KTS - October 21, 2008

[KingTSports]

October 21st, 2008

Coming off a winning week with the football plays, that included a nice $500 hit on the Patroits last night as they rolled from the onset of their 41-7 win over the Broncos. After looking vunerable for a couple of weeks, with even the coaching coming into question sans the services of Tom Brady, Matt "Castles in the Sand" Cassel limited the mistakes and led his squad to a convincing victory at home.

The Titans continue to be the only undefeated team in the NFL as they pulled away in the 4th quarter of their convincing 34-10 win over the weak and defenseless Kanas City Chiefs. Titans continue to win games with solid defense and running, as Kerry Collins, while limiting his mistakes, continues to be ranked near the very bottom of the NFL in terms of QB rating. Lindale White carried the offensive load for the Titans on Sunday as he scored on an 80-yard in which he was literally untouched in his trot to the end zone. Most of the traditional AFC powers are struggling, most prominent being the Colts and the Chargers, and with Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Tennessee currently setting the pace it should be an interesting race in the AFC.

Cowboys struggled with Brad Johnson at the helm, and without Romo it appears the Pokes will have a tough time finding a playoff spot in a very competitive NFC. A week after looking pathetic against the Bucaneers, the Panthers roll to a 30-7 win over the Saints in a game which the Panthers D came alive and held the NFL's #2 offense in check all day long. Win by Carolina keeps them in a first place tie with TB at 5-2, and the loss drops NO to a precarious 3-4 record. Giants return to winning form, after a Monday night beatdown, and take out a turnover prone SF team by a 29-17 count. NFC is wide open and it will be interesting to see which teams step up over the next few weeks to stake their claims as contenders.

College football came through strong for this service this weekend as all plays went 10-5 and the stronger plays carried the load as the top three plays ($700 on Northwestern, $600 on Maryland, and $600 on Miami, Fla) all came through in easy fashion. The reads on those top three plays were very solid and the analysis proved to be right on the money....so perhaps a corner has been turned in terms of getting a firm grip on the play and styles of the college teams.

Longhorns roll out to huge lead in the first half, 35-3 lead at the break, and cruise home to a convincing 56-31 win over the Missouri Tigers that will keep them solidly at the top of the rankings heading into the upcoming week of action. Mack Brown has his boys rolling and it will be fun to watch and see if anyone in the Big 12 can derail this steaming locomotive with Colt McCoy peering out the side as the Engineer.....this train is rolling baby.

Want to touch on the aspect of class and sportsmanship, or the lack thereof, and what I saw take place at the end of the Texas Tech-Tex A&M game on Saturday.

In a purely tasteless act of self promotion, the Red Raider, who are most certainly one of more talented team in NCAA football this season, decided they had to punch a ball into the endzone holding a 36-25 lead with about 20 seconds left in the game. With the game completely in the bag, and the Aggies out of timeouts, the congenial and most prudent play to make would have been to take a knee....but being the most obvious self promoters, T Tech lines up in the shotgun and the QB runs the ball around the end for what was simply a dispicable display in the closing seconds of a game which was essentially over.

I say boo to the Red Raiders coaches for the decision they made, and I hope that some of the better teams they play this season will show them the same lack of respect, but it isn't very likely.

Teams for the World Series are now set as the TB Rays came through behind a solid start from Matt Garza and a gaggle of bullpen players to finish off the Red Sox in a rather dramatic 3-1 win in Game 7. Boston had numerous late inning chances against the Rays bullpen, but were simply unable to get the big hit when the opportunities presented themselves. Ortiz was particularly disappointing as he struggled to put his bat on the ball in the deciding game, and without his bat this lineup is a bit on the weak side. Boston, despite what they might say publicly, certainly missed Manny in October.

Rays will now face the NL pennant winners, Philadelphia, in the "fall classic" which is set to start on Wednesday. While TB would appear to have a distinct advantage with starting pitching....Phils will have to hope for some solid hitting with Moyer and Blanton on the hill, Philly counteracts by having the superior bullpen including closers Brad Lidge with his perfection in save opportunities for the season to date.

While it is extremely hard to pick against the Rays, I will be backing the Phillies in this series. Personally, I feel the offensive punch of the Phillies, paricularly the hitting of Utley and Howard, and their shutdown bullpen will eventually have the Rays scratching their heads in searching for a reply. TB is most certainly a capable offensive squad in their right with the bats of Upton and Longoria leading the way, and Philly must find a way to dance around the heavy hitters in this lineup if they are ultimately able to win this series.

Philadelphia +130 to win the series

If the Phillies are to win, they will need to have solid starts from their #1 man Cole Hamels, and I will be backing his efforts on the hill against Kazmir and the Rays in the opener.

Philadelphia Hamels -106

BEST OF LUCK with with all of your action and be sure to check by later in the week for my analysis and selections for the football action this weekend.

King T

NCAA Football - October 18th, 2008

10-5 +$2300

***700***
Northwestern -4 Winner 48-26

***600***
Maryland +2 Winner 26-0
Miami, Fla. -4.5 Winner 45-31

***500***
Nebraska -7 Winner 35-7
Missouri +5.5 Loser 31-56
North Carolina -4.5 Loser 13-16 OT

***400***
Georgia Tech -2 Winner 21-17
Vanderbilt +14.5 Winner 14-24
LSU -3 Winner 24-17
Air Force -4.5 Loser 29-28

***300***
Mississippi State +7 Loser 3-34
Washington State +42 Loser 0-69
Ohio State -3 Winner 45-7
Oregon State -14 Winner 34-13
Kansas State +3 Winner 13-14

King T Sports Handicapping Service

[KingTSports]

Small play on the college football game tonight between Ohio and Temple.

First, it needs to be said that neither of these teams has had much success in winning games.

Temple has yet to win a home game losing both of their contests in close fashion by scores of 12-9 in OT, and 7-3.

Ohio U has been beaten on the road, but have hung tight in road games against Big 10 powers Ohio State and Northwestern.

Considering that Temple has trouble scoring, much less winning, I will take the 3.5 and the Bobcats in this one.

***300***
Ohio U +3.5

GOOD LUCK

T

King T Sports Handicapping Service