This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z
by Ricky Dimon - 9/17/2013
A. Arizona State. What on Earth was that? If Arizona State jumped on a fumble, the clock should have stopped for change of possession. If Arizona State jumped on a ball that wasn’t a fumble, the clocked should have been stopped for intentional delay of game. Either way, Wisconsin got absolutely screwed. The Sun Devils are +9 road underdogs at Stanford on Saturday, according to Sportsbook.ag.
B. Reggie Bush. Bush suffered a knee injury in the second quarter of Detroit’s loss at Arizona on Sunday. He returned later in the game but was far from 100 percent. However, a Monday MRI returned encouraging results, and there is a chance the running back could be ready for Week 3’s contest at Washington.
C. Circumstances. That’s why Oregon tight end Colt Lyerla missed Saturday’s win over Tennessee, according to head coach Mark Helfrich. Lyerla had been sidelined from practice for three days during the week due to illness, but Helfrich failed to mention anything about that when asked after the game concerning Lyerla’s absence. To say Lyeral is not happy with his coach would be an understatement. Of course, he’s probably equally pissed that he missed out on the fun of pinning 59 points on the Vols—all of them in the first three quarters.
D. Davis Cup. There are no more Grand Slams in 2013, but the tennis season continues. The Czech Republic, which won the Davis Cup last year, is back in the final. Serbia, the 2010 champion, booked its spot in November’s final in far more dramatic fashion—via a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Canada. The host Serbs are -300 favorites at Bovada Sportsbook to beat the Czechs.
E. EverBank Field. That’s where Jacksonville Jaguar fans held a rally on Monday in hopes of convincing the team to sign Tim Tebow. It was scheduled to start at 3:16 p.m. and last for three hours and 16 minutes. Not even divine intervention can save this team. Neither can Tebow. Of course, divine intervention and Tebow are one in the same to these fans. The Jags are +19.5 road underdogs at Seattle on Sunday, according to TopBet.
F. Miss Florida. Derrick Rose has been out for something like two years with a torn ACL. Miss Florida was out for something like two days. Torn ACL and all, Myrrhanda Jones looked like a champ at last week’s Miss America pageant and finished runner-up to Miss New York.
G. Group stage. The first matches of the Champions League will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Matchups include Real Madrid vs. Galatasaray, AC Milan vs. Celtic, and Barcelona vs. Ajax. Defending champion Bayern Munich is a +350 favorite at BetOnline Sportsbook to defend its title.
H. Hitched. LeBron James finally got it last Saturday, tying the knot with long-time girlfriend Savannah Brinson. Doesn’t he already have multiple kids? Well, Roger Federer already had multiple kids when he got married, and he is just about flawless in everyone’s eyes. Plus, this is the NBA—the same NBA in which Shawn Kemp once played. So no biggie.
I. Mark Ingram. Ingram’s alma mater is getting along quite nicely without him. Ingram himself is not. The former Alabama standout has never exactly taken flight at the next level; he averaged 3.9 yards per carry and scored five touchdowns in each of his first two NFL seasons. Through two games with the Saints in 2013, Ingram has a total of 17 carries for 31 yards. New Orleans is a -8 home favorite over Arizona on Sunday, according to Sportsbook.ag.
J. Jim Furyk. Furyk fired a 59 in the second round of the BMW Championship last Friday. It was just the sixth 59 in the history of the PGA Tour. The guy with the funky swing may not have won the tournament, but he shot a freaking 59. And he did it on a par-71, not a par-70. Boss. Furyk is +1800 to win the Tour Championship at Bovada Sportsbook.
K. Matt Kenseth. The first leg of the Sprint Cup Chase went to Kenseth, who prevailed at the rain-delayed GEICO 400 in Chicago. An in-form Kenseth was already in first place heading into the 10-race chase, so this wasn’t much of an upset. But basically no NASCAR controversy in an entire race? Now that’s an upset. Sportsbook has Kenseth at +800 to win this weekend’s Sylvania 300 and +200 to win the Sprint Cup title.
L. John Legend. Speaking of getting hitched, Legend and swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen also took the plunge over the weekend. John Roger Stephens may be a legend, but he still outkicked his punt coverage by a country mile.
M. Manning Bowl. Peyton is now 3-0 against Eli after Denver hammered the New York Giants 41-23 on Sunday. Eli threw four interceptions to Peyton’s zero. But, hey, Eli still has two Super Bowl rings to Peyton’s one. TopBet has the Broncos as +150 favorites to win the AFC.
N. Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are out of the AP Top 25, which is usually what happens when you blow a 21-3 lead and give up 38 unanswered points to an opponent (in this case UCLA) and lose, 41-21. Nebraska had a record 348 poll appearances end in September of 2002. Since then, only two of 11 seasons have seen the ‘Huskers be a staple of the poll every single week. They are -22 home favorites over South Dakota State on Saturday, according to BetOnline Sportsbook.
O. Orlando TV station. WKMG TV on Sunday aired the Jaguars-Raiders game instead of Broncos vs. Giants. The inept Jags lost 19-9, went 36 minutes of game time without a first down, and did not score its first touchdown of the season until garbage time late in the fourth quarter. The station scrolled a “We apologize for any inconvenience” message during the broadcast. Oh, trust me, that was a major inconvenience for anyone in Orlando.
P. Payday. Floyd Mayweather racked up $41.5 million for his fight against Canelo Alvarez, which went to Mayweather via majority decision. For those counting, that’s $3.46 million per round, $1.38 million per minute, and $23,055.56 per second.
Q. Calling it quits. Colorado Rockies’ first baseman Todd Helton announced on Saturday that he will retire at the end of the season. Helton has spent his entire 17-year Major League Baseball career with Colorado. He leads the franchise in games, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, runs, and walks, he won the NL batting title in 2000, and he owns three Gold Gloves.
R. Richard Sherman. Sherman was all over the field in Seattle’s 29-3 Sunday night win over San Francisco. Afterward, he was all over the quote board—as usual. The cornerback first called out “ignorant idiots” for picking the 49ers to win. Then he claimed San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh did not return Sherman’s pleasantries after the game. Of course, what really happened is Sherman gave Harbaugh a butt-slap then ran away before Harbaugh could turn around and do anything. The Seahawks are +275 favorites at Bovada Sportsbook to win the NFC.
S. Sweeps. A few playoff contenders came up small over the weekend. The Yankees got swept by Boston, Texas lost all three of its games against Oakland to all but end their AL West chances, and the Dodgers dropped three in a row to lowly NL West rival San Francisco (L.A. won the first of four, so it wasn’t a sweep).
T. Tour Championship. The FedEx Cup concludes this week in Atlanta. Zach Johnson is fresh off a title at the BMW Championship, and he is into a Top 5 that controls its own destiny at the final event. Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, and Matt Kuchar are also assured of capturing the cup if they prevail on Sunday.
U. Unfollow. That’s what Miley Cyrus did to Liam Hemsworth on Twitter last weekend. I mean, news just doesn’t get any bigger than that, folks.
V. Shane Vereen. Count Vereen (wrist) among the many New England offensive players who is hurt. The RB was placed on short-term injured reserve last week, and he will be eligible to return in Week 11 when the Patriots face Carolina. In NE’s first game without Vereen (it was also missing Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski), Tom Brady and company amassed just 232 total yards in an ugly win over the Jets. Sportsbook has the Pats at +1200 to win the Super Bowl.
W. Wladimir Balentien. Balentien broke the Japanese single-season home-run record on Sunday by blasting his 56th and 57th dingers. He did it with 17 games still remaining on the schedule and despite missing the first 12 games of the year due to injury. Sadaharu Oh, Tuffy Rhodes, and Alex Cabrera now share second place.
X. Denotes clinched division. We should be seeing a couple of those pop up in the MLB standings this week. Both the Braves and Dodgers have magic numbers of four in their respective divisions. Atlanta could clinch as early as Tuesday because it faces second-place Washington in a double-header. L.A. could wrap it up on Wednesday against second-place Arizona. The Dodgers (Greinke) are -215 favorites over Arizona (Corbin) on Tuesday, according to BetOnline Sportsbook.
Y. T.J. Yeldon. After scoring a second-quarter touchdown against Texas A&M, Yeldon mocked Johnny Manziel’s “show me the money” celebration then followed it up with a double throat-slash. Alabama’s running back apologized profusely for the gesture, but when you rush 25 times for 149 yards and a score in the biggest regular-season game of the college football season, you can sort of do whatever you want.
Z. Jordan Zimmermann. Zimmermann was the first pitcher in the National League to get to 16 wins, first to 17, and he wasted no time reaching 18. The Washington right-hander has won his last three starts, most recently on Sunday in an 11-2 blowout of Philadelphia. Zimmermann is 18-8 with a 3.33 E.R.A as the Nationals cling to distant wild-card contention. They are +2500 at Bovada Sportsbook to win the NL Pennant.
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