I don’t know what it is tonight, but I am feeling testy. Annoyed. Short fused. I had a lot of vegetables with dinner. Maybe that’s the problem. Whatever it is, as I have been browsing through the sports betting news tonight a few things as stuck out to me as particularly grating:
Tony Dungy – The Colts’ coach said today that his star QB will be ready for the regular season opener. He may even be ready to play in the preseason. There’s nothing wrong with that specifically, and it may even be true. It’s just that Dungy drives me absolutely nuts, and it especially annoys me that he has been elevated to such a position by the media that I can’t dislike him without being a truly awful guy.
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I don’t know about you, but I am itching for the football season to get here. Aching, really. NFL training camps get under way right away, so America’s favorite sport has been on my mind a lot lately. We’ll obviously spend a lot of time talking about the league in the weeks and months to come, but before we get into any specifics I just wanted to reflect on some of the general thoughts that are bouncing through my mind at this point.
Jacksonville – I like this team. A lot. Their division is a bit softer than it has been. Their offense is solid. Their defense is significantly upgraded. Every year there are a couple of teams that I either make or lose a fortune on. I strongly suspect that Jacksonville is one of those teams. They aren’t going to surprise anyone, and the public is going to be aware of them, but I still thin that they will play well enough to make some money.
I spent most of the morning watching the British Open. It was fascinating, and not much else is going on in the sports world right now, so I thought I would share what is sticking out in my mind halfway through the tournament.
Wow, is the weather ever ugly at the British Open. If I showed up at a course and the sky looked like that I would turn around and go home. A links-style course does nothing to make the day look any nicer, either.
I’m going to avoid talking about the All-Star game before it happens because, well, it bores the hell out of me. I love baseball as much as the next guy, but I don’t think it lends itself particularly well to an exhibition format – especially one that none of the players really care about. If pitchers were all supposed to only pitch an inning a game then they’d all be called closers, and each team would have 18 of them. If I had to I would bet on the American League, but I would rather bet on cricket.
I was passing some time tonight by browsing around the odds at Pinnacle looking for anything interesting (it was a slow night, obviously). As I did that a few lines of interest popped out that are worth a comment:
Men’s Olympic soccer – Anything can happen in a short tournament, but it would be a major upset of the winner of this tournament wasn’t either Argentina or Brazil. They are just that much better than anyone else. Interestingly, they are priced in such a way that you could bet both if you wanted and still make money if you were right. Argentina is +188 and Brazil is at +238 to win them all. That’s not bad for heavy favorites at this point.
Elton Brand is taking, to me, a surprising amount of abuse from pockets of the media regarding his decision to jump to the Sixers after opting out from his contract with the Clippers. Sure, he initially said he was intending to re-sign, but I don’t think he can be blamed in the slightest for what he has done. Here are five good reasons:
That sound you hear is, I fear, the sound of floodgates opening. For a couple of glorious years now college basketball has been, in my mind, significantly better off for the presence of a few spectacularly talented young players – even if they only stayed for a year. The NBA’s change in minimum draft age meant that we got to see guys like Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley make the college game their personal playgrounds. That has made the world a better place. Now that might all be threatened thanks to a guy named Brandon Jennings.
Continue reading “Brandon Jennings Is Trying To Ruin My LIfe”
This can be a tough time of year for sports bettors. If you aren’t into baseball then there isn’t much to hold your attention. Golf is in an inter-Major lull. So is tennis. Basketball and football are technically on, but in versions that are far from captivating. Horse racing is in a lull until Saratoga and Del Mar get fired up. There is a bit of soccer, but not the thrilling international action of the spring and early summer. The Olympics are still a month away, and real football action is almost two months away. If you don’t like betting on baseball then you could be in some real trouble.
I’ve got a summer cold – the worst punishment for past sins imaginable. It’s a doozy, too. Given that, I’d love to be catty and dismissive to a few teams or players to make myself feel better. Sadly, though, there are a couple of big stories tonight that I really like and am quite enthusiastic about. That’s no fun.
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