to the Super Bowl and it was worth updating for this year. Quarterback mismatches are not very common in the Super Bowl but when they occur, it usually means victory for the favorite. A mismatch is based on opinion and these can be argued all day and this year’s version is right on the border. Eli Manning has stepped his game up hu... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 1/22/2008 4:35 PM by T.O. Whenham - 01/21/2007 A - Andy Murray. The former tennis prodigy won his first tournament of the year and was showing new maturity and focus after ditching coach Brad Gilbert late last year, so I boldly chose him as an upset pick at the Australian Open. The Brit rewarded my faith by going out and getting smoked in the first round. He went home with his tail between his legs and my pocket... |
![]() Rocketman Sports - 1/21/2008 3:50 PM Rocketman Sports TOP 25 CBB Rankings 1-21-08 It has been a great season here at Rocketman Sports in College Basketball. We are currently documented #1 in the nation this year with a 45-25 64% record at Sports Watch. Check back each and every week as we will put up our Top 25 CBB Rankings so you can compare to the other rankings out there. ... |
![]() Tom Stryker - 1/19/2008 1:51 PM NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP NOTESMake no bones about it. There are going to be two very good football games on Sunday. San Diego makes the trek to the east coast to take on New England while New York and Eli Manning takes its road show to the Frozen Tundra to tackle Green bay. The Chargers and Giants are both road warriors and they'll need to bring their "A-Game" because the Patriots and Packers c... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 1/18/2008 10:04 AM One look at the Missouri Valley Conference standings makes you wonder what the heck is going on. Bradley, Wichita St. and Northern Iowa are all at the bottom half of the conference with losing records while 1st place is vacated by Illinois St. and Drake. The Redbirds were picked to finish middle of the pack while Drake was predicted to finish low and was even picked to end up dead last in the Vall... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 1/16/2008 3:57 PM by Jason Shimberg - 01/15/2007 Doc's Sports offers spread betting explained in a way that is easy for even novice bettors to understand. The definition of point spread is the predicted scoring differential between two opponents as quoted by a sports book. The point spread is also called the line. If you have have bet a sporting event in the past, but have never bet on the point spread this will... |
![]() Doc's Sports - 1/15/2008 4:11 PM by T.O. Whenham - 01/14/2008 A - Again. The NBA has ruled that the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat have to replay the last 51.9 seconds of their game played on Dec. 19. Shaq got a foul with the score 112-111 for Atlanta in overtime. It was his fifth, but the scorers' table said it was his sixth. With the giant center out, the Hawks went on to win 117-111 and cover the spread as two point f... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 1/11/2008 12:53 PM Washington St. passed another test on Thursday as it went into USC and easily took care of the Trojans, moving its record to 14-0 on the season. To the novice college basketball follower, the Cougars came out of nowhere to be where they are now since they are not a household name and have been overshadowed for years by their in-state rival Washington Huskies. I am here to tell you this team is for... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 1/4/2008 12:53 PM At this point in the season, not many people would have thought Vanderbilt would be one of the six remaining undefeated teams in the country. But here are the Commodores, sitting at 14-0 with just one game remaining before the start of SEC action. Their final non-conference test comes on Saturday as they host Massachusetts, who comes in with a solid 11-2 record. From there, it is 16 straight confe... |
![]() Tom Stryker - 1/4/2008 12:36 PM TOM STRYKER'S NFL SYSTEM of the WEEK NFL Wild Card Super System Back in 1990, the NFL decided to change its playoff format by adding two teams to the mix (one per conference). That move changed the Wild Card round to what it is today and brought us - the wagering public - even more opportunity to prosper. Thanks to my powerful NFL database I've recorded all of the results ... |
![]() Brian Graves - 1/2/2008 12:54 PM Fiesta Bowl--West Virginia vs. Oklahoma This game really comes down to one matchup and that's the West Virginia offensive line against the Oklahoma front 7 on defense. West Virginia has been exposed in a couple of games this year on offense against Pitt and South Florida. They struggled to run the ball and turned the ba... |
![]() Brian Graves - 12/30/2007 11:46 PM Armed Forces Bowl--Air Force vs. California Air Force as usual has one of the top rated rushing attacks in the country finishing second in the nation to Navy at nearly 300 yards/game. The big difference in this team is that they throw the ball more than they have in the past and Shaun Carney threw it pretty well. He completed just over 62% of his passes and threw only 5... |
