April 19, 2024

Highest Flying Bird Ever

March 11, 2011 by

Larry Bird learned quickly he wasn’t ready for college because he was overwhelmed at the size of the campus and the number of students at Indiana University when he first arrived. Bird decided it wasn’t for him and ultimately moved back home. He enrolled in nearby Northwood Institute before dropping out and getting a job with the city. A year later he decided to enroll at Indiana State and ended up playing for three seasons. Larry not only played for the Sycamores he led the team to the NCAA tournament for the first time ever in 1979. The Sycamores played in the title game against Magic Johnson and Michigan State in one of the most watched games of all-time. Bird shot 53% from the field in ’79, averaged 28.6 ppg, 14.9 rebounds and 5.5 dimes. He truly earned the nickname Larry Legend.

Larry Bird is the #6 college basketball player of all-time.

Filed Under: Basketball, College Basketball, NBA Tagged With: ,

I Give the Oscar to Oscar

March 10, 2011 by

Starting today through March 16th I will be offering up my top seven NCAA basketball players of all-time.

Long before Magic Johnson, there was “The Big O.” Many believe Magic Johnson encompassed the role of a point guard, but in reality Oscar Robertson defined it.  

Oscar lost one game during three years in high school. Robertson went on to the University of Cincinnati and at that time was not allowed by the NCAA to play as a freshman. In the three years Oscar played he went to the Final Four twice and ended with a record of 79-9 during his career.

Robertson went on to win a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics and two years later he lead the NBA with 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game. To this day he is the only person to end an NBA season averaging a triple-double.

Oscar’s number is retired by three NBA teams (KC, SAC MIL) which is a record and he is a member of the College and NBA Hall of Fame.

Oscar Robertson is my #7 college basketball player of all time.

Filed Under: Basketball, College Basketball, NBA Tagged With: ,

…and Jimmer is his name-o

January 27, 2011 by

Last night #9 BYU took on #4 San Diego State who were at the time 20-0. BYU took down the Aztecs 71-58, but the bigger hype after the game was around BYU’s star player Jimmer Fredette. Yes, Jimmer.  All Jimmer did was shoot 14 of 24 from outside including 5 of 8 from 3 three-point land with most beyond the NBA line. Fredette also went 10-11 from the line and scored 43 of BYU’s 71 which is impressive to say the least.

Jimmer is averaging 28 points-per-game while hitting 42% of his 3’s and is leading the Cougars to one of their best seasons ever. This is one of the best pure shooting guards since Stephen Curry and his skills are unmatched by anyone in college today yet Kemba Walker and Jared Sullinger are still the most talked about for Player of the Year.

If you haven’t had the chance to watch Jimmer play yet I highly suggest you do because it is a real treat!

Filed Under: Basketball, College Basketball Tagged With: ,

D2B AFC/NFC Championship Pix

January 23, 2011 by

Today in my opinion is the best day of football outside of Super Bowl Sunday. Essentially you have Super Bowl games in one day and with less commercial interruption. Here are my selections for the AFC and NFC Championships.

Game 1 has the mystique of being the longest rivalry in the NFL. The Green Bay Packers visit their ole nemesis the Chicago Bears. Forget the fact that it will be 15 degrees with a wind chill of 0 and that in 2 games these teams have scored a total of 50 points this year. The over is set at 42.5 and Rodgers and the Packers have been roling and Chicago put up a lot of points last week so it’s going over, right? Don’t fool yourselves as this game will be just like the other two and dominated by defense.  The only question is which team is going to come away with the hard fought victory and cover the spread? The Pack is a 3.5 point favorite and is playing their third straight road playoff game. If they win they will become the third team in NFL History to get to the Super Bowl by winning all 3 roadies. The other two teams were the ’05 Steelers and ’07 Giants both of them went on to win the Super Bowl.  The Packers defense is as healthy as they can be and are playing like the best in the NFL and they have the hottest QB in the Playoffs. But, the Bears are fighters and they keep surprising everyone. In what the Bears fans call the biggest game in their history I am leaning on receiving the 3.5 pts. I will be hoping that a late TD or FG will give me the spread, but I still believe the Packers will come out of this with a victory and move on to the Super Bowl.

Take the 3.5 points with the Bears covering

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The Nasty Bowl pits the Steelers against the outspoken NY Jets.  This is a game that everyone believes will be a blood bath. Ben Roethlisberger will find away to will his team to victory and a Mark Sanchez mistake will provide the needed spread buster and the over 38 to happen.

