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This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z

by - 9/23/2015

Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.

A. American League East . The division got even more interesting when the Blue Jays could not score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth against the Yankees on Tuesday. New York ended up winning 6-3 in extras, thus closing the gap to 2.5 games instead of plunging to 4.5 back. Toronto (Stroman) is a -192 home favorite over the Yankees (Nova) on Wednesday, per BookMaker.

B. Bryant, Kobe . Kobe has been medically cleared for all basketball activities. In more important news, he has a rating of 85 in NBA2K. That ranks him fifth among shooting guards, behind James Harden, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, and Dwyane Wade. Kobe has not yet weighed in on the matter, but Brandon Jennings vented his beef via Twitter. GT Bets has the Lakers at +10000 to win the Western Conference; Golden State and San Antonio are +250 co-favorites.

C. Charles, Jamaal . Leading Denver by seven late in the fourth quarter last Thursday, Kansas City figured it would at worst go into overtime. Instead, the Broncos scored a tying touchdown and then a winning one when they returned a Charles fumble to the house as the Chiefs were trying to do little more than run out the clock. Oops.

D. Delisa Lynch . Marshawn Lynch's mom went off on Facebook last week, calling for offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell to be fired. Not surprisingly, mama Lynch referred to Bevell as "the offense caller." The bottom line is that moms simply should not be on Facebook. Seattle is +750 at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the Super Bowl.

E. Elena Delle Donne . Delle Donne was named the WNBA MVP last week. And why not? She led the league in scoring and topped her own team, the Chicago Sky, in minutes, rebounds, blocks, and three-pointers (in addition, of course, to scoring). Delle Donne also astounded at the free-throw line with a WNBA-best percentage of 95 that included a streak of 58 made in succession. Unfortunately for the 26-year-old, her team got bounced out of the playoffs by Indiana on Tuesday despite a playoff career-high 40 points from Delle Donne.

F. Fifteen . That's how many consecutive decisions Braves' starter Shelby Miller has lost. Despite a stellar 3.00 ERA on the season, Miller is a horrendous 5-16. He does not have a win since May 17 and Atlanta is a shocking 2-20 in his last 22 outings. Miller's run support has been so terrifyingly bad that it is not suitable for print.

G. Great Britain . The Brits are through to the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1978, thanks mostly to Andy Murray. The world No. 3 won two singles matches and the doubles contest during last week's semifinal victory over Australia. Great Britain will visit Belgium in November for the final of tennis' team competition.

H. Hamlin, Denny . The moral of this upcoming story is that you should purposely tear your ACL…or something like that. Hamlin suffered that injury while playing basketball two weeks ago then finished sixth in a Sprint Cup race five days later. Seven days after that he won the first Chase event in Chicago. Hamlin is +650 at MyBookie.ag to win the Sprint Cup championship.

I. It is what it is . That's what Arkansas' head coach Bret Bielema had to say about his feud with Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Tech beat the Hogs 35-24 last weekend, but it hardly ended when the clock struck zero. Kingsbury took offense to Bielema-during a luncheon this summer-calling out the Red Raiders' use of the spread offense. The former quarterback hit back, saying Bielema got his ass kicked and that he would probably get it kicked again this week by Texas A&M. Boys will be boys.

J. Jason Day . It does not take a genius to figure out that the playoff formats in golf (FedEx Cup) and NASCAR (Sprint Cup) are tailored for excitement to go down to the wire and bring in television ratings the entire season. But how anyone other than Day should have a chance to win the FedEx Cup going into this week's Tour Championship is one the world's great mysteries. The world No. 1 has won four of his last six starts, including the PGA Championship and two playoff events. What's more, four other golfers will win the cup if they win the Tour Championship even if Day finishes solo second. Criminal.

K. Kelly, Chip . Philadelphia's head coach spent the entire offseason getting rid of unwanted players, no matter how skilled, and bringing in his own guys. The result is what has so far been a shameful conglomeration of players. The Eagles squandered a fourth-quarter lead against Atlanta in Week 1 and lost The Worst Football Game Ever Played to the Giants last Sunday. Philly is a +2.5 underdog at the New York Jets in Week 3, according to GT Bets.

L. Legion of Boom . The Boom is back in Seattle-at least that's the kind of difference Kam Chancellor has made in the past and the Seahawks hope he will make this season. Chancellor ended his holdout this week, three days after his team fell to 0-2 with a loss to Green Bay.

