Miscellaneous Articles

NFL Draft Projections: Top Defensive Players
by Aaron Smith - 4/13/2011

The old adage “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships,” often rings true in the NFL. It’s always great to have both, but most coaches will tell you that they would rather have a great defense than a great offense. This year’s NFL Draft class has a plethora of talent on the defensive side of the ball. There are plenty of players who are ready to step in and make an impact right away. Of course, that is if the NFL actually plays anytime soon.

NASCAR Picks: Samsung Mobile 500 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard - 4/9/2011

Gamblers should note that only one driver at Texas Motor Speedway has won from the pole; Kasey Kahne in 2006. However, 14 of 20 races have been won from the top-10 starting position. Pole position has been anything but lucrative. Take Tony Stewart, for instance: he won the pole in 2010 but finished 32nd. Meanwhile, Carl Edwards leads all drivers with three wins at Fort Worth. Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner and swept both Texas races last year. Hamlin, who also finished second in September of 2009, will start the race from the 23rd spot.

NFL Draft: Offensive Skill Players a Hot Commodity
by David Schwab - 4/6/2011

Anyone who seriously follows professional football understands that championship teams are built around a strong offensive and defensive line. Yet, when it comes to the NFL Draft, much of the focus revolves around the top prospects in the offensive skill positions.

NASCAR Picks: Auto Club 400 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G Shepard - 3/25/2011

Only 14 points separate Kurt Busch in first place from Paul Menards in fifth place in the Sprint Cup standings as Jimmie Johnson looks for his sixth win at the Auto Club Speedway as NASCAR heads to Fontana, California on March 27 at 3:15 p.m. for the Auto Club 400.

NASCAR Predictions: Jeff Byrd 500 Odds and Picks
by Christopher G. Shepard - 3/18/2011

Tony Stewart is tied with Kurt Busch for first place with 113 points in the Sprint Cup, but Carl Edwards has won the pole for the Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway for some exciting short-track racing on Sunday, March 20 at 1:15 p.m. EST.

NBA MVP Odds: Derrick Rose vs. LeBron James
by Tim Furious of BetUS - 3/9/2011

How do you properly qualify the Most Valuable Player? Metrics, statistics and highlight reels aside, I prefer to use phrases to qualify the NBA MVP race and the one. We all know what these phrases are, and before you nerds crack out our spreadsheets to show me some stats that I could care less about, consider that there’s only a few real ways to measure the quality of an MVP candidate.

NASCAR Picks: Kobalt Tools 400 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard - 3/4/2011

Jeff Gordon’s exciting win last week ended a 66-race winless streak as well as a string of runner-up finishes and powered Gordon 20 spots up the ladder to fifth place in the standings as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Kobalt Tools 400 on Sunday, March 6 at 3:16 p.m. EST with all the ‘Gopher Cam’ action brought to you by FOX.

NFL Draft: Combine Standouts and Disappointments
by T.O. Whenham - 3/4/2011

Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State - I am not a fan of Ponder at all -- he’s just too fragile for me. Despite that, though, I have to admit that he was very impressive in the QB drills. He threw well, showed off a strong, accurate arm, and will get himself picked before having to wait too long.

Ranking the Quarterbacks at the NFL Draft Combine
by T.O. Whenham - 3/4/2011

It’s a very interesting time in the NFL right now -- and I’m not talking about the labor situation. There are a whole lot of teams that need quarterback help, a shortage of inspiring options in the league right now, and a draft class that has some potential but doesn’t have a clear slam-dunk guy amongst it. The needs will likely force teams to take risks on guys who wouldn’t go nearly as high in a strong QB draft class. That means that teams are even more likely than normal to be disappointed by a high QB draft pick.

NFL Draft Analysis: Obscure Combine Performers
by T.O. Whenham - 3/3/2011

Every year at the Combine there are a few guys from reasonably obscure schools who put up eye-popping performances and get a lot more attention after the event than they did before. Sometimes those players turn into stars. More often they fade back into obscurity sooner or later. Regardless, they are a lot of fun to pay attention to. Here are five guys, according to my NFL Draft analysis, that are decidedly on the radar now after what they managed to do in Indianapolis:

Wide Receivers in the 2011 NFL Draft
by David Schwab - 3/3/2011

Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks with the current NFL labor situation, the 2011 NFL draft this April 28-30 will be held as scheduled. This past week over 300 of the nation’s top prospects completed a wide array of testing, probing, and prodding at the Scouting Combines in an effort to further access their value in this year’s draft.

