An unqualified "yes" from A-Rod

Well, at least A-Rod didn't go with the tried (anagram: tired) and true "I didn't knowingly..." or try to minimize his usage of PED's to one or two times to "deal with an injury" or apologize but not speak to what he was apologizing for, or a denial, and good for him for that. I'm sure he'll take plenty regardless, but this ought to save the Roger Clemens treatment at least. Oddest quote of the day goes to A-Rod's New York Yankee teammate Jorge Posada, who when if he would be on the list of 104 that were busted in 2003, said "I hope not. I think I've done things right." Hope? Think? Maybe he's leaving some room in there for something he took from GNC that is now banned, but seems an odd quote...in discussing last the annihilation of BJ Penn and the vaseline controversy, Georges St. Pierre claimed it wasn't a factor but if Penn wanted a rematch, he'd be glad to oblige him this summer and of course, Penn responded that he's willing. No way Dana White and UFC doesn't take them up on that, considering the early returns say the fight was their best ever pay-per-view buy rate...speaking of UFC, UFC97 will be in Montreal on April 18th, with Anderson Silva facing Thales Leites, and Chuck Lidell taking on Shogun Rua. See the rest of the card - so far - here...the way the New York Rangers navigated the early part of the season when they played far more games than anyone and won the vast majority, you'd think they'd be cruising now with a lighter schedule. Instead, they don't score and are sliding down the standings...best line I've heard about Kellog's goal of "protecting children" by dumping Michael Phelps comes from Dave Ziron of ESPN: "if they want to protect children, stop making Frosted Flakes"...Big Phil Scolari is out as Chelsea manager after the side has struggled in form and results the last month. Strange timing with a crucial Champions League match with Juventus but two weeks away...frankly, I'm shocked at the beating the Toronto Raptors are taking in the poll this week. Am guessing a considerable chunk of that is about expectations, but still, for the voters to figure they'll have a worse 2009 than the Maple Leafs who are almost promising ugly results is telling...another PTP winner as the streak of winners continues to six. If you're not on board at Pinnacle yet, shame on you...does it seem like there are loads of long-term injuries of late in the NBA, or is it just me?...Charlie Axel Woods is the new name for Tiger Woods baby boy, delivered Sunday. I'm sure that kid will not have any pressure on him whatsoever...one A-Rod moment begs the question: if his yelling "ha!" was "bush", how is Jose Calderon's clapping his hands in the oppositions face when they're about to shoot not?...have a great Tuesday, back later with your PTP winner.

5:56pm UPDATE: Your pick for the night is the Cleveland Cavs -6.5 -105. Enjoy.

