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 NBA Finals: Thunderation! New Kids in TownJim Feist - 6/10/2012 1:18 PM by Jim Feist The NBA Finals gets underway this week featuring a newcomer, the Oklahoma City Thunder with home court before heading East for Game 3, 4 and 5. Many fans find this odd, as all the previous series are in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, but then the Finals shifts to a 2-3-2 format. It is odd, but there is a reason for the change: M-O-N-E-Y. The NBA prefers a longer series to build up in... |
| NBA Finals Fever! Jim Feist - 6/3/2012 4:28 PM by Jim Feist Say, what happened to "Youth Must Be Served?" Last year was supposed to be the year the kids stepped up in Oklahoma City and Miami and started a new era in the NBA. Well, Miami came close, carving out a 2-1 series lead before collapsing, but it was those old fogies in Dallas who came away with the title - another veteran team winning the whole thing. Veterans NBA teams have... |
| Baseball Injuries, Bad Lines and Big Dogs! Jim Feist - 5/27/2012 1:57 PM by Jim Feist Baseball has a long regular season, almost twice as many games as pro basketball, and ten times more games than the NFL regular season. Baseball athletes have to play just about every day and sometimes even have to play twice in a day during double-headers. This is why it's essential to keep up on injuries. In football, if a starting quarterback or star running back is injured and... |
| Lean Toward Big Dogs More than Big Chalk Jim Feist - 5/21/2012 12:04 AM by Jim Feist April and May means that many novice sports bettors may look at the matchups and lean toward ace pitchers and lay the big price. But let me give you three words of advice: Don't do it. Baseball is unique from football and basketball in that there is no point spread. Instead you bet merely on which team will win the game and this translates into a money-line wager. When be... |
| NBA Playoffs: Be Cautious of Blowouts Jim Feist - 5/17/2012 12:47 PM by Jim Feist The NBA playoffs are in full swing, which means overall the better teams are battling each other. This is different from the regular season when many nights great teams are playing bad teams and bad teams are playing worse one. Astute sports bettors should pay very careful attention to blowouts. For instance, after losing Game 1 at the Lakers, 103-88, the Nuggets covered in... |
| Golden Contender: NBA Round 2 Historical analysis and series previews Golden Contender - 5/15/2012 1:29 PM In this piece we will examine the NBA Round 2 Series using Historical data and take a look at some of the statistical results from this season as we break down round 2. HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Playing Game 1 @ H: Ignoring win order; considering site order: The team playing Game 1 at home have the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record. Game 1 record, NBA only, all rounds: 31... |
| Baseball Hot and Cold Starts Jim Feist - 5/6/2012 1:45 PM by Jim Feist More than any other sport, baseball is a game of patience. It's not how you start, but where you finish, and with a 162-game regular season, there is a LOT of baseball left. Did your team get off to a bad start? Well don't panic. There is plenty of time to make adjustments and turn things around. Did your team get off to a hot start? Don't start making World Series reservations ju... |
| Postseason Basketball and Earlier Meetings Jim Feist - 4/29/2012 1:51 PM by Jim Feist As the NBA playoffs roll on, handicappers should take careful note of how teams did against each other during the regular season. Examine head to head matchups individually and as a group. Does one team dominate another? If so, are the reasons for this, or was it merely a fluke during the long grind of the 66-game schedule? Two weeks ago we saw a terrific game as the Thunde... |
| Defense and Totals in the NBA Playoffs Jim Feist - 4/22/2012 6:24 PM by Jim Feist The NBA playoffs get rolling this week, which is a good time to revisit an old sports adage: Defense wins championships. Some teams are already in that playoff mode while fighting for postioning, with the Celtics on a recent 9-3 run under the total, the Heat on a 7-3 run under, and even the Knicks with Tyson Chandler picking up the slack from injured players Amare Stoudamire and... |