2011 NFL Draft Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/2/2011

We’re a month away from NFL Draft month. Unfortunately, it’s not the only focus of the league this year because of stupid labor battles. Still, the Draft is incredibly exciting, and a worthy cause for a ridiculous amount of speculation and predicting. In that spirit, here are eight NFL draft predictions I will make about this year’s draft. I know not all of them will turn out to be correct, but a couple certainly will, and that’s all that matters:

2011 Potential NFL Draft Busts
by T.O. Whenham - 3/2/2011

Every year in the NFL draft there are a few guys -- and sometimes more than a few -- that you have to call busts. They may or may not be total failures at their position, but they certainly don’t deliver the punch that is expected by teams drafting them as highly as they were drafted. Identifying those players is far from an exact science, but here’s my guess of eight likely first round picks that stand a good chance of not living up to expectations:

Quarterbacks in the 2011 NFL Draft
by Darin Zank - 3/2/2011

When it comes to the NFL draft, no position is scrutinized more than the QB spot. And yet drafting quarterbacks is still, like the rest of the draft itself, a bit of a crapshoot. Some guys look like sure things coming out of school, and some live up to their lofty expectations, like Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, John Elway, all No. 1 overall picks and all Super Bowl winners. But busts still abound. JaMarcus Russell, anyone? David Carr? Ryan Leaf? And we could go on.

2011 NFL Draft Team-by-Team Needs
by T.O. Whenham - 2/28/2011

Cleveland Browns - This is really one of those teams that can pick the best available player because they aren’t totally solid in many spots. The defensive front seven could all be upgraded. The left side of the offensive line is very good, but the right side could be better. The offensive can’t be accused of being too explosive, either.

Running Backs in the 2011 NFL Draft
by Darin Zank - 2/28/2011

More than most positions in the game of professional football, rookies can make immediate and substantial impacts at running back. Their fresh legs get them though holes and around the ends, and those young knees can make cuts that won't be possible in a few years. Their bodies haven't been abused by 3-4-5 seasons of taking on defenders often much larger than themselves. Just think about the impact James Starks, a sixth-round pick last year out Buffalo, made for Green Bay, and in just four games, during the Packers' recent Super Bowl run.

This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 2/24/2011

The NCAA: The home of the delayed punishment. First the NCAA suspended five Ohio State players for NCAA violations but not until next season. They were allowed to play in the upcoming Sugar Bowl. Then Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was suspended eight games for recruiting violations but those suspensions did not come into effect until SEC play started two months later. And now the NCAA is laying the smack down on UConn coach Jim Calhoun by suspending him for recruiting violations for three games….but not until Big East play of NEXT year.

NBA Power Rankings
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 2/18/2011

The NBA all-star break is upon us and some things still remain the same. Carmelo Anthony is still in Denver, the Wizards still can’t win on the road, the Heat are still not as good as everyone thought they would be, and the Cavaliers are not as bad as everyone thought they would, they’re worse. Here is this week’s edition of the NBA power rankings with previous ranking listed in parentheses followed by odds to win the NBA Finals courtesy of BetUS.

NFL Draft: Players That Should Have Immediate Betting Impact
by T.O. Whenham - 2/11/2011

With the Super Bowl over we have officially entered NFL Draft season. Actually, this year we have entered lockout season, but that’s too depressing to think about so I’ll ignore that and concentrate on the draft. There is so much hype around the draft every year that it’s ridiculous -- and it keeps growing. A lot of players don’t have the impact that people expect them to right away -- people expect much more immediate gratification from the draft than is usually possible.

NASCAR Predictions: Sprint Cup Futures Odds
by Christopher G. Shepard - 2/10/2011

Sports investment powerhouse Bodog has posted futures odds for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. What should come as no surprise to fans is that five-time Sprint Cup winner Jimmie Johnson is set as the 3/1 favorite to hoist the Sprint Cup at Homestead, Florida on Nov. 20.