Ultra Sports Bet

I’ve spent parts of the last week looking back on Jacksonville’s absolute destruction of Indianapolis, and listening to everyone say that this will be a tough, close game for the Colts. I’m not sure I buy it. Both teams are very different than they were when they met last year. The Colts are actually playing defense, and they will be able to disrupt the running game like they couldn’t last year. That will put more of a burden on David Garrard to perform, and I am not convinced he is up to it. On the weekend I saw at least …read more

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There are way too many huge lines in the NFL this week. Fully half of the games on the schedule have spreads of at least a touchdown. As a general rule I hate games like that because you can never be sure if a team is going to want to crush an inferior opponent, if they will just do enough to win, or if they don’t show up and struggle to win. Skipping those seven games, then, doesn’t leave me a whole lot to look at. There are just two games this weekend that I will be throwing my support …read more

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There are just a few college games that stick out this week.
Kansas (-3.5) at Colorado – The Jayhawks are a huge surprise this year with their undefeated record. Colorado is much better than they are supposed to be, too. Colorado is coming off a bad loss, though, while Kansas has covered every time out. I expect them to do the same here. Pick: Kansas
Stanford (+14) at Arizona – Neither team is very good, but Stanford is playing with heart as of late. They had the huge upset over USC and then they hung tight with TCU. That’s two …read more

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Here are some of the things that have caught my eye heading into the weekend of action:

The Trojans just can’t catch a break. USC’s charter plane plummeted during a thunderstorm on the way to South Bend. People were thrown from their seats, there was lots of screaming, and the pilot had to abort the initial landing attempt. Reports are that the team is shaken. I have no idea how to factor this into the handicapping, but thankfully I don’t have to worry about it – USC and Notre Dame are both so troubled that I wouldn’t touch the game with …read more

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South Florida (-1.5) at Rutgers – Who would have guessed a few months ago that this would be quite possibly the biggest game of the week in college football. With a win, South Florida takes charge of the Big East. They lose and the whole thing is a big mess.
The biggest thing that I keep hearing that South Florida needs to be concerned about is Rutgers running back Ray Rice. While he is unquestionably talented, and he torched the Bulls last year, I am not buying it. Rice has big numbers this year, but they aren’t consistent. Both …read more

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The Devil is here on earth, and his name is TSN!
For those of you who aren’t Canadian, TSN is Canada’s foremost sports network. It tries hard to be ESPN, but, unlike ESPN, TSN is mostly terrible. For the most part I don’t really care. Once in a while, though, they do something to infuriate me. Now is such a time.
Somehow, these morons got the rights to the Breeders’ Cup. This happened for the first time last year, coinciding with the move to ESPN in the U.S. Last year they put the broadcast on some obscure cable network that very few …read more

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Game four of the ALCS goes tonight in Cleveland, and there may be a chance to get some decent betting value. The pitching matchup is Paul Byrd (+104) for the Indians versus knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (-114) for Boston. I’m on Cleveland for the series and I would suggest that there is value on them here, too. Here are three reasons why:
1. Paul Byrd is an underappreciated pitcher. Sabathia and Carmona get all the credit in Cleveland, but Byrd was a solid 15-8 this year. In his appearance in the ALDS he handled the Yankees very nicely. He’s not flashy, but …read more

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Giants (-4.5) at Atlanta – This is a particularly interesting game to evaluate because it seems a bit too good to be true. The Giants looked rough early last week against the Jets, but they came back nicely to deliver their third straight solid win. Atlanta looked terrible last week in a loss to Tennessee which came a week after a win against Houston that gave team observers a bit of hope. The veterans on the team are speaking out against the new coach, and the offensive line is full of injuries, forcing two youngsters to start against the fierce …read more

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There’s only one game that everyone is talking about this week – New England at Dallas. Though I won’t be making a pick on the game because I don’t see a lot of value in the line, there is one thing I would be willing to bet on – one way or the other the game is going to be a disappointment that doesn’t come close to living up to the hype. There are, on the other hand, five games that do have some value in them. I obviously am not nostalgic about the concept of home this week because …read more

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Just three college games stick out this week. Some weeks just don’t have the potential that others do, though that obviously varies by who is looking at them:
Illinois (-3.5) at Iowa – When I was first looking at this game on the schedule this week, I had Illinois favored by 6.5 (and still attractive at that price). Since I get the extra field goal here this one is a no-brainer. Illinois is a team playing with passion, and passion is something that Iowa hasn’t had for well over a year. Pick: Illinois.
Tennessee (-7) at Mississippi State – Tennessee …read more

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