This Week in Sports Betting A-Z 1/30/2018

by Ricky Dimon - 1/30/2018

A. Australian Open . Only one athlete is aging finer than Tom Brady, and it's Roger Federer. The 36-year-old captured his 20^th Grand Slam title this past Sunday when he won the Australian Open for the second season in a row. Federer has now triumphed at three of the last five majors dating back to the start of 2017. He is +1200 at Bovada Sportsbook to win the French Open.

B. Boston Bruins . Boston is in the midst of a league-best five-game winning streak, moving it to second place in the Eastern Conference and tied for third in the NHL. The Bruins are on an incredible 18-game point streak, having not lost in regulation since Dec. 14. Talk about a bad time for the all-star break!

C. Captains . So much for Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference. The NBA All-Star Game is now Team LeBron James and Team Stephen Curry. The two leading vote-getters are captains of their respective teams, and they recently drafted the rest of the top vote-getters. Curry snagged James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid, among others. LeBron landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. But LeBron also selected DeMarcus Cousins before….

D. DeMarcus Cousins . Taking down Golden State in the playoffs they were not, but the Pelicans were poised to take a big step in the right direction this season. They are 27-22 and have won seven of their last nine games, putting them well inside the playoff cut line at sixth place in the Western Conference. But New Orleans will have time staying there without Cousins, who is out for the year after suffering a ruptured Achilles' tendon in last Friday's 115-113 victory over Houston. The former Kentucky standout had a triple-double before getting injured with just 12 seconds left and he was averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game.

E. Embiid, Joel . Back in 2014, Embiid rigorously pursued Rihanna (who didn't?). She reportedly turned him down, saying, "come back when you're an all-star." Well, four years later, Embiid is an all-star. But he has apparently moved on following the initial rejection. "She denied me back then, so why go with her again," the 76ers' said during a postgame interview after a recent win over Boston. "I'm going to have to pass that and move on to the next one. Trust the process."

F. Flames . Calgary waived Jaromir Jagr-yes, that Jaromir Jagr-on Sunday. The 45-year-old had played in just 22 games for the Flames this season, recording one goal and six assists. He will probably just head back over to Europe and play hockey for like three more decades. Calgary is a -115 home favorite over Vegas on Tuesday, per MyBookie.ag.

G. Gronkowski, Rob . The Patriots' star tight end is still part of the NFL's concussion protocol and listed as "concussed" on the injury report, but he has practiced the last few days in advance of Super Bowl LII against Philadelphia this coming Sunday. Gronk, who missed the Super Bowl last year due to injury, is probably something like -50000000000000 to play in the game. 5Dimes Sportsbook has the over/under at 48.5.

H. Hired . When the Patriots inevitably play in Super Bowl LIII (that's the one next February, for those counting), they will do so under two new coordinators. Defensive mastermind Matt Patricia is set to be the new head coach in Detroit, while offensive guru Josh McDaniels agreed last Friday to become head coach of the Colts.

I. Izzo, Tom . Michigan State extended its winning streak to four games with a victory over Maryland this past Sunday. But that is just about where the good news ends for that university. Former MSU and Olympic gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced basically to life in prison (40 to 175 years) last week, touching off a full-blown scandal. "We've got a lot of things to cover; a lot of things to go over," Izzo said. "I just hope that everybody rallies behind this team a little bit, and I hope we all rally behind the survivors and we make our community a better place." The Spartans are +700 at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the National Championship.

J. Jason Day . Five playoff holes were not enough to separate Day and Alex Noren this past Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open. They came back out on Monday morning and Day won it with a birdie on the par-5 18^th after Noren went for the green in a two and found water.

K. Kidd, Jason . Kidd got fired last week, with his highly-touted Milwaukee team just 23-22. Antetokounmpo and company have since compiled a 4-0 record under interim coach Joe Prunty.

L. LeBron James . LeBron recently channeled his inner Carmelo Anthony, who once said, "I take my hat off to myself" after averaging 40.3 points during a three-game stretch in 2011. Last Wednesday, LeBron took to Instagram to congratulate himself on becoming the youngest player in NBA history reach the 30,000-point mark. Cleveland is a -2 favorite at Detroit on Tuesday, as indicated by Bovada Sportsbook.

