This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z
by Ricky Dimon - 12/9/2014
A. Andre Drummond
. Everyone snapchats-at least everyone who is Drummond's age (21). A lot of snapchatters probably snapchat behind the wheel, perhaps even at 96 miles per
hour. But the Pistons' center may be the only NBA player who actually posts snapchats of going 96 mph on the Internet for everyone to see. Now if only
Detroit (3-18), on a 12-game losing streak, could just post a 'W'…. The Pistons are +7.5 home underdogs against Portland on Tuesday, according to GT Bets.
B. Bob Bowlsby
. The Big 12 commissioner was never going to get either Baylor or TCU into the College Football Playoff; not after Florida State went undefeated and Ohio
State embarrassed Wisconsin 59-0. But Bowlsby sure didn't help the conference or himself by presenting co-champions to the committee, especially not after
originally declaring that head-to-head would be the first tiebreaker and adopting a "one true champion" slogan. More like one true debacle.
C. College Football Playoff
. It will be Alabama vs. Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl and Oregon vs. Florida State in the Rose Bowl. If that's not an epic lineup, I don't know what is; no
matter that both of the spreads are like a zillion points. Alabama is even money at Bodog Sportsbook to win the National Championship.
D. Derrick Rose
. D-Rose wore an "I CAN'T BREATHE" shirt during warmups for Chicago's game against Golden State last Saturday. It was, of course, referencing the
controversial, explosive Eric Garner issue. It must have been, because a shirt of Rose's own would say, "I CAN'T STAY HEALTHY".
E. Elton John
. Sir Elton has been known to participate in plenty of tennis events, which he was doing last weekend at Royal Albert Hall in London. But he had not been
known to topple over backwards in his sideline chair at those tennis events, which is what he did last weekend at Royal Albert Hall in London. Watching the
widely-circulated video is encouraged.
F.
Forty
. That's how old Terrell Owens is. Maybe he should go on a Mike Gundy-inspired rant to pitch his services to NFL teams. "I'm a man! I'm 40! But still
better than almost every receiver in the league!" That's what T.O. seems to think as he makes his case to suit up for Chicago, which is without Brandon
Marshall for the rest of the year. The Bears are +3 home underdogs vs. the Saints next Monday night,
per Carbon Sports.
G. Green Bay Packers
. "Gentlemen, we'll be successful this year if you can focus on three things and three things only: your family, your religion, and the Green Bay Packers."
That is one of the best parts of perhaps the best sports-related speech every given-Jim Valvano's acceptance of the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the 1993 ESPYs. In appropriate fashion during Jimmy V week, Green Bay beat Atlanta 43-37 on
Monday night to win its fifth straight game and improve to 10-3. The Packers are +325 favorites at Bovada Sportsbook to win the Super Bowl.
H. Hail Mary
. Call it the luck of the Irish. Central Florida head coach George O'Leary watched his team pull off a miracle last Thursday, when the Knights completed a
last-second, 51-year-yard Hail Mary to beat East Carolina 32-30 and clinch a share of the American Athletic Conference title. Their reward? None other than
a trip to something called the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.
I. IPTL
. Tennis may be in the midst of its extremely-short offseason, but there is something called the International Premier Tennis League taking place right now
in the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Dubai. Roger Federer was reportedly paid $4 million to appear in just two matches. That equates to $4 million for
six sets, or $4 million for 54 games (also $666,667 per set and $74,074 per game). Only Floyd Mayweather thinks that is chump change. Federer is +714 at BookMaker to win the Australian Open.
J. Jim McElwain
. How is McElwain's acceptance of the Florida job a good thing? Let us count thy ways. He's jumping ship from the Mountain West to the SEC, he's moving
from Fort Collins, Colo. to Florida, he's making more straight cash (homie), and he's succeeding Will Muschamp. In Muschamp's wake, whatever the Gators do
under McElwain is going to look good by comparison.
K. Kerr, Steve
. Kerr's decision to move from broadcasting to coaching: good one. Kerr's decision to begin said profession with the Golden State Warriors: great one. With
the former Chicago Bulls' sharpshooter at the helm, Stephen Curry and company boast the best record in basketball at 18-2. They have won 13 consecutive
games after trouncing Minnesota 102-86 on Monday. Golden State is +650 at GT Bets to win the NBA title.
L. Landon Donovan
. The L.A. Galaxy, the Major League Soccer squad basically known as "that team that had David Beckham and has Landon Donovan," won their fifth MLS Cup last
weekend. It was Donovan's final professional match prior to retirement, and he went out on top as L.A. beat New England 2-1. Here's guessing that every
single person in the New England area would take a Patriots' regular-season win over the Chargers as opposed to a MLS Cup.
M. Mike Riley
. Riley is the new head coach at Nebraska, replacing Bo Pelini. Hopefully for Riley's sake he churns out 11-win seasons like clockwork, because Pelini led
the Huskers to nine-win and 10-win marks like nobody's business, and clearly that wasn't good enough. Carbon Sports has Nebraska as a +6 underdog against USC in the Holiday
Bowl.
N.
