Weekly Sports Betting and Handicapping News Articles

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 3/15/2010

Davd Beckham is far from the best soccer player in the world, but he is perhaps the best known. His mobs of adoring fans won't be able to see him at the World Cup this summer, or during the MLS season, either. Beckham tore his Achilles while playing for AC Milan on Sunday. That means that his international career has probably come to an end, and there is a chance that the 34 year old won't play again at all.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 3/8/2010

The latest stop on the trail to the Kentucky Derby was the Gotham at Aqueduct, and the winner was an unlikely but intriguing one. Awesome Act, who was a hard charging fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last time we saw him, won the race handily in his first start on dirt. Trained by Jeremy Noseda in England, the horse will stay in the States now and be aimed at the Woo Memorial as his final prep for a hopeful Derby start.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 3/1/2010

There are going to be a whole lot of unhappy people in Austria. Downhill skiing is a very, very big deal there, and it always shows in their results. Well, almost always - Vancouver was a disaster for them. In Turin they won 14 medals. They took home just four from Vancouver. Only one of those medals was gold, and none were won by men. This isn't the kind of thing that will be accepted - you can expect heads to roll.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 2/22/2010

Amare Stoudemire was long rumored as the power forward Cleveland was going to get to add the scoring punch needed to win the title, but in the end it turned out to be Jamison - mostly because they were able to get Jamison practically for free. I'm confident that the deal will turn out well for the Cavs, but early returns have not been positive - they have lost three in a row since the deal, and Jamison was a pathetic 0-for-12 with 2 points in his debut game.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 2/15/2010

108,713. That's the number that will forever define the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. That's the number of people who were jammed into Cowboys' Stadium to watch the game - by far the largest basketball crowd in history. The game itself was pretty much exactly what you would expect - ridiculous amounts of offense, non-existent defense, and some lapses in decision making that you just wouldn't see in a normal game.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 2/9/2010

Soccer has found a new way to entertain us this week - sordid sexcapades. First, it was revealed that the 1998 World Cup was the disaster it was for the Americans in large part because of the distraction caused when captain John Harkes was booted from the team two months before the tournament. His crime? He slept with teammate Eric Wynalda's wife.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 2/1/2010

The NBA all-star reserves - the guys who really matter because they are picked by people who know what they are talking about and not the public - were announced this week. There are seven frst timers among the group, including Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant - two guys who are making their first appearance of many. You can't really argue about any of the guys who are on the team (though I think that they picked the wrong Gasol brother), but there are a few guys who really deserve to be there - notably Chris Kaman and David Lee.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 1/25/2010

The Angels have had a lousy, bizarre offseason, and it didn't get any better this week. They made two deals, and both are head scratchers. First, they committed $16 million over two years to add Joel Pineiro to their rotation. Pineiro theoretically replaces John Lackey in the rotation, but he's a significant step down. Second, the team was so desperate to get rid of Gary Matthews Jr. and his contract that they not only traded him to the Mets, but they agreed to pay $21.5 million of the $23 million remaining.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 1/18/2010

The Hawks have had more than their share of great wins this year - including a big one at Boston on Monday - but none has been as dramatic as the one over Phoenix on Friday night. Atlanta was down by four with 10 seconds left but somehow managed to get two more possessions after that, and they sealed it at the buzzer as Jamal Crawford sunk an impossibly long three pointer. Phoenix is now just 10-14 after starting the season 14-3, and on Saturday got humiliated at Charlotte.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 1/11/2010

The non-BCS conferences have an undisputed king. Boise State beat up on TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, and they did it by showing us just how dominant a new(ish) aspect of their game really is. We've always known that Boise State can pile up the points, but it's only in the last year that we have come to realize that they can also play stifling defense.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 1/4/2010

The Falcons were supposed to be in deep against Houston and their potent passing offense in the Armed Forces Bowl. They obviously weren't worried. Their defense held Case Keenum to just 222 yards passing, and picked him off six times - just three fewer interceptions than he had in his first 12 games combined.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 12/28/2009

The Lakers' bad boy will miss some action thanks to a concussion and an injured elbow. The alleged cause of these injuries is unbelievable and almost certainly false. Artest reportedly tripped over a box in his house and fell down a flight of stairs. I don't understand why athletes and their agents always come up with such ridiculous stories to cover up the true, embarrassing causes of injuries.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 12/21/2009

The Patriots finally showed that they can win a road game when they beat Buffalo on Sunday. It's their first road win other than the neutral site game in London all year, and it really only barely counts because the Pats have beaten the Bills relentlessly no matter where they play - New England has beaten Buffalo a league-best 13 straight times.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 12/7/2009

So, either the Hawks are an offensive powerhouse or the Raptors are incredibly incompetent on defense. At least one of those has to be true because Atlanta scored 146 points in regulation time against Toronto on Wednesday. Nine different players scored 11 or more points, and the team scored at least 32 points per quarter.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 11/30/2009

The offense of the Falcons is built around two stars - Matt Ryan and Michael Turner. Needless to say, it's a blow when both players are lost in the same game. Ryan was lost in the second quarter of their home game against Tampa Bay with a toe injury, and Turner went down in the third when he re-aggravated an ankle injury.

This Week in Betting, A to Z
by T.O. Whenham - 11/23/2009

Oregon put themselves in the driver's seat for the Pac-10 title, but it certainly wasn't easy. The Ducks beat Arizona in one of the best games of the entire college football season. Oregon won 44-41 in double overtime, and they needed a superhuman effort from QB Jeremiah Masoli to do it. Masoli dropped from the Heisman discussion with a poor start to the season, but if he'd played all year like he did on Saturday then they would be renaming the trophy for him.

Doc’s Friday Public Action Report
by T.O. Whenham - 11/20/2009

Last week's Public Action Report went about as well as it possibly can. Six games were interesting based on our criteria. Five of them covered, and the sixth, Virginia, was a push. Combined with the 4-1-1 ATS mark the week before that means the report has gone 9-1-2 ATS over the last two weeks.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 11/16/2009

The Falcons' woes continued on Sunday. After losing by nine at Carolina they have now lost three of their last four, and four of their five road games. The concern again has to be the comparatively poor play of Matt Ryan. He barely completed half of his passes, and had two interceptions including a late, costly one. He's just not the player he was last year.

Doc’s Friday Public Action Report
by T.O. Whenham - 11/13/2009

Last week was another very good week for the Public Action report. The Report tends to get stronger as the season progresses, and this year has been no exception recently. In six games last week, the Report went 4-1-1 ATS, including 2-0 ATS in the NFL. It even picked out three nice upsets - Colorado, Nebraska, and the Titans. There are six more games that fit the criteria this week, so hopefully it is another strong outing for the Report.

This Week in Betting, A-Z
by T.O. Whenham - 11/9/2009

I have been a big fan of Allen Iverson for his whole career, and I have defended him a lot as a result. I'm not sure I'll bother now, though. After just three games with Memphis and a whole lot of complaining because he wasn't starting, Iverson has taken an indefinite leave from the team. There is allegedly a family issue of some sort, but you have to be skeptical, and you have to wonder if we'll see him play there, or anywhere, again.