M. Mississippi Valley State . Don't worry, Mississippi Valley State folks. Your school can continue to be known as the college Jerry Rice attended-not the school that lost a million college basketball games in a row. The Delta Devils, who were the last remaining winless team in Division I, beat Jackson State 72-67 last Saturday.

N. Nick Foles . Nick Foles is starting in the Super Bowl. You can't make this stuff up. Of course, maybe the joke is on everyone else. Foles has been stellar through two playoff games in place of the injured Carson Wentz.

O. Ovechkin, Alex . Ovechkin was the only player to exceeded the century mark in the hardest shot competition during last weekend's NHL All-Star Game festivities. With the victory already in hand, Ovechkin delivered a 101.3 MPH blast on his final attempt. Well, at least the Capitals are going to win something this season! Washington is +1300 at BookMaker to win the Stanley Cup.

P. Pro Bowl . Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Well, except for Epic Pro Bowl Dodgeball at the Skills Competition. Now that was epic.

Q. Qualified . The Tonga flagbearer from the 2016 Rio Olympics is back and better than ever. Yes, Pita Taufatofua is giving it another go after losing in the taekwondo first round in Rio de Janeiro. He will be cross-country skiing this time around in the Pyeongchang Olympics after successfully qualifying last week. MyBookie.ag has Germany and Norway as +140 co-favorites to win the medal count.

R. Rafael Nadal . Nadal's bid to catch Federer in the career Grand Slam titles race is slip-sliding away. The deficit is now four following Federer's triumph at Melbourne Park. Nadal, still clinging to the No. 1 ranking with a slight lead over the Swiss, retired from his quarterfinal match against Marin Cilic in the fifth set due to a hip injury.

S. Super Bowl LII . It's New England vs. Philadelphia on Sunday in Minnesota. The Patriots are -4.5 favorites , according to BetOnline Sportsbook.

T. Tiger Woods . For the first time since 2015, Tiger played the weekend in a PGA Tour event. The 14-time major champion birdied his final hole last Friday to make the cut on the number and he slowly moved up the leaderboard with solid closing rounds of 70 and 72 in tough conditions. Tiger finished T23-not bad especially when you consider that his driving was more wayward than Sting and Shaggy's Grammy performance.

U. United . Manchester United-and Manchester City, for that matter-advanced in the FA Cup last weekend. United booked a spot in the fifth round (16 teams left) by blanking Yeovil Town 4-0. Man U has an English Premier League date with Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. GT Bets has the Red Devils as +225 underdogs against the Spurs.

V. Virginia . If defense truly does win championships, go ahead and give Virginia the national title. There's still a long way to go before that happens, but the Cavaliers have a stranglehold on the ACC regular-season crown following a 65-63 win at Duke this past Saturday. UVA is now 9-0 in the conference, 2.5 games better than second-place Louisville and three clear of Duke and Clemson. The Wahoos are allowing a miniscule 52.3 points per game-almost 10 fewer than everyone else in the ACC.

W. Wozniacki, Caroline . Last Saturday's Australian Open final could not have been any bigger; at stake was a first-ever Grand Slam title and the No. 1 world ranking. It was Wozniacki who got the job done, outlasting Simona Halep 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4. Both players were 0-2 lifetime in slam finals heading into the showdown.

X. XFL . The XFL is coming back. That's right; Vince McMahon is giving the league another go, he announced last week. But is anyone going to watch if He Hate Me does not come back?

Y. Yelich, Christian . The Marlins continue to lose players faster than Nathan Peterman can throw interceptions. In a continuation of one of the biggest offseason fire-sales ever, Miami shipped Yelich to Milwaukee last Thursday in exchange for four prospects. So far it looks like Derek Jeter is baseball's answer to Michael Jordan: good at playing, bad at front office-ing.

Z. Zion Williamson . It's Duke. Because of course. Arch rival North Carolina is a -1 favorite at Clemson on Tuesday, per 5Dimes Sportsbook.

Start:	November 23, 2024 @ 10:07 PM
Expert:	Vernon Croy
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