Give the 4 points and take the Steelers to cover

Filed Under: Football, NFL Tagged With: , ,

We Have Some NFL Games to Watch

January 17, 2011 by

The NFL has turned out to be a version of Storage Wars or a Forrest Gump box o’ chocolates because you just don’t know what you are gonna get. I mean who would have thought that Seattle would beat the reigning NFL champs and who believed that Green Bay would beat Mike Vick and Philly last weekend? This past weekend we had the Packers and Jets go on the road for the second consecutive and week win outright.

Now this upcoming weekend we have the oldest rivalry in all of the NFL between the Packers and Bears who will battle for a birth to the Super Bowl. This will be the third straight road game in the Playoffs for Green Bay. The New York Jets will also play in their third straight road game at Pittsburgh. I will give you my predictions later this week, but no matter who wins in either game we should have an exciting match-up for Super Bowl XLV.

Filed Under: Football, NFL Tagged With:

What is Up with Big Men in the NBA?

December 16, 2010 by

Forget whoever Portland drafts as their center of the future will eventually get hurt and generally in their rookie year. Also, forget that Yao Ming was one of the tallest and most versatile players we have seen in the NBA in years. Where have all the true centers gone?

It’s almost like the Heavyweight Division in boxing because what has really happened since Mike ‘the Bite’ Tyson left? The sport went out the window just the centers have done in the NBA.

OK Dwight Howard you say? The guy can’t hit a jumper further than 5 feet from the rim. Pau Gasol maybe? He gets muscled out of the paint by Big Baby Davis. So where are the studs that dominated the paint like Shaq, Kareem or even Patrick used to do?

The NBA has become a guard oriented league with little regard to the front court. With all of the slashers and jumpers getting drafted as ‘Athletes’ this sport can be hard to watch. I’m not sure if the game will revert back to true big men, but in my opinion it really needs to do so.

Filed Under: Basketball, General Sports, NBA Tagged With:

Weekend Pigskin Pix by D2B

December 3, 2010 by

The last time I posted picks I went 4-for-4. I don’t expect to go 100% this weekend, but I got a good feeling about these games. Here are my college football and NFL picks for the weekend:

Friday Night:

Illinois goes into Fresno State for either embarrassment or to solidify their bowl hopes.  Both teams are going to a bowl, but this game will have a say in how much money they get in their bowl game. Both offenses are potent and will put up points in what should be a shootout.

Take the Over 58 1/2

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The MAC Championship is actually a pretty fun game to watch. No weather issues because the game is in Ford Field Dome. Northern Illinois comes in winners of 9 in-a-row including last weeks 70-3 romp over Eastern Michigan a. NI has averaged 46 points during their winning streak and I don’t think Miami Ohio can stop them considering they give up over 330 yards per game.

Give the 17 1/2 and take Northern Illinois

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Saturday Games:

Rutgers is horrible and West Virginia is hoping to get into the Orange Bowl as the Big ‘Least’ representative.

Give the 21 pts and take West Virginia

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Boise is pissed and they will take their anger out on Utah State on the Blue Turf.

Give the 39 1/2 pts and take Boise State

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Nevada got the big win against Boise last week and now must try and come down from that high against a Louisiana Tech team that can score as well.

Take the 9 1/2 pts and La Tech at home

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Sunday NFL action:

KC at home versus a Denver team that got worked at home by Sam Bradford. Easy call.

Give the 9 pts and take KC

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Troy Smith versus Aaron Rogers. Umm, no contest in frigid Lambeau.

Give the 10 pts and take Green Bay

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Indy can’t stop anyone and they can’t run the ball. Dallas comes in with a new swagger and will get after Peyton so he will have another interception laden game.

Take the 5 1/2 pts and Dallas

Filed Under: College Football, Football, NFL Tagged With: , ,

Favorite Week in the NFL

November 19, 2010 by
This is the week in the 2010 NFL season where you have a lot of favorites who will cover. The year has been littered with parity, but that streak is over, at least for this week.  Here are some monster selections

CHIEFS (-7) over Cardinals
I’m gonna continue to ride the Chiefs at home until they lose. I’m a big Todd Haley fan even though his Chiefs were embarrassed last week in Denver. Take the Chiefs.
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Ravens (-10.5) over PANTHERS
When you can lay 10.5 points against a 31-year-old QB with no career starts you have to do it.  Last week Brian St. Pierre was playing Mr. Mom, but this week he is lunch for Ray Lewis. Take the Ravens.
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SAINTS (-11.5) over Seahawks
The game I have been waiting for all season is finally here. I’m excited for the Reggie Bush/Pete Carroll reunion. During their postgame handshake, they will hire a third party to give Reggie $100K in cash while Pete looks the other way. Take the Saints.
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Falcons (-3) over RAMS
You’re a potential # 1 seed coming off 10 days of rest. These are the games which show the league that they are looking up at you. Atlanta comes in and crushes the Rams.