| NBA Playoffs: The Best of the West Jim Feist - 4/15/2012 1:33 PM by Jim Feist Start your engines! The NBA playoffs start next week, time for endless full court action every night as the league crowns another champion. Let's take a look at the best of the West, the conference that has won nine of the last 12 NBA titles. Oklahoma City: The team no one wants to play! The Thunder gave us a hint of their young talent a year ago, but has put it all toget... |
| NBA Stretch Run: The Best of the East Jim Feist - 4/8/2012 10:28 PM by Jim Feist It's been a long haul, even in this abbreviated 66-game NBA regular season, but the playoffs are just around the corner. So who wins the NBA title? The most talented team? The luckiest? The favorites? We all know the favorites don't waltz to the NBA Finals. We watched tiny Butler, a fifth seed in 2010 and a No. 8 seed in 2011, advance to the NCAA Championship game twice.... |
| Some NBA Teams Pack It In Late Jim Feist - 4/1/2012 12:26 PM by Jim Feist There are three more weeks to go in the NBA regular season. This means there are professional athletes in the NBA who will be going on vacation in a month, and other players who will be working hard, huffing and puffing 40 minutes per game, right on through until June. Now let me ask you -- Will the majority of the players on the Charlotte Bobcats and New Orleans Hornets be... |
| The Final Four! Jim Feist - 3/25/2012 12:08 PM by Jim Feist It is a great weekend for sports fans with the Final Four and the culmination of the college basketball season next Monday in Superdome in New Orleans for the national championship. It is clear that it is not the teams the start the season hot, but the ones that get hot when it really matters -- March and April! Many things happen over the course of a long season. Some tea... |
| Tourney Matchup Tips Jim Feist - 3/18/2012 1:51 PM By Jim Feist It's the final stretch of a long college basketball season. There are better teams, tougher matchups, and defensive intensity. It's a good time of the season to look backward -- to look back, that is, to conference regular season tourney play and early season matches against different conferences. That's because it can be tougher to analyze matchups during the Big Dance, with tea... |
| March Hoops: Beware of the No-Name Teams Jim Feist - 3/11/2012 12:44 PM by Jim Feist It's that time of year again: Basketball games night and day, day and night and after a few hours of sleep, we wake up the next day and go through it all over again. College tournament play is one of the most enjoyable times of the year for sports fans and bettors, with a seemingly endless stream of action and excitement. Big name schools often end up playing for... |
| The Value of Senior Leadership Jim Feist - 3/4/2012 9:52 PM by Jim Feist It's time! Time for college basketball teams to begin conference tourney play, also known as separating the contenders from the pretenders. It's important to understand and closely examine the schedule of college hoop teams. Some teams start off the season playing a bunch of cream puffs, while others face a mixture of good and bad teams. What has taken shape the last few months... |
| Rocketman Sports CBB Horizon League Tournament Preview 2012 Rocketman Sports - 2/27/2012 11:50 AM HORIZON LEAGUE CBB CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW 2012 The Horizon League Men's College Basketball Tournament is set and will begin on Tuesday February 28. Valparaiso finished with a 21-10 overall record and a 14-4 record in the Conference to finish 1st in the regular season. Cleveland State earned the 2nd seed and a bye into the semi-finals. The Horizon League tournament is a little differen... |
| Final Run to the Big 10 Title Jim Feist - 2/26/2012 2:43 PM by Jim Feist Tournament play is on the horizon! It's the start of a wild few weeks with conference tournament play helping to whittle the field. In the Big 10, Ohio State made the title game five years ago with Greg Oden while Michigan State won it all in 2000 along with a string of Final Fours. Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin are locks for the March tourney, with seve... |
| Golden Contender: 2011/12- NBA Mid Season Power Angle Report. Golden Contender - 2/20/2012 6:45 PM The NBA Is reaching the All star break late this week. We have seen many unusual games in this lockout shortened season. With the league trying to minimize the loss of games due to the lock out, we have seen many games being played without the benefit of adequate rest. There have been instances with teams playing 3 games in 3 nights, and several occasions where teams are playing 4 games in 6 night... |
