Michael Beasley the former number-two pick of the 2008 NBA draft by the Miami Heat has committed himself to a rehabilitation hospital. The former superstar from Kansas State was reportedly encouraged to go to rehab by representatives from the Heat due to possible psychological and substance issues. Beasley is supposed to spend some time with John Lucas a former NBA coach and player who has helped many people through substance abuse issues. This doesn’t come with much surprise after Beasley left alarming tweets recently on Twitter like, “Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done,” and “Y do I feel like the whole world is against me…I can’t win for losin.” Beasley had a good first year with Miami after averaging almost 14 points and over 5 boards a game. Let’s hope this story turns out with a happy ending.
Archives for August 2009
MLB Bets of the Day – August 24th, 2009
Cliff Lee is going today against the Mets so taking the under in that game and I also really like the under in the Verlander versus Weaver matchup this evening in Anaheim.
Red Sox -175
Tigers +130
Phillies/Mets Under 8
Tigers/Angels Under 8.5
Giants/Rockies Under 9.5
Brewers/Nationals Over 8.5
Overall Record:
MLB 76-61-4
College Football 106-92-1
NFL 103-72-5
College Basketball 197-149-6
NHL 1-2
NBA 44-36
The Wonderful World of College Football Wagering
Since college football is less than 2 weeks away it is time to discuss why many of us degenerates love the game so much.
As Fred Flintstone knows it is all about “bet.bbbb..bet”. 
Today I am going to give you the best and worst bets over the last 3 years which include the Win-Lose (teams who have an over .500 record but can’t cover), the Win-Win (teams who win and cover) and then the Lose-Win teams who have horrible records, but always seem to bring home the bacon.
Win-Lose
The SEC – yes can you believe it? The SEC is the conference in all of college football with the most teams in this category over the last 3 years.
LSU is 31-9 SU /15-20 ATS
Bama is 25-15SU/17-20 ATS
Georgia is 30-9 SU/17-16 ATS
Auburn is 25-13 SU/15-21 ATS
The Big East (West Va 31-8 SU/16-19 ATS) and ACC (Maryland 23-16 SU/15-21 ATS & Clemson 24-15 SU/ 16-20 ATS) are also players in this category, but the leader of this group comes from the WAC. Fresno State with all its, “I’ll play anyone anywhere”, bravado is 20-18 SU and a woeful 10-27 ATS.
WIN-WIN
“They are who we thought they were!” USC, Oklahoma, Florida, Utah, TCU, Oregon and Ohio State are all covering at a 60%+ clip.
The Sleepers are:
South Florida 26-13 SU/ 20-16 ATS
Rice 20-18 SU/ 23-14 ATS
Troy 24-14 SU/ 23-14 ATS
San Jose St. 20-17 SU/21-13 ATS
Ball St 24-15 SU/23-12 ATS
Central Michigan 26-15 SU/25-13 ATS
And my personal favorite – Kansas 26-12 SU/24-11 ATS.
One thing to remember is that Kansas, South Florida, and Central Michigan have had the same QB for 3 years and they are all coming back for 2009-10 season.
Lose-Win
This is a great category. Any of you who like to bet money lines or parlays here are the teams who either kill ya or make your weekend.
Lets start with the obvious – Duke is 5-31 SU/ 17-17 ATS and temple 10-26 SU/ 20-14 ATS. A combined 15 wins over the last 3 years but a whopping 37 covers so maybe its time to take a second look at those 38 1/2 spreads.
Buffalo 15-23 SU/23-14 ATS
Mississippi 16-21 SU/ 20-12 ATS
NC St 14-23 SU/ 17-16 ATS
And then my personal and dearly beloved team – UCLA 17-21 SU/24-13 ATS. This is the team I can not wager on due to my already intense passion for them so unfortunately I have not been able to drown my game loss sorrows with a cover.
NFL’s Bender Buster
The National Football League is implementing plans in order to keep the amount of alcohol consumed down this year in stadiums versus previous years. The NFL is recommending that every stadium implement a 3½ hour limit on tailgating the day of games and the need to add additional security to improve the monitoring of the parking lots on game day. They would also like to see steps taken once fans enter the stadium around the amount of alcohol someone can purchase at any given time. Restricting fans to no more than two 1½-ounce servings of liquor, two 6-ounce servings of wine or two 20-ounce beers each point of sale would go a long ways in the opinion of Milt Ahlerich the league’s senior vice president of security. It was noted that last year you could buy 24 or 28 ounce beers at certain stadiums or you could buy as many as you could hold at a given time. This generally leads to bad experiences for some of the fans when you have cursing, puking, fighting and other drunk related issues occurring. The League is also going to post the message “Fans don’t let fans drive drunk” on almost every beer cup sold this season at the games. While I’m all for having fun at a game I think the steps the NFL is taking are very smart. How many times have you seen a three hundred pound shirtless redneck with a back hairier than a Sasquatch cussing at the opposting team while he is pouring half his Budweiser on the kid in front of him? I know these new rules won’t end the issues totally, but it should slow down rip roaring drunk guy just a bit.
MLB Bets of the Day – August 21st, 2009
Happy Friday folks. We have four games on the agenda tonight and we feel really good about them. Like the under tonight in the Yankees/Sox slobber knocker.