M. Mississippi . Ole Miss forced Alabama into a whopping five turnovers last Saturday night and did not turn it over a single time. That's usually a recipe for success, and it was for the Rebels. They came away from Tuscaloosa with a shocking 43-37 upset of Nick Saban's squad. Ole Miss is a -24 home favorite over Vanderbilt on Saturday, as indicated by Bovada Sportsbook.

N. New school . Ahmed Mohamed is looking for one after being suspended by the one to which he took a homemade clock. Mohamed, 14, also got arrested for his efforts. Teachers saw the boy's creation and called authorities, thinking it was some king of explosive device. That has to be the worst clock management since the Giants played the Cowboys.

O. Outcoached . Although he probably does not believe it, Rex Ryan said he got outcoached by Bill Belichick after his Bills lost to Belichick's Patriots 40-32 during Week 2 action. As outspoken as Ryan is, not even he is dumb enough to publicly point to the real reason for Buffalo's setback: quarterback play. While Tom Brady threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns, Tyrod Taylor was picked off three times by the Pats.

P. Patrick Kane . It has been a great last six years for the Blackhawks but a rough offseason for Kane, who has been accused of sexual assault. The star winger spoke publicly for the first time since the alleged incident last week and said-unsurprisingly-that he looks forward to being cleared of any wrongdoing.

Q. Quarterback . Johnny Manziel won't be the Browns' QB for Week 3. Although he showed flashes of brilliance in a win over Tennessee last Sunday, Josh McCown has been cleared to play following a concussion and will regain the starting role.

R. Romo, Tony . Romo can't play golf anymore because of recurring physical problems, and now he can't play football for at least eight weeks due to a broken collarbone sustained last week against Philadelphia. It's unclear which predicament Romo thinks is worse, but it's safe to say both are bad. Bovada Sportsbook has Dallas as a +2 home underdog against Atlanta this week.

S. Solheim Cup . American men are almost never able to win their team competition against the Europeans, but the women got the job done last week. And they did it in borderline miracle fashion. Team USA stormed back from a 10-6 deficit going into Sunday singles to win 14.5-13.5. It was especially sweet for the Americans after Europe basically cheated a day earlier by saying a short putt had not been conceded.

T. Terrell Suggs . The Ravens' linebacker is out for the season with a torn Achilles', having gone down with the injury in Week 1. Baltimore promptly gave up 37 points to Oakland of all teams in a disastrous loss. BookMaker has the Ravens as -2.5 home favorites over Cincinnati on Sunday.

U. University of Texas . UT parted ways with athletic director Steve Patterson last week. Does that mean Charlie Strong is now on the hot seat? Maybe not yet, but things are not going well for the 1-2 Longhorns. At 5Dimes Sportsbook, Texas is a +3 underdog this week against visiting Oklahoma State.

V. Veep . Veep took home the award for best comedy series at the Emmys this past weekend. Other contenders included Modern Family, the Colts' offense, and the entire Philadelphia Eagles team.

W. West Ham United . Manchester City was 5-0 and had not allowed a single goal through five English Premier League matches. West Ham was hardly intimidated. The underdogs pulled off a surprising 2-1 road upset last weekend at Etihad Stadium. West Ham is up to a tie for third on the EPL table and Man City is now just two points ahead of second-place Manchester United. City is a -187 favorite at Sportsbook to win the league title.

X. Xavier Rhodes . The Vikings' cornerback continues to get the assignment on Calvin Johnson whenever his team faces Detroit, often in one-on-one situations. Last weekend, Rhodes limited Johnson to 83 yards on 10 catches. That's just about as well as anyone can hope to fare against Megatron. Rhodes' one real blemish was a penalty that negated a Harrison Smith interception. But Smith harbored no ill will. "He did awesome," Smith said of his teammate. "That's what we expect out of Xavier and that's what Xavier expects out of himself. He's that good."

Y. Yogi, Berra . The Yankees' legend passed away on Tuesday night at the age of 90. Berra was an 18-time all-star and he won 13 World Series as either a player or manager. R.I.P.

Z. Zito, Barry . Zito will face Tim Hudson on Saturday. You can't make this stuff up, folks. At 37 years old, Zito has spent this entire season with Oakland's Triple-A affiliate after taking all of 2014 off. Hudson, 40, is 8-8 with a 4.20 ERA for the Giants this year. The two veterans were teammates with the A's starting as far back as 2000.

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