NFL Power Rankings – Preseason Edition
by Robert Ferringo - 8/31/2009

The NFL war drums are sounding in the distance and echoing over the hills. But we’re still a full week-and-a-half away from any meaningful action. However, I felt like it was time to unveil the first version of my NFL Power Rankings for Doc’s Sports.

Sports Futures Market Offers Great Return on Investment
by Robert Ferringo - 8/24/2009

Tu Dign has a barren, cookie-cutter office at the local branch of Bank of America. His desk is relatively unimpressive and cluttered with pamphlets and literature on a variety of BOA programs (“Buy Pizza, Save Money!” is the tag line on one). There are no pictures on the wall, save for the knock-off print from The Met that’s framed in glass but still about three sizes too small for the space it struggles to occupy.

NFL Preseason Totals Predictions for Week 2
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2009

A fellow handicapper at Doc’s Sports sent me the following e-mail late Monday night: “They must have gotten burned with some overs last week, they are really bumping up the totals.” The “They” in that sentence refers to our common mortal enemy: the sportsbooks. When I did my initial scan of the football odds for NFL Preseason Week 2 I did notice that the totals seemed high.

NFL Handicapping: Jay Cutler Will Be Bears Bust
by Robert Ferringo - 8/17/2009

Four years ago I was writing on this very site that Dante Culpepper was the most overrated quarterback in the NFL. As you might expect, this statement was met with a waterfall of vitriol and was nearly as popular as Rick Pitino at a Birther’s rally. After all, Culpepper had been to multiple Pro Bowls and was coming off a year in which he threw for 4,700 yards. He was the man, right? Well, not to me.

2009-10 Pac-10 Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 8/11/2009

A 5-0 bowl season was able to mask what was an otherwise mediocre season for the Pac-10 conference in 2008. The Pac-10 was the Mountain West’s bitch after going 1-6 against it, and besides USC’s blowout over Ohio State there were multiple nonconference embarrassments. Personally, I thought the conference was way down and ready to hit a slide.

MLB Handicapping: Look Back At Trade Deadline Deals
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2009

This happens all the time in fantasy baseball: two teams make a blockbuster trade, everyone in the league starts burning up the message boards about how one side got molested and what an unfair deal it is, the teams that made the deal start hurling insults back and after about a three-day shelf life the trade gets forgotten.

NFL Handicapping: Futures Breakdown
by Robert Ferringo - 8/7/2009

Chamfort, an18th century French author, was a big fan of epigrams and the cornerback blitz. And his wisdom on public perception couldn’t be a more suitable lead in to discussing the grueling, sadistic endurance trial that is betting in the National Football League.

College Football Handicapping: Impact Of Today’s Coaches Poll
by Robert Ferringo - 8/7/2009

The first USA Today Coaches’ Poll for college football was released today, which officially marks the start of the Hype & Bitchin’ Season. Now all of the two-bit hack writers that like to bitch about playoffs and the BCS have some fresh ammo. And for those who like to brag up their team/player/conference, well they can surely point now to the infallible poll rankings as “proof” of their boasts and assertions.

NFL Handicapping: Unheralded Players
by Robert Ferringo - 8/7/2009

Brett Favre mows his lawn and it’s front-page news. Chad Johnson changes his name and he ends up just chewing up airtime. Terrell Owens doesn’t do something crazy and there are op-eds discussing his mental state. Well, Favre isn’t playing this year. Johnson is a good receiver for a team that’s won about five games per year the last two seasons. And Owens had nearly as many dropped passes (10) last year as his quarterback had touchdowns (11).

NFL Handicapping: Top NFL Free Agent Pickups
by Robert Ferringo - 8/5/2009

For NFL players the first week of August is a time to get your bearings, stretch out, and get back in the flow. For NFL fans the first week of August is a time to get your bearings, stretch out, and figure out which players shuffled around in the offseason and how that is going to impact their new squads.

College Football Handicapping: Bounce-Back Players
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2009

You can’t handicap injuries. But you certainly can adjust to players returning from seasons lost to things ranging from fluke knee tears in the spring games to eligibility issues from the previous year. Below is a list of 12 guys that missed all or most of last season. Each one should have a tremendous impact for their teams while coming back from lost 2008 seasons:

Why I Play So Many Games
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2009

There is an often espoused theory in gambling that the best players are the ones that only play a few games and that the more you play against the house the more you are going to lose. The idea is that a “pro” should only pick and choose exactly those precious few spots that lend him an advantage over the books. And anyone that plays over this imaginary – and unspecified – number of games is a sucker headed for the poorhouse.

NFL Handicapping: New Important Assistants
by Robert Ferringo - 7/30/2009

There aren’t many people outside of the Keystone State or the Tri-State Area that know much about 35-year-old Sean McDermott. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that at least four of out of ever five people that just read that sentence can’t even tell me what team McDermott is employed by. Yet, the new Philadelphia Eagles coordinator is at the head of the list of assistant coaches whose performance is going to have the most impact on this team this season.

Fall Football Preview: College Teams Primed for Resurgence
by Robert Ferringo - 7/29/2009

Every team in the country heads into August with dreams of fame, fortune, and bowling. But unfortunately, more programs than not are going to fall on their face this season and have those dreams shattered, and then rammed through their throat, well before Halloween. However, even the clubs that endured bitter and salty seasons in 2008 feel that they are primed for big bounces in 2009.

NFL Handicapping: Profiling the New Coaches
by Robert Ferringo - 7/27/2009

Not For Long. As Jerry Glanville famously espoused, that phrase is not only a cute anachronism for the National Football League’s call letters but also the amount of time that a head coach can expect to hang around while dueling with the slings and arrows of professional football. But then again, what did he know?

College Football Handicapping: Overrated Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 7/25/2009

While it is tough to be overrated before you are even rated, I am going to make a preemptive strike at some of the squads that will be among the favorites to win their conference and/or make it to a significant bowl game. With some of the schools on my Most Overrated List it may seem like splitting hairs (USC, for example, makes this list). But the idea is that these teams below are going to be overrated not just by fans and media, but also by the books.

College Football Handicapping: Best Revenge Spots
by Robert Ferringo - 7/25/2009

Some handicappers believe that The Revenge Game is the most overrated angle in college football betting. I, on the other hand, fully believe in the power of Revenge as it pertains to amateur athletics although I do believe that it is an overused angle by some gamblers.

Fall Football Preview: Top CFB Conference Games
by Robert Ferringo - 7/20/2009

Lyndon B. Johnson once said that the United States was not just a nation but “a nation of nations”. I couldn’t think of a more apropos description of the college football landscape, as the regional rivalries, secular loyalties, and local legends and lore that shape each individual conference are really what provide the foundation for what makes this sport so great.

Fall Football Preview: 10 Can’t Miss Non-Conference College Games
by Robert Ferringo - 7/20/2009

For all of the BCS bitching that we have to endure during the college football season, there is one thing that playoff advocates can’t deny: perhaps no other major sport gets as intense and as interesting, as quickly, as college football does.

Fall Football Preview: Most Experienced CFB Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 7/17/2009

The Heisman winning quarterback is not what should scare the 2009 Florida Gators’ opponents the most. Nor should it be the brilliant, renaissance coach that can lead an assault on your team with the precision of Curtis LeMay. And Florida’s adversaries shouldn’t be most frightened by the speed, skill and voracious appetite for victory that the Gators bring to the field every Saturday.