It doesn't matter that the Boston Celtics are "struggaling", the Toronto Raptors will need a big effort - particularly from the Killer B's - to down them today. Tip off is at 12:30..just hours away from the huge English Premier League tilt between Chelsea and hosts Manchester United. It is always a heated affair when these two giants lock horns and my prediction is today is no different. Hard to not like United at home, even with Chelsea captain John Terry returning from suspension, but United has struggled to find the net this year a lot more than last, so could be real tight. Catch it on The Score at 11am (Eastern). One small request - please don't give that score up here. I've got the PVR rolling and am aiming to not find out the score, a tough task to be sure...burning through Jeff Pearlman's "Boys Will Be Boys" book on the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's and it is an incredible read for any fan of the game. Michael Irvin slept with twelve ladies in four days during Super Bowl Week ahead of their first trip against Buffalo. Reputation enhancing depictions come to Troy Aikman and Jay Novacek. Emmitt Smith? Not so much. Selfish and self serving. Charles Haley is crazy, no better word to describe him. Well worth the read...when running back Brandon Jacobs is out of the New York Giants lineup, they average 93 yards rushing as a team. When he's in, they average 171. With Jacobs in, tough not to like the defending champions at home against the Philadelphia Eagles...updating the Wayne Fleming story from yesterday, turns out he wasn't fired between periods. He was benched. Seriously. He's back next game..."American Idle" Carl Pavano, now of the Cleveland Indians, had this to say of his time as a New York Yankee: "When you're down, you expect your organization to pick you up, not kick you when you're down. I've had to pick myself up quite a few times the last four years." The only thing he picked up was a paycheque with a gun and ski-mask. Did Yankees GM Brian Cashman ever question his effort? No. They just kept paying him and rehabbing him and giving him chances. What a tool. The Tribe best make sure his feelings aren't hurt - he could end up out for the season...the latest Pat Quinn rumor has him going to the Pittsburgh Penguins...the Baltimore Ravens may not have deserved to beat the Tennessee Titans yesterday, but when you pick up that many key turnovers deep in your own zone, you did something right. 13-10 winners over the Tennessee Titans and they move on to the Conference Final. Oddly, if the San Diego Chargers - they of the 8-8 regular season record beat Pittsburgh today, the Bolts will host the Conference final. Strange, no?...outwitted myself yesterday in the Prime Time Picks by gunning for positive dollar value and looking for the extra goal. Of course, Arsenal fell short and didn't cover the -1.5. Today, and I know it wreaks of "sucker bet", but how can you not love the New York Giants, at a mere -4 -107, at home against the Philadelphia Eagles? If you're telling me the Eagles will not only go on the road and win, but do it for the second time this year at the Meadowlands, I call LIES. The rested conference champions and defending Super Bowl champions should feast on the Eagles, and let's be serious, Donovan McNabb vs. Eli Manning - who do you trust? Has to be Eli, no? The Eagles beat a Vikings squad that was intent on giving the game away, and if there's one thing the Giants don't do, it is beat themselves (that's what she said). Bet the Giants, bet the Giants hard with your good friends at Pinnacle...have a great Sunday.

Monday, January 5th, 2008

The Utah Utes have quite the "we deserve to be National Champions" argument. Six of their 13 wins in this undefeated season came against bowl teams. Of course, it won't matter a lick in the end. And are you like me, where you can't think of "Utes" without thinking of Joe Pesci and "My Cousin Vinny"?...so far, my New Year's Resolution of not watching the Toronto Raptors until they win three straight is intact, but with Jose Calderon out, that could be done next game. Yeah, I said it...after throwing 7INT's all season, the Miami Dolphins Chad Pennington went and tossed four Favre's, err, interceptions. The Baltimore Ravens won easy 27-9. The Ravens move on to Tennessee for what should be a hard hitting game and frankly, I think the Ravens can win it. That said, once they dispose of San Diego, the Pittsburgh Steelers remain my AFC pick to play in the Super Bowl against...the New York Giants, who host the Philadelphia Eagles while the Arizona Cardinals travel to face the Carolina Panthers...in case you missed it the 865 times it aired this weekend, Bruce Springsteen is playing the Super Bowl...one of the great baseball sites out there is Fangraphs, which has a formula to calculate a players value relative to his actual salary. Check out Los Angeles Angel Gary Matthews Jr., who has been paid $15 million the last two years with a value of -$600,000. Yes, NEGATIVE...funny that Keyshawn Johnson's fellow analysts hammered him for trashing Brett Favre yesterday, and Thomas Jones earlier for doing so, but I don't exactly hear any New York Jets saying Jones was wrong. Part of their argument was that Jones has been on four teams in nine years. Well, there's two teams in six months now that haven't wanted Favre. ESPN Radio in New York's Max Kellerman calls Favre the "white T.O." and railed on last week that Favre's act is actually far worse than anything T.O. has done in recent memory in how he has held teams hostage, and nowhere near the talent that T.O. is and never has been...3-1 now in Prime Time Picks and ahead $200 after the Philadelphia Eagles nicely covered the field goal spread over Minnesota. Up today, who else could we play but Canada to take the Gold at the World Junior Hockey Championships? Got in a nice price of -1 -106 as well. Get on that fast before it shoots up, as it no doubt will, at Pinnacle...have a great Monday.