Giants/Rockies Over 9
Angels/Jays Under 10
Yankees/Red Sox Under 10
Tigers/A’s Over 8.5
Overall Record:
MLB 75-59-3
College Football 106-92-1
NFL 103-72-5
College Basketball 197-149-6
NHL 1-2
NBA 44-36
Ocho Kicko
The Bengals were on the road last night and their All Pro kicker Shayne Graham tweaks his groin so as a precaution they sit him the rest of the game without another kicker on the roster. What would you do if you were head coach Marvin Lewis in that position? Well, you would ask Chad Ochocinco to kick the extra point, DUH. Check out this video of Chad booting the extra point through the uprights in an impressive manner and ultimately winning the game for the Bungles against the Patriots. He also kicked off to begin the second half and came very close to the 10-yard line. I got a strong feeling we will hear some chatter from Ocho on this latest feat.
Poor Charleston Southern
Danny Sheridan of USA Today has made Charleston Southern a 73-POINT underdog against the mighty Florida Gators in the first week of the pending college football season. The staggering line is believed to be the biggest point spread in college football history. Vegas doesn’t normally post lines for FBS (1-A) versus FCS (1-AA) schools because the teams just aren’t on level playing fields. FBS schools are able to keep 85 players on scholarship while FCS teams are only able to have 63 scholarship players. Yet it is a common theme for FBS teams to include one of these games on their schedule so they can embarrass the weaker teams.
Since the NCAA created the separate divisions a little over 30 years ago there have only been five FBS that haven’t played a FCS opponent. These reputable teams are UCLA, USC, Washington, Notre Dame and Michigan State. That being Michigan State will no longer be on this list after the first week of this season after their home game against Montana State. I can only hope the other four hold strong because I respect them and others should as well.
Florida is the king of scheduling early creampuff games and shows no shame in doing so because they aren’t penalized in the end. Not only do they schedule early creampuffs they cater their entire nonconference schedule to their favor in egregious fashion. The Gators haven’t played an out-of-state regular season nonconference game since 1991 and it has even been longer since they last played a regular season game west of the Mississippi considering they haven’t done so since 1983. Charleston Southern, Florida International, Citadel, Florida Atlantic, Western Kentucky, Western Carolina, Middle Tennessee State, Eastern Michigan and Florida A&M are some recent examples of the cupcake competitors the Gators chose to chomp.
In the end this is the state of college football and I’m not going to lose sleep over it because it isn’t going to change. Now, on to more in important things and something we can control. Who is going to take the Charleston Southern Buccaneers +73?
MLB Bets of the Day – August 19th, 2009
Yesterday wasn’t a good day so I expect to get back on track today. Love Marquis and the Rockies tonight at Washington and take the under in the Millwood versus Baker matchup. Beat the man!
Rockies -150
Yankees/A’s over 9
Red Sox/Jays under 7.5
Twinkies/Rangers under 9
Overall Record:
MLB 73-58-2
College Football 106-92-1
NFL 103-72-5
College Basketball 197-149-6
NHL 1-2
NBA 44-36
Paulus Is a Quarterback
Many of you have already heard that Syracuse University’s new head football coach Doug Marrone announced late Monday night that former Duke point guard Greg Paulus will begin his “one and done” season at Syracuse as it’s starting quarterback.
Surprised??
You shouldn’t be. Really, this should come as no surprise to anyone.
I have to admit that I was not too fond of the idea when I first heard that Paulus was coming to Syracuse. And I was not sure how I felt about him getting the starting job. I think that the ‘Cuse nation is about 60%-40% on the whole deal; most are taking a wait and see attitude. That’s what several years of dismal performances will do to a fan. (I think fans are more upset by the fact that Syracuse’s AD Daryl Gross has decided to ship off 3 of its marquee games to be played at the new Meadowlands, but more on that another time.)
But no one should be surprised.
After a day of quiet reflection on the golf course today, I am now a BIG fan of this move by Syracuse and the powers that be. Call it a pure publicity event if you want, but the fact is its working. Syracuse is all over every news outlet. It was even on CNN.
It has Big East coach’s spewing out bulletin board material left and right.
– BE coach on Paulus: “Won’t be easy for him to read zones and pick up blitzes.”
– BE coach on Paulus: “Wonder how much fans in the seats have to do with this.”
– BE coach on Paulus: “I wish we were opening with Syracuse.”
This is a storied program that not more than 4 months ago needed some major upsets to even get a mention in the Podunk Times. Now Syracuse is getting play everywhere you turn.
Depending on what the team and the staff actually do with it is yet to be seen. This could turn out to be the story of the season. It won’t take long to find out as Syracuse takes on Minnesota, #8 Penn State and Northwestern in its first three games.
But at least for now Syracuse is in the spotlight and recruits all over the country are seeing it. That can’t be bad for business, especially when you are in the business of rebuilding a program.
Oh yea, and let’s not forget.
That 5th year graduate student that just took over the starting quarterback position at Syracuse… 4 years ago he could have played for Notre Dame, Miami or a host of other schools that he could have picked from. Instead he decided to play basketball for one of the premier programs run by one of the premier coaches in America.
It’s not like he’s been sitting on a porch belching for the last four years.
MLB Bets of the Day – August 18th, 2009
Love the over in the Orioles/Rays game tonight and look for the Texas Rangers and Scott Feldman to get the win against the Indians and Carl Pavano.
Rangers -155
Yankees/A’s Under 8.5
Cards/Dodgers Under 8
O’s/Rays Over 9.5
Overall Record:
MLB 73-54-2
College Football 106-92-1
NFL 103-72-5
College Basketball 197-149-6
NHL 1-2
NBA 44-36