Filed Under: Fantasy Football, Football, NFL Tagged With: ,

NFL Week 3 Best Bets by D2B

September 26, 2010 by

As Week 3 hits in the NFL we are heading into uncharted waters for some perennial Playoff teams. The Vikings, 49ers and Cowgirls must win or their hopes for a playoff spot are gone.  There are also some surprising undefeated teams like the KC Chiefs and Tampa Bay.  KC is at home vs the 49ers who are coming off a gut wrenching Monday Night loss to the Saints while the Buccaneers are home against the Steelers who have the best defense in all of the NFL.

Aside from these story lines I have 3 bets that are certain to enhance your offshore account:

New England -16 vs Buffalo

New England is coming off a pitiful loss to the Jets last week in Jersey. The Pats will look to pad their stats against a Bills team with a new QB, soft Defense and young offensive line. Brady and Moss connect a few times along with Welker catching 10 balls and the Patriots score at will.

Prediction: New England -16 will cover

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Baltimore -13 vs Browns

I really don’t see anything that can stop a pissed off Raven team that blew their game last week against Cincy. They started the season facing 2 great D’s in the Jets and Bengals and now face a Cleveland team that is awful. The Ravens offense has been waiting for this opportunity and should score a lot. Cleveland will never sniff the goal line unless Cribbs brings back a punt return.

Prediction: Baltimore -13 covers

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Indianapolis -7 @ Denver

Peyton is firing on all cylinders and the Denver D is not prepared to handle this type of offense.  Indy’s D is much improved over last year and will halt any scheme Orton has available.

Prediction: Indy -7 will cover

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Other strong plays:  Cincy -4 & J’Ville +5

Filed Under: Football, NFL Tagged With:

Top Weekend CFB Bets by D2B

September 23, 2010 by

We are heading into week 4 of the college football season which means fall has arrived and we are starting to get into league games so the real race begins for the BCS Bowls.

Here are some big games to watch and wager on over the first weekend of autumn.

Thursday September 23rd – Miami -4 1/2 at Pitt:

Miami is playing their first game since they got beat at Ohio St 36-24. Jacory Harris was picked off four times (3 were in-and-out of Miami receivers’ hands) yet the Canes racked up over 350 yards of offense against the #2 ranked team in the country.  Pitt does have a top 5 RB in sophomore Dion Lewis, but the Panthers lost their best player on defense in DE Greg Romeus. Pitt had a loss to Utah on their opening night and they had an unimpressive win versus New Hampshire two weeks ago so it doesn’t seem like they will be able to handle the speed of the Canes.

Prediction: Miami -4 1/2 will cover

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Oklahoma -13 @ Cincinnati

Oklahoma is coming off a hard fought win against Air Force. The Sooners now travel to Cincinnati where a year ago this game could have been the best of the day. Cincy is coming off a loss last Thursday at NC St and they are struggling to find an identity under their head new coach. Oklahoma is a Jekyll and Hyde team when you consider they squeak by Air Force, but a week before dismantle Florida State.  This is the week where Oklahoma shows its power and beats a lost Cincy team.

Prediction: Oklahoma -13 will cover

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Alabama -7 @ Arkansas

The best team in CFB travels to their first SEC clash against #10 Arkansas and Heisman candidate QB Ryan Mallet.  Alabama has beaten a young inexperienced Penn St team, a lousy Duke squad and lowly San Jose St. Not exactly a schedule to get ready for the SEC. Arkansas already went into Georgia and won so their confidence should be high. The score should be tight so look for Arkansas to get a lead and then stay within striking distance as long as their defense can stop Bama’s running game.

Prediction: Arkansas + 7 will cover

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Boise St -17 vs Oregon State

Oregon State painted their practice field “Bronco Blue” so they could get used to the most famous CFB field in the NCAA. All the painting will not work because eBoise St. will flex it’s BCS muscle and control this game from start to finish and win going away. Boise will show the voters they can beat a top ACC and Pac-10 foe.

Prediction: Boise St -17 will cover

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Stanford -4 1/2 @ Notre Dame

Stanford has won their first 3 games by a total of 114 points and may have the best QB in all of college football. Notre Dame squeaked by a horrid Pur-don’t team in its opener and lost to Michigan and Michigan State over the last 2 weeks. They are at home against a hot underrated team and the Irish really don’t have a defense to stop Andy Luck and the Cardinal. This could get ugly and if the game was set to play in Palo Alto the line would be 14 points easy.

Prediction:  Stanford – 4 1/2 will cover

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On a side note here are the “I can’t believe you are playing these guys” games of the week.

Wisconsin vs Austin Peay, Ohio State vs Eastern Michigan and Nebraska vs South Dakota State

Filed Under: College Football, Football Tagged With: ,
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