Thursday, January 1st, 2008

Today is one of the rare occasions I get excited for an NHL game - the Winter Classic goes in Chicago today as the Black Hawks host the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings shut out the Hawks on Tuesday night 4-0 and have All World defenceman Nik Lidstrom coming back for this one, but have to like the youth of the Hawks to deal with the cold better than those old bones from Detroit. That, and the Hawks are a damn good team these days..the first of 365 Prime Time Picks for 2009 goes today, and they'll be tracked at the right of the page as well for verification purposes. All bets will be to win $100 just to keep it simple. Today, we're playing USC to cover the -8 points (-108) in the Rose Bowl against Joe Paterno and Penn State. Paterno will be coaching from the press box in this one after hip surgery, something you tend to need when you're older than God. If you want to play along, get your account set up with the fine folks at Pinnacle - it's easy, secure, and most importantly, yours truly gets a little kickback from them...a new DVD ought to be in the works - How To Trash Talk A Referree For Two Minutes And Not Get A Technical: by Rasheed Wallace of the Detroit Pistons...Dallas Cowboys Terence Newman ripped into the "coward" who not-so-anonymously went to the media to leak the meetings between wide receivers and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Said coward goes by the name "Jason Witten". It is going to get worse before it gets better in Dallas. My prediction for next move: a key player, or players, issue a "fire Phillips or trade me" edict to Jerry Jones...Bill Cowher didn't want to coach the New York Jets because he wants no part of Brett Favre as his quarterback. Smart man, that Cowher. After all, if there's one thing he wants, it is a QB who protects the ball and plays a system. Favre is said to have had serious issues over now-fired coach Eric Mangini calling out his decision making in film sessions...Scott Boras has gone crawling back to the LA Dodgers trying to revive interest in Manny Ramirez. You'd think after how he was embarrassed by A-Rod and the New York Yankees last season that maybe he learned to reign it in a little with the "smartest man in the room" act, but clearly that isn't the case. I hope the Dodgers offer $39 million over two years, giving ManRam a paycut from the money he'd have made staying in Boston, just to hear Mount ManRam errupt...have a great 2009!

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

A good night to take the underdogs in the big three UFC fights, as Rampage Jackson (+330), Frank Mir (+140) and Rashad Evans (+120) all came through with impressive wins. Mir's win sets up a rematch with heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar for that title, and if Mir fights the way he did tonight, he'll make quicker work of Lesnar than he did the first time, though that was a fight Lesnar should have finished. Evans is now the new light heavyweight champion after finishing Forrest Griffin in the second round, and Rampage is very much back in that title picture after a devastating knockout of the legendary Wanderlei Silva. Great card...less than 48 hours after playing on Boxing Day, the majority of the English Premier League's squads will take the field again today, continuing their busy schedule...in the World Junior Hockey Championship, Canada will pound Kazakhstan today at 3:30. Whether they cover the 7 goal spread at Pinnacle remains the question...the Portland Tribune says that the NBA will be reducing the salary cap in 2009-2010 by at least a million dollars...Joe Posnanski at SI.com writes a great piece on the parity in baseball, noting there have been eight different winners of the World Series in the last ten years, 15 teams have made the World Series in the same ten years, and over the last thirty years, twenty different teams have won the World Series and all but four - the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals - have at least made the World Series. Over the same 30 years, 10 teams have never made the Super Bowl - yet many would have you believe parity is a thing of the NFL moreso than any other sport...the final Prime Time Pick of the regular season goes tonight, and shooting to finish a solid, solid 22-14 (61.1%) which, if you know anything about gambling and picking national games in particular, is damn impressive. The Denver Broncos visit the San Diego Chargers and the Bolts are looking for a heap of revenge after the Ed Hochuli blown call in September. Given how Phillip Rivers is rolling of late, hard not to like the Bolts to cover the -8, as big a spread as that may be for the occasion. Also a big fan of Arizona at -6, and Miami at +3, and am loving Dallas at +1...for 2009, am going to expand the Prime Time Picks to include one wager per day. As always, get down with Pinnacle...Tom Brady is said to be engaged to Gisele Bundchen. What a guy. He goes and blows his knee out - a big deal to most - but gets to rehab with Gisele nursing him. Tough times...Brett Favre is hinting at retirement. This time, I can't imagine anybody will care or much notice...the Toronto Raptors were outscored 53-32 in the second half last night en route to a 102-89 loss to Portland. Nice work, Craptors...have a great Sunday.

