Maddux Sports Blog

I’m not a huge NBA guy. I like basketball a lot, but I’ll take college each and every day over the pros. I do watch NBA, though – especially during the playoffs. That being said, the playoffs this year have been amazing, and I am extremely excited about the conference championship rounds. These two series were somewhat unexpected, but they have pretty much everything going for them. Four incredibly massive stars – three who we know on a first name basis, and the fourth who can lead tall buildings in a single bound. It features not necessarily the four best teams, but certainly the four most deserving. Both series have clear favorites, but they also have underdogs who are full capable of the upset. They both have the potential to set a record for highlight reel plays. As a big college fan, the only thing that makes me a bit sad about this one is that the three biggest stars all skipped college ball. Mostly, that makes me sad because I love to think what any of them could have done in March. Melo essentially won a title on his own, and you’d think that at least a couple of these guys could have done the same in the right spot.

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Wow, is this ever a terrible Monday night game. If someone paid me to come up with something nice to say about these teams or this game I would have to give the money back. With one exception – Steve Slaton has had a very good game, and that’s becoming a trend for him. The biggest problem is that we are getting exactly the same game that it looked like we would get. I just wish the league would do something about these terrible Monday night matchups – like cancel them.

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As I write this I am watching Monday Night Football. It is early in the third quarter, and the Browns are up 20-14. This is why I love sports betting so much. On paper there is absolutely no way that Cleveland should be competitive in this one. They have been inept all year, their hottest offensive threat is in the hospital, their QB has been terrible, and they are facing the hottest team in the league. If you hadn’t been following the season, though, and you sat down to watch this game you would guess that the Browns are the juggernauts and the Giants are the ones who are struggling. The Cleveland offense is crisp and creative. Their defense is forcing Eli Manning to make bad mistakes and get out of rhythm. I still think the Giants will likely pull out the win, though probably not the cover. Still, this is the kind of game that keeps things so interesting – you would have had to have been psychic to have seen this one coming.

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Excellent defensive display in the NFC East tonight. The line movement was interesting in that one, especially on the total. Three quarters of bettors were on the over, yet the total opened at 48 and dropped down to 46.5 or lower. A move like that generally indicates either that either a good deal of smart money is on the under, or that the books favor the under, so they want to do everything they can to encourage bets on the over. Either way, the books would have had a bad night on that front – the teams didn’t just go over, they obliterated the total.

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