| College Hoops: Best Pac 12 Teams Jim Feist - 2/19/2012 4:18 PM by Jim Feist There's the Big 5 in Pac 12 in basketball with a string of teams battling for the top spot. Here's a look at the strengths and weaknesses of some of college basketball's best teams in the Pacific 12. Cal: The Golden Bears have been a well rounded offensive machine, tops in the Pac 12 in field goal shooting, three-point shooting and free throw percentage. 6-6 sophomore Al... |
| College Hoops: Best of the SEC Jim Feist - 2/12/2012 12:20 PM by Jim Feist The SEC has a bunch of teams that are loaded with talent, depth and athleticism. Kentucky won the national championship in 1998, Florida knocked on the door in 2000 getting to the title game against Michigan State, then won it all with back-to-back titles. Here's a look at some of college basketball's best teams in the SEC. Florida: Coach Bill Donovan has been the king of t... |
| College Hoops Takes Center Stage Jim Feist - 2/5/2012 3:47 PM by Jim Feist With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror, the next big event on the sports stage is college basketball's season-ending tournaments. Since 1997, college basketball's national champion has come from several different conferences: the Pac 10 (Arizona), SEC (Kentucky and Florida), Big 10 (Michigan State), the ACC (Duke, Maryland, North Carolina), Nig 12 (Kansas) and the Big Ea... |
| Super Sunday! Jim Feist - 1/30/2012 12:04 PM by Jim Feist Rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl thriller with the Giants scoring late to stop the 18-0 Patriots, 17-14. Much of the same cast returns for both teams, including the head coaches. The Giants have 14 players remaining from the 2008 Super Bowl team, the Patriots have seven. Back in August the Patriots were 5-to-1 and the Giants 18-to-1 to win the Super Bowl. We have been i... |
| Super Bowl Countdown! Jim Feist - 1/22/2012 11:29 AM In the world of eleven to ten, there's nothing quite like Super Bowl week. In this case, it's two weeks, as the teams have two weeks to prepare for the Big Game. It's also one of the most creative weeks of the sports betting season. While there's only one game left on the football calendar, there are still ample opportunities for betting with hundreds of creative props by various oddsmakers. ... |
| NFL 2012 Championship Sunday Power Preview by Golden Contender Sports Golden Contender - 1/16/2012 5:51 PM In this Piece we will Preview both the AFC and NFC Championship Games on Sunday as we surge towards another entertaining Super Bowl. On Sunday, January 22nd Its Championship Sunday. At 3:00 eastern it all kicks off with familiar faces with the Baltimore Ravens traveling up to New England in a Playoff rematch from 2010. In that game the Ravens garnered their first ever road win in New England catch... |
| NFL Playoffs: Conference Champions at Stake! Jim Feist - 1/16/2012 1:27 PM by Jim Feist This is it, the final weekend of games before the Super Bowl with the Ravens, Patriots, Giants and 49ers squaring off. The last month we've been hearing about playoff seedings, bye weeks and home field advantage. Are all those things really important? Historically it has been during the second round of the playoffs. Teams with the bye have home field advantage and two weeks... |
| NFL Playoff Time! Jim Feist - 1/8/2012 8:22 PM by Jim Feist As the playoffs begin, those who earned the top two seeds in each conference have a key edge, as they get a bye the first week while watching the others duke it out. Sitting at home this past weekend were the Ravens, Patriots, Packers and 49ers. A year ago the favorites to win the 2012 Super Bowl were the Packers at 5-to-1, the Patriots at 7-to-1, the Steelers at 10-to-1 an... |
| BCS Hysteria: No. 1 vs. No. 2! Jim Feist - 1/2/2012 12:43 AM by Jim Feist Happy New Year! After recovering from the weekend's New Year festivities, we glide through the end of the bowl season. A few more bowls are appetizers for the tune-up that is the January 9 Alabama/LSU rematch for all the marbles. Sugar Bowl (Tues., Jan. 4): The great running offense against the great run defense as Michigan takes on Virginia Tech. Both teams, actually, have... |
