Maddux Sports Blog

I’m posting late because I was at the Calgary Flames game tonight. I managed to score a seat from a friend of a friend – fancy, expensive corporate seats. We sat right in the front row against the glass. I wouldn’t want to sit there all the time – you can’t really see the opposite end very well – but it is a truly incredible view when the play is right in front of you. Three or four times during the game there was a big hit right in front of us, and it was amazing – your whole body shook. If you like hockey then you really need to see a game from that viewpoint – you see things you don’t notice from other places, and you get areal appreciation for the size, strength, and speed of these guys.

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If you are an American then I guess you are celebrating Columbus Day today. I have no idea what you do for that day – play a couple of afternoon hockey games and not much else, I guess. Up here in Canada it’s Thanksgiving, so as I write this I am fighting very hard to keep my eyes open because I am so full of turkey that I am about to explode. Ahhhh, tryptophan.Whatever the occasion, best wishes.

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Heading into the NFL Draft it seems fitting that Jason Peters was just traded by the Bills to the Eagles. He’s one of those rare cases where the NFL draft machinery just totally missed the boat. Peters was an undrafted tight end out of Arkansas. Someone with the Bills had the bright idea to try Peters on the O-line, and voila – a two time Pro Bowl left tackle. Peters held out at the start of last year and still hadn’t come to terms on a new deal, so the Bills really had no choice but to get rid of him. It was an equally logical move for the Eagles – they lost Tra Thomas in free agency, so they needed a replacement. With Peters they not only got that but an upgrade. The lingering effect of this is that it will likely change up some draft boards. The Bills will definitely need a new left tackle, and the draft is probably more promising than a free agent at this point. Buffalo wasn’t one of the many teams in the market for a tackle before this move, but they certainly are now. Things like this are why the draft is so interesting – six years after no one wanted him, Peters is essentially Philly’s second first round pick.

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The dust has settled on the NHL trade deadline. Unless you are in Canada you wouldn’t realize just what a ridiculous mess the day has blown up into. It’s virtually a national holiday. Yesterday, three different networks had eight straight hours of coverage, with dozens of talking heads poised to tell us what to think about every single move. The most entertaining part of the whole spectacle was that for the first several hours there was just one small deal, and the guys had nothing to say. Watching that many grown men (more…)

I’m about to watch my Calgary Flames play at Dallas. It’s with a sense of doom, though – Dallas is red hot, and Calgary played last night. The Flames have played back to back games seven times this year, and have won just one. Expecting to lose is not a good feeling for a fan. Hedging my loyalty with a bet on the Stars is probably the best solution.

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I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I live in Calgary, the home of the Flames. I went to the Flames game tonight with a buddy, and it was a very good lesson in the challenges of sports betting. There was absolutely no reason not to pick the Flames tonight. Calgary was the hottest team in the league, securing 23 of the last 26 possible points. They were next to unbeatable at home. They had split the season series so far this year over two games, with the road team winning both games. Those games hadn’t happened since the beginning of November, though, so both teams were different than they were then – Phoenix was a bit worse, and Calgary was much, much better. Calgary was the -203 favorite in the game, and the game was being broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada – a very strong position for a Canadian team. On top of that, Calgary had played their best game of the year on Thursday, and it was perhaps the best game any team had played all year. They beat San Jose in San Jose, and they became the first team all season to do that. In short, Calgary was as close to a lock as a team can be.

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For a plain old Wednesday there sure was a lot of interesting news today that is of interest to sports bettors. Here’s a quick hit look:

1. Pacman Jones is apparently done for the year with a neck injury. It’s a shame when bad things happen to good people.

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