![]() Brian Graves - 12/26/2007 3:55 PM Dec. 26th Motor City Bowl--Central Michigan vs. Purdue This a rematch of an earlier game this season that Purdue dominated 45-22 at home. The score is closer than the game really was as Purdue turned the ball over 5 times and probably cost themselves at least an additional 14 points. Central Michigan couldn't do anything offensively un... |
![]() Nick Parsons - 12/21/2007 6:22 AM The Wild Wild West Nick Parsons In my last article I reviewed the NBA’s Eastern Conference; in this article I’m going to look at the ‘head honchos’ in the West and some interesting ‘against the spread’ trends. Orlando, Detroit and Boston are still the top dogs in the East, and there are three standouts in the West as well, but that is where the similarities end between t... |
![]() Brian Graves - 12/20/2007 1:33 AM Dec. 20th Poinsettia Bowl--Navy vs. Utah This is an interesting game as you have the always tough and game Naval Academy against a team that really played well at the end of the year in Utah. The things we know are that Navy moves the ball on virtually everyone and stops nearly nobody. I don't ha... |
![]() Lenny Del Genio - 12/14/2007 2:01 PM One of my all-time favorite quotes in the history of sports talk radio comes from The Jim Rome Show. “There are two perfectly good reasons for there to be 32 bowl games – gambling and gambling.” While Rome and the majority of the public dismiss any College postseason contest played before the New Year, those Bowl games are often the easiest to handicap. Here are three general rules you should jot... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 12/11/2007 12:00 PM PapaJohns.com Bowl - December 22, 2007 Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 7-5 SU, 5-6 ATS Cincinnati Bearcats 9-3 SU, 8-2-1 ATS Storyline Southern Mississippi will be playing its 10th bowl game in the last 11 years under head coach Jeff Bower who announced two weeks ago that he is stepping down after 17 years of leading the Golden Eagles. The season was a big disappointment as they came... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 12/11/2007 10:05 AM R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - December 21, 2007 Florida Atlantic Owls 7-5 SU, 7-5 ATS Memphis Tigers 7-5 SU, 6-4-1 ATS Storyline Troy was the big favorite to go back to the New Orleans Bowl but Florida Atlantic had a different plan in place as it celebrated its first Sun Belt Conference Championship and first ever bowl appearance. The Owls have been playing FCS football (formerly Div... |
![]() Matt Fargo - 12/10/2007 11:17 AM San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl - December 20, 2007 Navy Midshipmen 8-4 SU, 4-7 ATS Utah Utes 8-4 SU, 7-5 ATS Storyline The first bowl game to kick off the postseason will be an entertaining one. Navy is back at the Poinsettia Bowl for the second time in three years and this is a game it knew it would be playing way back in September as it accepted an invite to San Diego a... |
![]() Tom Scott - 12/4/2007 12:30 PM TOM SCOTT'S ANGLE OF THE WEEK Sometimes, no matter how bad the opponent is, a team should not be favored. There's a situation in the NFL this week that finds a substantial home favorite who has been unable to crack the 21-point mark in any of his last three games. If you can't score 21 in the NFL it's difficult to win the game let alone cover a spread as a favorite. For example: All N... |
![]() Nick Parsons - 12/3/2007 9:38 AM Nick Parsons The addition of Garnett and Allen will surely cause the Celtics to become a more popular pick with the betting public. It's highly doubtful that they'll be able to match last season's ATS record on the road; however, an improvement at home should be expected. While perusing a couple of sites on the Internet, I found the Celtics at +2050 to win the Championship... |
![]() Big Al McMordie - 12/2/2007 2:49 PM The Wacky Season By Big Al McMordie Is there any doubt that whoever is #1 heading into the BCS title game will win? That's because of the #2 curse in this crazy 2007 college football season. If the #2 team can't even beat Stanford or Pitt, what chance does it have against #1? West Virginia's shocking loss at home to Pitt only muddies the crazy national title picture. Which b... |
![]() Rocketman Sports - 11/27/2007 3:24 PM Rocketman Sports TOP 25 CFB Power Ratings Week 14 Rocketman is back with his Weekly CFB Power Ratings update. Let’s see how my ratings compare with the BCS ratings this week. We still have much confusion whether or not the BCS ratings are the way to go for the National Championship. Some are still crying out having a playoff system. Here are my ratings for this week.... |
![]() Trey Johnson - 11/8/2007 2:00 PM At this point of the season it is a fairly safe bet that the national championship game will feature two of the current BCS Top-5 teams. That said I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how each of those teams have faired in their most recent bowl appearances. 1. Ohio State After a dismal 1-11 ATS run from 1990 thru 2002 the Buckeyes have turned... |
![]() Trey Johnson - 10/24/2007 9:13 AM We’re down to five! After Rutgers defeated South Florida 30-27 last Thursday the list of undefeated teams has shrunk to five: Arizona State, Boston College, Hawaii, Kansas, and Ohio State. Will any of the five remaining drop out of the quest for perfection this weekend? Let’s take a look. Arizona State After a 44-20 pounding of Washington the Sun Devils took their 7-0 record into the bye... |