| Bah Humbug! NFL Play of the Year Gets Demolished! The Details, and our Monday Night Play FREE! Triple Threat Sports - 12/26/2011 1:22 AM Coming into the 2011 season we were on quite a roll for our "Big" Football plays, as we were 4-0-1 on our NFL Plays of the Year since the 2006 season and were 7-2 on our College Football Plays of the Year since 2002. To say those streaks ended this year would be an understatement. We let you know it when we win, and thus it is only fair we let you know when we lose, and we bombed on both of th... |
| Bowl Bonanza! Jim Feist - 12/25/2011 8:52 PM As 2010 draws to a close, we find ourselves smack in the middle of the bowls. You shouldn't be bowled-out, either, as they build to the crescendo that is the LSU/Alabama showdown for the national title. Belk Bowl (Tues., Dec. 27): A pair of teams that started slow and finished strong. Louisville rebounded from a 2-4 start to finish 7-5 under second-year coach Charlie Strong. The Louisville (7-... |
| Late December: The Best Time for Bowling! Jack Clayton - 12/18/2011 12:03 PM by Jim Feist As 2011 draws to a close, we find ourselves smack in the middle of the bowls. You shouldn't be bowled-out, either, as the bowls slowly build to the crescendo that is the Alabama/LSU showdown. Poinsettia Bowl (Wed., Dec. 21): A pair of teams with great passing offenses - but only one plays defense. Louisiana Tech (8-4 SU, 7-3 ATS) is on a tear, a 7-game win streak that g... |
| NFL Juggernauts and Fading Has Beens Jim Feist - 12/11/2011 11:48 PM 12-13-2011 NFL Juggernauts and Fading Has Beens by Jim Feist Looking at NFL in 2011, it's clear that, despite the unbeaten Packers, parity has returned. Look at teams that were recent doormats who are playing well: Lions, Bills, Bengals, Texans, 49ers and Broncos. Even the Panthers and Dolphins have been competitive, with shots at respectable seasons after bad starts. The season is als... |
| NFL Quarterback Shuffle Jim Feist - 12/4/2011 6:02 PM by Jim Feist 2011...The Year of the Quarterback? Are you kidding? While the numbers that Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are putting up are on pace to both break Dan Marino's single season passing record, 2011 has been the Year of the Quarterback Shuffle. It started back in September when the Jaguars decided to cut veteran starter David Garrard for rookie QB Blane Gabbart. The results have not been a... |
| 46-25 65% last 8 weeks with these free CFB plays! CFB Returning Starter Angle plays inside Week 14! Rocketman Sports - 12/3/2011 1:04 AM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 14 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I'm not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
| The Overlooked Edge: Football Depth Jim Feist - 11/27/2011 3:41 PM by Jim Feist Depth is such an essential element of success in pro and college football, and one that is easily overlooked. Big college programs have this as a huge advantage over smaller programs. The Florida Gators got off to a strong 4-0 start this season, but then a serious injury against Alabama to starting QB John Brantley changed everything. They lost 4 in a row and end up stumbling int... |
| CFB Returning Starter Angle Plays Week 13! 41-23 64% last 7 weeks! Free inside! Rocketman Sports - 11/22/2011 1:15 AM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 13 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I'm not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
| Turkeys, Turnovers and Rivalry Tilts! Jim Feist - 11/20/2011 5:42 PM by Jim Feist Were there enough upsets for you last weekend? It's Thanksgiving week, which means the middle of the NFL campaign while winding down the college football regular season. Late season college football means heated races for conference titles and bowl berths, plus rivalries that span decades. These games can have far more importance for players than September/October clashes. O... |
| CFB Returning Starter plays Week 12! 38-20 66% last 6 weeks! Free inside! Rocketman Sports - 11/19/2011 12:15 AM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 12 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I'm not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
| NFL Parity and 20-Point Blowouts Jim Feist - 11/13/2011 8:20 PM by Jim Feist For years, pro football has been the sports leader when it comes to parity. Pete Rozelle was credited with, "On any given Sunday any team can beat another." The last few years it seems as though parity has disappeared from the NFL. The Packers this season are dominating, the 2008 Saints and Colts started a combined 16-0 SU/11-5 ATS and the 2007 Patriots had a remarkable 16-0 reg... |
