Maddux Sports Blog

Here are some what I find to be surprising (sometimes pleasant, sometimes perplexing and sometimes funny) developments in the world of sports.

Stanley Cup Game 7

I honestly thought that the Penguins would be out by now, but they made is a real series. Can Hossa come through for Detroit? Can Crosby take the trophy for Pittsburgh? It has been a home series. Neither team has been able to steal one when visiting. In goal, Osgood had outperformed Fleury. In the playoffs, Osgood has a better save percentage and goals against average. But in the last game, Fleury gave up just one score, notching a .962 SV%, while Osgood gave uo two, earning a .935 SV%. It is gut-check time at the Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit. It should be a great one. There’s nothing like a game seven for the Stanley Cup.

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So long, Tim Floyd. One of the slimiest coaches in basketball has reportedly resigned from his post at USC. He’s embroiled with a scandal over allegations that he personally paid an associate of O.J. Mayo so that Mayo would choose to attend USC. He hasn’t admitted to doing anything wrong, but this resignation is the next best thing. It was only a couple of months ago that Floyd declared his love to USC and chose to stay instead of taking the job at Arizona, sp this is a relationship that soured quickly. Now USC has to find a good coach at an awkward time, and they can’t afford to screw it up. The search won’t be made any easier by the sins of Floyd – no coach would be eager to jump into a school that could be hit by sanctions. I’ve never been a fan of Floyd, and this is just a clear sign that I can trust my instincts.

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Los Angeles Lakers Thrashing of Orlando Magic

The Magic were certainly not very magical in the first game of the NBA Finals. Losing by 25, Orlando simply could not get the job done in Los Angeles. Of course, if they have any shot at the league crown, they must steal one at the Coliseum in LA. They have a chance on Sunday. If they can’t do it on Sunday, then this is a five-game series. There is no way that Orlando will be able to dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole versus the Lakers. The Lakers are not the Celtics or the Cavaliers. The Lakers are one of the most talented, skilled, deep team in the NBA. This entire series comes down to game two. The Lakers will take it.

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I love college football for a lot of reasons, but one of them is how quickly things can change. Take Boston College, for example. Two years ago they were totally secure in their quarterback situation with Matt Ryan – probably the best QB in the country. Now their QB situation is an absolute shambles. It was already going to be ugly, but things got really bleak yesterday. Dominique Davis started four games as a freshman last year, and he was likely to be the starter at the beginning of this year. He was the only quarterback on the team who had ever thrown a college pass. Now he’s gone. He was suspended by the team for academic reasons, and the situation was serious enough that he decided to transfer instead of sticking it out and fixing the problem. Now the Eagles have just two guys -redshirt freshman Justin Tuggle and junior college transfer Codi Boek . I already wasn’t at all optimistic about BC in the ACC this year, but his only serves to further cloud their prospects in my eyes.

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Sports never cease to surprise me. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what is going to happen in games or events, and I like to think that I am right from time to time. Sometimes, though, I am truly surprised by things that happen, or by stats that I read. This weekend in particular was filled with a surprising number of happenings that didn’t go as I expected them to. Among them:

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As a baseball fan I love this time of year. Actually, I love different parts of the season for different reasons. This time is great because it’s when hot young prospect typically get called up by teams that can’t wait to see what they have on their hands any longer. The biggest gem of this current period has been called up already – at least a couple of weeks before he was expected to be. Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters is the top prospect in all of the minor leagues right now, and he will be making his debut on Friday. He’s a big hitting prospect who is very strong at handling pitchers. The comparison is obvious – he’s regularly called the next Mike Piazza. He’ll get lots of opportunities to play in Baltimore – they are lousy and their best catching option is currently Gregg Zaun . I can’t wait to see what he is able to do with the opportunity. All indications should be that it will take a while for him to find his game, but he’s so talented and hopes are so high that maybe he’ll just jump right in like he belongs – like Evan Longoria did last year. Either way, the hype will be at such a high level that it will be fun to watch. It’s been a while since we’ve had a megastar at catcher – since Pudge was in his prime, I guess. It would be nice to have one again.

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For your viewing pleasure you get a double dose of baseball news and thoughts today. There is so much interesting news going on these days that you can hardly help but think about what it means for us betting types.

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Ouch. I had a very, very, very rough day of Match Play forecasting. Of my picks for the final four yesterday only one – lowly Ian Poulter – is still standing it was a bloodbath. Tiger looked mortal. Actually, he looked like what he is – a guy coming off a major surgery who has been out of action for eight months. It was a lousy time for him to become human. The carnage means that I like Camilo Villegas more than ever right now. That means, of course, that he will get pulverized tomorrow. (more…)

Early in conference play the Big East sure is living up to it’s advance billing. The conference is so tough, and it is beating itself up. Tonight it was Georgetown that totally beat up on Syracuse. That creates some upheaval in the standings and the rankings, as Syracuse was higher ranked coming into the game. The single most telling game coming up this weekend will be when Louisville hosts Pitt. The Panthers are the top ranked team in the country, and it’s hard to dispute that they deserve it. Louisville has had a few rough patches this year, but I had them tabbed as a Final Four team coming into the season, and I’m not wavering on that yet. They have won four in a row,including a win at Villanova and a big win over Notre Dame in their last two. They are finally playing up to their potential, and Samardo Samuels is showing why he was such a highly touted recruit. Pitt has looked almost flawless, but they haven’t been challenged at all, with Georgetown being their only top rate opponent. This is going to be a very tough game, and the winner is going to be a formidable force in the Big East.

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This is shaping up to be a strange day full of somewhat surprising news. Only one item is truly shocking, but all are of interest.

First, the shocking one. Baron Davis is a Clipper. Huh? After saying repeatedly that he wasn’t going to opt out of the final year of his contract in Golden State that’s exactly what he did. The only theory that I can say makes sense is that his agent told him that the L.A. team that plays in the Staples Center wanted him, and he signed before he did more digging. Why else would he go to the Clippers at this point in his career. He is an elite player, but he’s not a youngster anymore, and he doesn’t really have the luxury of time to build a contender. And there is a lot of building to do in L.A. – especially sine Elton Brand and Corey Maggette opted out this week. Brand may be back, but that’s not certain. In Golden Sate he had a team that was returning its core and had won 48 games last year. They were in trouble because they were in the very tough West, but so are the Clippers. This is a step back. A giant one. Davis is in the movie business, and he is from So Cal, but I honestly don’t understand why the lure of home would be this strong. It says pretty strongly to me that winning isn’t as important to Davis as I thought it was. He traded proximity to the film business for 25 fewer wins last year, and he has joined one of the worst run teams in existence.

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