Sunday, November 30th, 2008 - "Yes, that actually is a gun in my pocket"

Brian Burke was the Vancouver Canucks GM when Todd Bertuzzi suckered Steve Moore. Wonder how current Maple Leaf and Steve Moore's brother Dominic feels about his new GM?...I'm sure NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will be thrilled that New York Giant Plaxico Burress was packing heat in a New York bar. The gun went off and Burress shot himself in the leg. Giant teammate Antonio Pearce tried to hide the gun, and Burress is expected to be arrested on felony weapons charges any day now. That said, if you've read the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine, you'll see that NFL players have significant security concerns and live in constant fear...New York Knicks GM Donnie Walsh says that Stephon Marbury's status will be "resolved" come Monday. To me, if the guy refused to play and honour his contract, that should be a firing offence where there's no buyout...14-10 now on Prime Time Picks after three straight losses but up comfortably on the year. 15-10 is a tidy 60% so it'll have to be a winner tonight to do just that. Minnesota (-1.5) hosts Chicago and tough to not like the Vikes in this one: they're 4-1 at home, and have the revenge factor in play after losing 48-41 to the Bears on October 19th. The winner on this one could well be playoff bound while the loser is left reeling at .500. Also loving Buffalo today (-6.5) and New Orleans (+4.5), the latter simply because the team that beats Detroit the week prior still has yet to cover the following week, and that'd be Tampa Bay in this case. Get your gamble on at Pinnacle...thanks to the Detroit Lions historic run. 3-13 may only get you the 5th pick in the 2009 draft when since 2002, it has guaranteed you the #2...Gabe Morency, who needs no introduction, has a fantastic new website up. Check it out...in college hoops, the University of Dayton missed all 24 three point attempts they took, and still won. That 0-24 showing is a record...Andy Pettitte is feeling unloved by the New York Yankees, and may join old manager Joe Torre in L.A. as a result. Sorry, Pettitte, but you're not worth $16 million anymore, not after that season, and if the Yanks are playing footsie with younger, more talented guys, such is life...have a great Sunday.