| CFB Returning Starter Angle plays Week 11! Rocketman Sports - 11/11/2011 2:17 AM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 11 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I’m not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
| Football Totals and Coaching Philosophies Jim Feist - 11/6/2011 6:28 PM by Jim Feist There are many factors to examine when studying football totals. Defensive and offensive statistics need to be examined, of course. Some of the questions a good handicapper asks: Is there speed in the defensive secondary? Does a club have a one-dimensional offense? Do they prefer a powerful running game or wide-open passing attacks? What kind of weather conditions will there be?... |
| CFB Returning Starter Angle Plays week 10! Rocketman Sports - 11/5/2011 3:07 AM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 10 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I’m not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
| Footballs Home/Road Disparity Jim Feist - 10/30/2011 1:52 PM by Jim Feist How about those Baltimore Ravens? In back to back game they looked like world beaters, shutting down the Jets (34-17) and the Texans (29-14), covering both with ease. That put them at 3-0 Su/ATS at home this season, including that opening day shellacking of the Steelers, 35-7. Then again, a different Baltimore team can show up on the road, as we saw on Monday night in a 12-7... |
| CFB Returning Starter Angle Plays Week 9! Rocketman Sports - 10/29/2011 2:25 AM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 9 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I’m not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
| Winning Football: "D" Comes Before "O" Jim Feist - 10/23/2011 2:22 PM by Jim Feist So what do you prefer: offense or defense? Most casual bettors examining NFL picks like offense, which is why Monday night football games often take more action on the over. There have been some terrific offensive football teams that last few years, such as USC and Texas in 2005, and pro passing attacks like the Rams, Colts, Dick Vermeil's Chiefs, the 2007 Patriots and this y... |
| The Bye Week: Does it Play a Role in Wagering? Jack Clayton - 10/22/2011 11:56 AM by Jack Clayton The NFL is kind enough to give teams a bye week at some point during the season. This was done in the past because of the unbalanced schedule, but with the addition of the Houston Texans in 2002, this is no longer the case. But there still will be bye weeks and they’ll occur this season between weeks two and ten. So, each week, some players are forced to sit and watch football... |
| CFB Returning Starter Angle Plays Week 8! 15-7 68% last 2 weeks! Rocketman Sports - 10/21/2011 3:21 PM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 8 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I’m not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
| 2011 World Series Preview Jorge Gonzalez - 10/19/2011 12:10 PM Two unlikely teams are meeting in the World Series when they Texas Rangers play face the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium for the World Series. Both teams were not the favorites to play for the trophy but came up with explosive offenses and shutdown pitching from their bullpens. The Cardinals have the home field advantage in the series because the National League won the All-Star game pl... |
| The Value of Run Defense Jim Feist - 10/16/2011 3:53 PM by Jim Feist Like a giant leak on a sinking ship, one of the first signs of a poor pro football team is weak run defense. Stopping the run is essential to building a championship team. The Top 8 teams at stopping the run last season? Steelers, Bears, Jets, Chargers, Ravens - all playoff teams except one, and three met in the AFC/NFC Champion games. The Steelers were tops in run defens... |
| CFB Returning Starter Angle Plays Week 7 2011 Rocketman Sports - 10/14/2011 8:23 PM CFB RETURNING STARTER ANGLE WEEK 7 (2011) Many years ago I received a newsletter from Mike Lee, a sports handicapper who just recently passed away in the past few years. I’m not sure if he came up with this Returning starter angle or if he was just passing it along but it has really been a nice addition to my own personal handicapping arsenal. He had said in his newsletter that the previous year... |
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