Growing up in Upstate NY I looked forward to three things: Christmas, Halloween and Beckett Monthly.

Flipping through the pages of the Beckett’s Baseball Monthly is one of the best memories I have from my childhood. (Look, there wasn’t much to do in the 80s.) It was equal parts baseball bible and pre-adolescent trading card porn. Cracking that thing and diving into the first few pages each month was as good as it got for a 10-year-old kid.

The best part of that magazine was easily the Hot or Cold List. That was the moment. That was the area where it would list the 10 “hot” cards that were increasing in value and the 10 “cold” cards that were fading. Invariably there would be one card that made both lists, which made it even better, but the whole thing set the tone for which cards you were going to try to dupe your friends out of that week. 

So let’s bring that back, shall we? Below is my first offering of our weekly Sports Betting Hot/Cold List. This week I am focusing on football, but this will basically just be a temperature check for anything and everything in the world of sports and gambling. I thought it would be better to do this each week instead of making you wait those 30 excruciating days that I was forced to endure as a wee babe for my baseball monthly. So be sure to check back next week.

With that said, I bring you to you the Sports Betting Hot/Cold list. I hope you enjoy as I always have:

COLD LIST

10. NFL favorites – The favorites are 52-23 on the money line this season, but they are also only 35-37-3 ATS. Thanks for nothing you money-grubbing chalk bastards. Someone hold a lead!

9. Kyle Orton – Look mom, I just lost my job.

8. Tony Sparano – He can take tips from Orton. Yes, I know, this is a little premature, but we all know that it is coming. A Dolphins friend of mine said he doesn’t think this team will win a game. I think that’s harsh. But the irony here is that Sparano and Orton possibly could have saved each other’s jobs if the rumored offseason trade between Denver and Miami had gone down.

7. Chicago Defense – When you think about it (and the numbers back it up) this has been a pretty bad defense over the course of the last five years. However, that is not the schema that we have for this group, and they are coming off a great season. But the Bears got torn up on Monday night and now they lost Julius Peppers to a torn MCL. Bad times.

6. St. Louis Rams – Yeah, I know they were on a bye. But they get the Packers next week. Good luck with that.

5. Atlanta Falcons – This team, along with Philadelphia, was supposed to wreak havoc in the NFC. The Super Bowl pick of Peter King (and a lot of other bandwagon jumpers) is now 1-4 ATS with their only win coming against the equally bad Eagles. (PS, they had no business beating the Eagles.)

4. NBA Basketball – I know this is a football-heavy article, but how about the fact that the NFL lockout had our government on pins and needles, yet the NBA lockout doesn’t get a sniff of a headline. Sorry boys.

3. Philadelphia Eagles – This team is in shambles. But I don’t really understand the Andy Reid bashing. The bottom line is that Michael Vick is terrible and the defense has very little talent outside of its corners.

2. Roger Goodell – Why would he push for HGH testing? Is it just me or is the whole reason we watch NFL football, or football for that matter, to watch some wide receiver get his head taken off by a 300-pound man that runs the 40-yard dash in four seconds? Yeah, that sounds great! Goodell seems like a guy who loves himself just a little too much. He needs to sit down and shut up.

1. New York Giants – They are my favorite team and this is kind of a homer call. But the Seattle Seahawks, at home, blew them out as a double-digit underdog. May God have mercy on their souls. Quite a few survivor pool players were crying after that one.

HOT LIST

10. Victor Cruz – Cruz has totaled 17 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns since taking over as the Giants No.2 wideout. His juggling, one-handed big play touchdown last week was one of the top plays of the year. Why is Mario Manningham even still on this team?

9. Cam Newton – This guy is an Against The Spread machine. All the Panthers have done since Newton took over is cover the NFL point spread. He has four times as many goal line carries as DeAngelo Williams and Jon Stewart combined this year, and Newton is triggering one of the most explosive groups in the league.

8. The ‘Over’ – So far teams are a ridiculous 48-28-1 against the total this year. That is a stunning 63.2 percent clip, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Last week the average total for all games was an enormous 46.4 – and nine of 13 games still beat the number.

7. San Francisco 49ers – San Fran is 4-1 straight up and 4-0-1 ATS thus far this season. They posted the biggest blowout of the season to date last week and have outscored their opponents 69-3 over their last six quarters.

6. Wes Welker –All this guy has been doing is work, and he has turned out to be an absolute steal for fantasy geeks throughout the country. I have no idea who is going to attempt to cover him out of the putrid Dallas secondary this week, so Wes is trending upwards.

5. Vegas Oddsmakers – With the exception of their totals troubles, the books have been on point so far this year. Home teams are 37-35-3 ATS and favorites are 35-37-3 ATS so far this year. There is no obvious angle that has been paying out on sides and the books are just one game away from a perfect 50-50 split on their money so far this year. Not bad after a bizarre offseason.

4. AFC East Scoring – The Bills are 5-0 versus the total this season. The Patriots have scored 30 points or more in 13 straight games and are 20-6 against the total over the last few years. The Jets can’t stop anyone any more and they are 4-1 against the total. Sure, the Dolphins stink, but on the whole this division is 14-6 against the total.

3. Detroit Lions – Can this team continue this impressive start? Will Matt Stafford stay healthy? Is Calvin Johnson human? At least we know the answer to one of those questions, No, Calvin Johnson isn’t human. Counting the preseason the Lions are 12-1 ATS dating back to last year.

2. Al Davis’ Ghost – He showed up at just the right time. As the Texans drove all the way down the field for the winning touchdown, he forced Matt Schaub to throw an unpressured interception in the endzone to seal an emotional win for the Raiders. It just wouldn’t have been right if Oakland had coughed one up the weekend of Darth Raider’s passing.

1. The Hot/Cold List – Yup, that…just…happened.

Strike Point Sports has been tearing up the NFL so far this season, going 23-10-1 with their NFL picks. They have rolled off five straight winning NFL weeks and are a perfect 6-0 with their NFL predictions rated 5.0 or higher. This Sunday they will have a 7-Unit NFL Game of the Year that you don’t want to miss.