Maddux Sports Blog

You know the college football season is getting close as Bookmaker has posted their opening week 1 college football odds. Click here to view all of the week one betting odds from CRIS/Bookmaker or keep reading for a glimpse of our thoughts.

A couple of interesting lines and definitely there are some week 1 point spreads that are off.

Michigan State at -16.5 over UAB looks too low, this game will likely close higher than the opener.

Arizona State also at -16.5 over San Jose State also looks to be a little low.

Virginia at -3 over Wyoming should close higher, somewhere in the 4-6 range.

If you are looking for a dog, SMU +11.5 over Texas looks like a solid college football bet.

Here is a link to start wagering if you want to take our college football advice on any of these games, remember to join us for expert college football picks against the spread from last years college football handicapping champion.

As they usually do the bookmakers made a very good line on the UNLV/Utah State game. I had heard grumblings from some other respected sports bettors that thought this game could open as low as UNLV -1, which any opener close to that we would have betting hand over fist on the Rebels. As of now we have the game UNLV -8.5, so -9.5 is pretty dead on.

Last year we whacked out a bunch of lines on the opening week 1 college football lines. This season although it is still early, lines look pretty solid. The linesmakers at Bookmaker are very sharp, congratulations on a very solid line guys.

Technorati Tags: week 1 college football, college football lines, college football odds, betting, point spreads, bookmaker

I mean John David Booty—do you like him? The best QB in the QB-rich PAC-10? Probably. Heisman Trophy winner? Quite possibly. The ability to lead USC to a national championship? He has it. (more…)

Here are some things to look at when you’re considering the upcoming NFL season. (more…)

Animal rights advocates, unhappy with Michael Vick, who was recently charged with training and procuring dogs for competitive dogfighting, chanted outside of the Falcons’ HQ today. About 50 protestors from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) held signs that read “Tackle Cruelty,� “Sack Vick� and “Kick Vick.�

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Last season in his rookie year with Boston, 23-year old, lefty Jon Lester went 7- 2 in 15 starts. He had an ERA of 4.76 and had notched 60 SO in 81.1 innings. He also had a phantom pain in his back and after undergoing various tests was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma—non-Hodgkins lymphoma. That is cancer.

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Sure folks were concerned when RB Edgerrin James left the Colts and went to the Arizona Cardinals. But the Colts, who had had James, found a few guys who could step up, including RB Joseph Addai, who really turned up and fine tuned his ground game in 2006. (more…)

Remember Jimmy Olsen? He was Clark Kent’s (Superman’s) pal who said “geeâ€? a lot, was always polite and portrayed a mild mannered character the entire time. Unfortunately, Florida starter Scott Olsen is no Jimmy Olsen. He certainly doesn’t say “gee,â€? has not been polite over the past few years and has proven to be violent. Scott could take some lessons from Jimmy. (more…)

The Red Sox needed two things on Friday night— Josh Beckett to be their stopper and Tampa Bay to hammer Frank Mussina and the Yanks.

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The FBI is currently conducting an investigating regarding allegations that a veteran NBA referee affected the outcome of games. The unnamed referee is to have placed wagers on games while being a part of the officiating crew. The exploration is set to determine whether or not the referee made calls to affect the point spread in games over the last 2 seasons. The number of games this transpired in is still unknown, but reports are it could be in the double digits. The unnamed ref reportedly had a gambling problem and was approached by members of organized crime to fix games to settle his debts.

Since the source of the probe is unnamed the speculation has already begun as to who the culprit is. Some fans and sports bettors are presuming Joey Crawford is the favorite to be the guy busted, but it seems unlikely to Maddux Sports that if he is the “dirty ref,” why he would have just been reinstated by David Stern.

We do know he did eject Tim Duncan in quite an unorthodox fashion, but that’s it, unless others have something more conclusive relating to the NBA point spread above and beyond speculation.

Multiple sources are reporting that veteran Tim Donaghy is a possible guy. Donaghy, recently resigned from the NBA after a 13-year career with the league, and is aware of the FBI investigation. This doesn’t confirm that Donaghy is the man since earlier reports have claimed that the “dirty ref� is still employed by the National Basketball League.

To date there hasn’t been a serious referee scandal involving shaving points in the NBA or any major United States sports league. They did bust one NBA clock operator in Detroit years back. He was making sports bets on the unders of Detroit Pistons games and fast running the clock to increase his chances of the game going under.

These allegations don’t surprise Maddux Sports at all. If you bet on NBA games you know that there has been a lot of bizarre stuff going on at the end of games that can’t be attributed to random variance. As with the Toledo point shaving scandal once more information is known we will go through past histories of games involving the offender and see what we can uncover for the media outlets.

Feel free to contact Tom at MadduxSports.com or call us toll free at 1-800-9-MADDUX to discuss further.

Maddux Sports is an expert sports handicapper that studies betting lines as well as offering NBA picks during the basketball season.

Technorati Tags: NBA referee scandal, nba scandal, nba point spread, joey crawford, tim donaghy, fbi, gambling

The Chicago Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano became the first NL pitcher to win 12 in 2007. Zambrano is 12- 7 over 21 starts with 117 SO and 59 BB. Hitters have a batting average of .277 when facing him and .136 over his past seven starts. His ERA is presently 3.69. (more…)

Michael Vick will most likely be in court for training camp. He’s facing federal charges of running a dog-fighting venue on his property. A conviction could bring him seven years in jail. (more…)

So, Michael Vick, the Falcons QB, has been indicted with three others on federal charges of running a dog fighting business out of him home. It’s alleged the sponsorship of dogfights started in 2001, the same year that he entered the NFL. (more…)

Here are three pitchers who are in the news. They are the good, the bad and the ugly.

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One of the class acts of baseball, starting pitcher Tom Glavine, posted his 298th win on July 14, 2007. (more…)

Lot’s of folks are taking note and it is noted here today. The National League West has really improved as a division. It’s an exciting place to be these days—very competitive, with excellent pitching and four our of five teams that can make it into the playoffs.

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