A – Ageless. Brett Favre just keeps getting it done. I fully expected him to be disappointing this year – last season with the Jets all over again. Instead, you don’t even have to exaggerate to say that he is probably playing the best football of his career.
With the NFL season just around the corner, this is good time to look at what might happen this fall on the gridiron. NFL Future Odds are out for each team.
A year ago in this column I looked at the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were projected for 9 wins, and wrote: “The Steelers had 10 wins in 2007 with the No. 1 ranked defense.
A – Aroldis Chapman. Let the hype begin. Chapman is a Cuban left-hander with a 100+ mph fastball who just defected and is looking to join the majors. I’ve seen him called the left-handed Stephen Strasburg several times, and he is sure to incite a Matsuzaka-esque bidding war. There are some strange issues around this one, though – he is reported as being 21, yet when he was at the World Baseball Classic in the spring he was reportedly 26. Seems that the Fountain of Youth is in Havana.
A – Albuquerque. Manny Ramirez returned to action in the minors this week in preparation for his return to the pros next week, and as you would expect from him it was a bit of a circus. His first stop was in Albuquerque, where he was hitless in two Triple-A games while generally ignoring the media. A change was in order, so he headed to California to play A-ball. Ever the great teammate, he went 2-for-2 with a home run for the Inland Empire 66ers before leaving the ballpark in the fifth inning.
A – Albuquerque. The circus is coming to New Mexico on Tuesday. That’s when Manny Ramirez is scheduled to report to the Albuquerque Isotopes for a conditioning stint in Triple A before he is eligible to return to the Dodgers on July 3. It’s hard to believe that it has been almost 50 games already since Manny disgraced himself and his sport. I can only imagine what the media coverage will be like surrounding his return.
This is exactly the time of year you want to be a handicapper. The NBA and NHL playoffs run virtually side-by-side. Baseball feeds us dozens of betting opportunities every week. The volume and variety of “summer sports” on the board is staggering. We’ll take another grand tour for this week’s Top 5 betting events; all listed times are Eastern, and the freshest lines are just a click away at sports.bodog.com.
A – Albertus Maximus. The first big challenge of the year for older horses is the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream, and it attracted a crowd that might not have had superstars in it, but which was very deep and talented. Albertus Maximus parlayed his win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile into a win here. His next stop will be the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest race.
There is no offseason for sharp handicappers.
It’s no secret that a ton of casual bettors close up shop after the Super Bowl. And in doing so, they rob themselves of an opportunity to cash in against softer betting lines than anything you’ll find in the NFL. What for? If you know the mechanics of the pointspread in football, you’ve already got the raw material to start betting on basketball.
A – Andy Murray. With the Australian Open just around the corner, the tennis season is slowly and quietly off to a start. It’s way too early to know how the year is going to turn out, but early indications are that Andy Murray, the talented but underachieving British star, is ready to unleash a big season. He beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on consecutive days to win an Aussie Open prep in Abu Dhabi this week.
A – Atlanta. I have to be a man and admit that I was wrong about the Falcons. I didn’t believe that Michael Turner was going to get the job done, that Matt Ryan was going to adjust easily to the pro game, or that the team stood a chance of making .500, never mind the playoffs. That’s an 0-fer for me. With a nice road win over the flailing Bucs on Sunday the Falcons clinched their spot, and they can now get ready to play a road game to start the playoffs.
A – Arena Football League. The AFL is taking a year off to get their business in order. The question is whether anyone will care, or even notice. The most telling indication of the state of the league was that the New Orleans VooDoo had decided to fold even though they had been near the top of the league in attendance the last two years and were owned by Tom Benson, owner of the Saints, so money wasn’t a problem.
A – Auburn. Tommy Tuberville is out as coach of the Tigers, but the circumstances, if the reports are to be believed, are odd. Even though his job was reportedly safe despite a lackluster 5-7 season, Tuberville stepped down this week. The administration says they were shocked, yet they decided to pay him his $5.1 million buyout even though they didn’t have to. Generous. Or stupid.
by T.O. Whenham – 10/22/2008
A – Alexander, Shaun. The incredible fall from grace has taken a potentially brief detour to the nation’s capital. The former MVP needed a job, the Redskins needed running depth, and Daniel Snyder is more than happy to spend money without thinking about it – it was a match made in heaven.
The AFC is an absolute mess. Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a moment, shall we?
Without a doubt the NFC is the better conference this NFL Season. NFL betting fans had better start looking to the NFC for favorites that could cover online sportsbook betting spreads or underdogs that could beat BetUS online sportsbook betting spreads.
by T.O. Whenham – 09/22/2008
A – Anderson, Derek – A year ago the Cleveland Browns’ QB and his team were one of the best stories in the league.