Monday, November 24th, 2008

I heard a rumor that the Dallas Cowboys traded for and gave a huge contract to wideout Roy Williams. Anybody able to confirm? Haven't seen him...one fine gentleman was ejected at Friday's Toronto Raptors game for riding coach Sam Mitchell a little too hard from the blue blood seats behind the Raps bench. The same guy was back yesterday and leading a very audible "Jeff Van Gun-dy" chant from the same seat. Not sure about you, but I'm loving this guy. Would also love to see Balki take over for SMitch...New England QB Matt Cassel is going to earn some huge cash as a free agent this off-season. No way he stays with the Pats. Meanwhile, the two guys he watched for four years at USC - Carson Palmer and Matt Leinhart - both hold clipboards. Cassel and the Patriots crushed the Miami Dolphins...the Tennessee Titans are unbeaten no more after a dismal performance against the New York Jets. I still don't believe in the Jets. When you lose to the Oakland Raiders, that tends to happen. As for the Titans dropping their first, somehow I don't figure the Patriots of 2007 are popping champagne corks like those grumpy old men from the 1972 Miami Dolphins...why PVR's rule: I watched the entire Dallas Cowboys win over San Francisco in just over 90 minutes. Watch a play, skip forward 30 seconds. Next play starts...good NBA teams do not open 2-5 at home. Ergo, the Toronto Raptors are not a good team. The Raps looked like boys to the Boston Celtics men in a 118-103 loss. Oh, and if you had "November" for when Jermaine O'Neal became an injury concern, you win. That's two straight now that slO'Neal started a game but didn't finish...the MLS Cup final, won by Columbus Crew 3-1 - and it said in these parts that was easy pickins' - was as good a one game final as you'll see in any sport as both sides went all out to win, and entertain. Who says a team from Columbus can't win a title?...in the last four games, the St. Louis Rams have been outscored in the first half 123-13...they might not be able to keep Ben Roethlesberger healthy but the Pittsburgh Steelers have managed to keep all 11 teams they've faced under 300 total yards. That there is an AFC side not getting nearly enough love in the championship discussion...the "Grey Cup is thrilling" thing seems more legend than reality of late, no? The Calgary Stampeders won 22-14 over the Montreal Als, who could only manage a point in the entire second half. An easy under!...one more mistake - including missing a meeting - and Adam "Pacman" Jones is in line for a lifetime ban. Talk about operating without a net. Does it even seem possible that he can stay out of trouble for the next two months, nevermind for years?...baseball writer extraordinaire Buster Olney at ESPN says he can see a reunion in New York of two guys who got their pro starts in Cleveland: CC Sabathia and Lebron James...14-8 now on Prime Time Picks thanks to a late drive by the Indianapolis Colts to down the San Diego Chargers. Bolts coach Norv Turner had best get the resume polished up. Tonight, liking Green Bay +3 at New Orleans. As usual, get your wagers down at Pinnacle, enjoy the ride...have a great Monday.

Monday, November 17th, 2008

Detroit Red Wing Johan Franzen has 36 goals in his last 43 games yet somehow flies under the radar...the Department of Lame is at it again: if you want tickets to the World Baseball Classic, you have to purchase tickets to each game at that venue. Guess baseball hasn't learned from the Buffalo Bills that that kind of selling doesn't fly in Toronto, where Canada will host the U.S. I predict they'll have similar success...the New York Red Bull will face Columbus Crew in the MLS Cup next Sunday. Prediction? Red Bull win, and ratings that the NHL could only dream of...with the economic crisis where it is, you've gotta think that if the NBA is concerned about its impact, it has to be ready to euthanize the WNBA...it is a time honored tradition that Toronto Raptors fans point out that the back-up point guard is undefeated as a starter, which Will Solomon is after a 107-96 win over Miami. And what was with Jose Calderon doing his "six fingers" to indicate a three pointer thing for other guys buckets? Glory hound...usually a big fan of the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons, but when he says he misses Chuck Swirsky on Raptors broadcasts, I'm less a fan of Simmons. Matt Devlin is a night and day improvement...in a prison somewhere yesterday at around 7:00pm, Tim Donaghy watched the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers finish and thought the fix was in...seven Liverpool players have had their houses robbed in the last year while they were playing...the most popular ingredient on pizza in Costa Rica is coconut. Seriously...Marion Barber looked like a rejuvenated man coming off the bye week. His impact in the Dallas Cowboys win over Washington was far greater than Tony Romo's. There is still a pulse in that team...banner day for Vegas and gambling houses everywhere yesterday. When a tie in the NFL happens like it did with Philadelphia and Cincinnati, you've got money line losers across the board. That was the first tie since November 10th, 2002...most impressive win of the day? That has to be the New York Giants shredding the Baltimore Ravens 30-10, who came in real hot and playing airtight defence...Yankee fan Lebron James, good friends with CC Sabathia, says "we're gonna get him, absolutely." Good enough for me...13-6 on Prime Time Picks. Heady times, indeed. Tonight, going to make it 14-6 by riding the Buffalo Bills at home (-4.5) who will take the Cleveland Browns down with a double digit win in what should be a frigid, snowy Buffalo. Do yourself a favor and pick up some free Christmas shopping money at Pinnacle..have a great Monday.