New York Knicks
. President Phil Jackson says the Knicks are developing a "loser's mentality." Well, they are also developing a loser's physicality, personality, vitality,
dimensionality, banality, and every other "ality." The bottom line is New York stinks. It is 4-18 and has lost 12 in a row.
O. Ohio State
. Wisconsin lost to OSU 59-0 in the Big Ten Championship? But hey, at least the Buckeyes weren't playing with their second-string quarterback or anything
like that. Oh wait…that's right…they were playing with their third-string quarterback. Ohio State is a +9.5 underdog at BookMaker against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
P. PB&J
. U.S. men's national team goalkeeper Tim Howard says in his autobiography that coach Jurgen Klinsmann banned peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during the
World Cup. Maybe "peanut butter and jelly sandwiches" is Howard's nickname for Landon Donovan?
Q. Questionable, or not
. The NFL is saying that Dallas should have been listing Tony Romo as questionable-or at the very least listing him somewhere on the injury report-for many
of its games this season. Romo said after last Thursday's win over Chicago that he has been dealing with a rib problem for two months, and the league wants
to know why he hasn't been on the report. Maybe Jason Garrett should adopt the Mike Shanahan method and just list every player on the entire roster as
questionable every week of the season. The Cowboys are +3 underdogs at Philadelphia on Sunday night, as indicated by 5Dimes Sportsbook.
R. Rosolie, Paul
. In "Anaconda," Jon Voight's character didn't want to get eaten by a snake but did. On the Discovery Channel's "Eaten Alive" premier on Sunday night, this
Rosolie guy wanted to get eaten by a snake but didn't. The plan was to get devoured by an anaconda and eventually somehow-somewhere-come out alive with
neither snake nor human harmed. But it was aborted when (shocker!) it became clear the plan would not work and Rosolie would be suffocated and/or crushed
before getting consumed.
S. Spieth, Jordan
. The kid is on fire-like, first three rounds of the 2014 Masters on fire. One week after winning the Australian Open, Spieth made an absolute mockery of
the Hero World Challenge. He fired rounds of 66, 67, 63, and 66 for a score of 26-under and a 10-shot victory. Good news, Caroline Wozniacki: your
ex-fiancée may have a rival on his hands in 2015! Spieth is +350 at SuperBook to win a major in 2015.
T. Tiger Woods
. And who finished last in Tiger Woods' tournament? None other than Tiger Woods, himself. The only surprising thing is not that Tiger finished
last; the only surprising thing is that Tiger finishing last isn't surprising. As bad as he was, the 14-time major champion actually did well totie for last with Hunter Mahan after having sole possession of the ignominious distinction for almost the entire week. Tiger is +1100 at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the Masters.
U. USWNT
. The U.S. men's national team successfully navigated through the group of death at this year's World Cup, and now the women have been placed it in for
their World Cup in 2015. Given that the USMNT is terrible in comparison to the USWNT, it goes without saying that if the men could do it the women should
be able to, too. And if it's a bad draw for the United States, it's an exponentially worse draw for fellow Group D participants Australia, Nigeria, and
Sweden.
V.
Vanek, Thomas
. The Minnesota Wild forward apparently is a big fan of betting on sports. He may not be going the Pete Rose route by dabbling into wagers on his own team
(not even his own sport, it seems), but Vanek has been known to throw down cash on football. A bookie claimed last week to have extorted a partial payment
of $230,000 from Vanek, and the bookie's attorney claims that the debt is somewhere around $10 million. Needless to say, Vanek's agent called that
"absolute fantasy." Minnesota is a -130 home favorite at Bovada Sportsbook over the Islanders on
Tuesday.
W. Win(s)
. Yes, folks. That's "wins" plural. The Philadelphia 76ers have now scored more points than their opponents not once, but twice this
season. They won at Minnesota last Wednesday and at Detroit three days later. Philly has surged up the NBA standings from last place and two games out of
second to last, to last place and a half-game out of second to last.
X. X-ray
. It came back negative on Monday for Percy Harvin, who sustained a left ankle injury in the Jets' Week 14 overtime loss at Minnesota. His status is
uncertain for Sunday, but he at least has chance now that it's not serious. That is good news for the playoff push…. Fantasy football playoffs; not the
pathetic Jets, of course. Sportsbook.ag has New York as a -2 favorite at Tennessee in Week 15.
Y. Yale
. Yale was on top of the world for about…oh, 17 hours. Although no fault of the Bulldogs, their stunning Friday night win over UConn quickly became lost in
a jumbled mess of basketball upsets. On Saturday, Georgia Tech fell to USC Upstate, Miami (FL) was surprised by Green Bay, Radford took down Virginia Tech,
and-most incredibly of all-Michigan lost to the New Jersey Institute of Technology. What in the actual hell?
Z. Zags
. Gonzaga lost a thriller at third-ranked Arizona last Saturday, 66-63 in overtime. The two teams apparently though they were playing football in OT, as
the Wildcats won the extra frame by measly score of 6-3. The Zags are now 0-8 in their last eight games against Top-5 opponents. Q: Is that bad? A: It's
not good!
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