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

It took a while to get going, and a wild ninth inning, but the Philadelphia Phillies took game three 5-4 to take a 2-1 series lead...Busy day in Philadelphia. If you've ever been to Philly, you'll know that the homes of the Flyers, Eagles and Phillies are all in the same complex - literally sharing a parking lot. Today at 1pm, the Eagles host Atlanta. At 7pm, The Who is playing the home of the Flyers, the Wachovia Center. And of course, at 8pm, the Phillies host the Tampa Bay Rays in game 4 of the World Series. Traffic should lift by about Tuesday...what do Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps, Alex Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant have in common? They did a Guitar Hero World Tour ad. In their underwear, a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Check it out...St. Louis Blue goalie Manny Legace went baseball on us, pulling his hammy slipping on the carpet laid out for Republican Veep nominee Sarah Palin for the ceremonial faceoff. Seems odd, don't it? Wipe out on carpet, but no sweat on ice?...word is the Toronto Blue Jays are willing to give AJ Burnett four years and $54-million in a take-it-or-leave-it offer. Bank on the latter...there is talk the LA Dodgers will make a two-year, $60 million offer to Manny Ramirez. If you're ManRam, how do you not take that? When your agent is Scott Boras, that's how...surprise, surprise, the Ottawa Senators are looking for a goalie. Shame Ray Emery is in Russia...hey, no PrimeTime Picks tonight. But, a big fan of Buffalo (-1), Pittsburgh (-3) and Seattle (+5). Place your wagers at Pinnacle...it wasn't easy, but Anderson Silva beat Patrick Cote by TKO last night after Cote blew out his knee...Buffalo Bills QB Trent Edwards is completing 76% of his passes in the fourth quarter. That'll do. Oddly, the Bills are playing their first divisional game of the season this week, and 6 of the next 10...the Detroit Lions have yet to score in the first quarter this season...freaking Penn State. Sour...funny that ten NFLers can get busted for steroids and it's almost a non-story, but one baseball player is even suspected and it is top billing everywhere. Strange...Isaiah Thomas trying to cover up the overdose story and say it was his daughter puts him in O.J. Simpson territory for worst father ever...have a great Sunday.

Saturday, October 25th, 2008 - Joe Pa Going Down In C-Bus Tonight

As lame as the "This One Counts!" aspect of the baseball All Star Game is, here's an interesting fact. The winning pitcher of this year's game was Tampa Bay Ray Scott Kazmir, the loser was Philadelphia Philly Brad Lidge. In game 1 of the World Series, Kazmir was the loser, and Lidge chalked up the save. One difference: Ryan Howard was in the All Star Game. He's missing and presumed dead this playoff year...want a free wager winner tonight? Bet Ohio State at +2 at home against Penn State. Yes, I know Penn State is scoring 45 a game, but they're not going into the Shoe and winning. Tune in to ABC at 8, enjoy Terrelle Pryor going wild. Bet with Pinnacle...Curt Schilling took to his blog again to hammer Manny Ramirez. Shortly after, he pulled down the more offensive comments but like Two Girls & One Cup, once it is out on the internet, it lives forever. Check out the hard hitting stuff here from He Who Is An Authority On Everything...big day in Toronto today. The annual Rock, Paper, Scissors World Championship is on. As always, I'm pulling for rock...last year, the Cleveland Browns averaged 25.1 points per game. Going into tomorrow's game, they're at 15.3...Australia, China, England, Russia and the United States are among the bidders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup's...Isaiah Thomas overdosed on sleeping pills? Somewhere, Kim Etheridge is trying to calculate how many reasons Zeke has to live...Toronto FC closes off the regular season with a trip to San Jose tonight. A win or loss only hurts their draft position - they have their own pick plus San Jose's first rounders - so here's hoping for a draw...UFC 90 goes tonight and Canadian Patrick "The Predator" Cote gets served to the incredible Anderson "The Spider" Silva. Cote is a 5-1 underdog in this one, and will do well to last two rounds...have a great Saturday.