Las Vegas put out a real low line on this game and I think the Orlando Magic will hand it to the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.

The Orlando Magic have taken four lines in their last five encounters and I don’t see any reason for them not to continue that streak. The last time these two teams met, at the beginning of the season in Washington and with Butler and Arenas, Orlando won by 12 points. Final score was 94 – 82.

Wizards are without Butler and Arenas already for two games so far. They were able to defeat the Bulls on the road and beat New Orleans at home. I really doubt the Wizards will go 3 – 0 without two of their star players.

The Orlando Magic reserved their strength against Toronto. Turkoglu played only 40 minutes and all other players were kept under the 40minute mark. Orlando knows that they have Cleveland on their back and won’t let this game against the Wizards get by them.

This Thursday night the bet is on the Orlando Magic-2!!

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The Washington Wizards have continued to play hard and be competitive despite being without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, while the Bulls have struggled at home this season.

Granted, the Wizards laid an egg at Houston vs. the Yao-less Rockets on Tuesday. They came the night after the upset to meet the red-hot New Orleans Hornets on the road.. The Wizards are still 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games overall, and they are now an excellent 17-12, 58.6 percent ATS on the road for the season.

Now the Bulls were playing better soon after their coaching change, but they are now just 4-6 straight up in their last 10 games, and they are returning from a 1-2 road trip where their only win was at Indiana, which was the easiest on the three opponents. Chicago is still a very disappointing 12-14 SU at home this year, and they are a money-burning 10-16 ATS in those games.

This is a revenge game for the Wizards, who lost outright at home to the Bulls as six-point favorites back in December.

This Friday night the bet is on the Washington Wizards +5!!

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Saturday March 1st sets the scene for UFC 82: PRIDE OF A CHAMPION.

I personally think this will be a close match. Its virtually impossible to tell who will win. I don’t see either KO ing or TKO ing the other or even a full on submission from either. In any case I think Dan Henderson is more likely to win by TKO than Anderson Silva. I also feel Dan Henderson will prevail if it goes to decision.

I give the overall opponent quality edge to Dan Henderson over Silva. That being said, I don’t believe that should be a factor for either fighter losing or winning, as MMAth is something that doesn’t regularly pan out.

One could argue that Dan Henderson has the edge over Silva because he disposed of Chonan quickly whereas Anderson’s fight well on it’s way to going the distance until he was submitted in the end, and beautifully so. Contrary to that, you could say that that Anderson Silva beat Carlos Newton in a more sound fashion than Henderson did since it didn’t go the distance, but then you have to consider the considerable gap of time between Henderson’s bout with Carlos Newton and Anderson’s bout with Carlos Newton.
Here are some stats to maybe help you out with your decision;

Dan Henderson
22 - 6 - 0 (Win - Loss - Draw)

Wins 10 (T)KOs (45.45%)
1 Submissions (4.55%)
11 Decisions (50.00%)

Losses 2 Submissions (33.33%)
4 Decisions (66.67%)

Anderson Silva
20 - 4 - 0 (Win - Loss - Draw)

Wins 12 (T)KOs (60.00%)
3 Submissions (15.00%)
5 Decisions (25.00%)

Losses 2 Submissions (50.00%)
1 Decisions (25.00%)
1 Other (25.00%)

Click Here for the latest UFC 82 fight odds and updates…

I really do not see the Hornets finishing first in the West. James would have to show his ability from the times in Toronto and previous spell in Houston in order to do so.  I think they will finish 4th – 6th place with around 30 losses. That means, they should do the second half of the season around 50% wins only. Hornets are a deceiving team. You look at player by player and you see a title contender, but if you look at the whole team, you don’t see nothing more than a first round team.

Spurs on the other hand should have a solid second half of the NBA season with anywhere between 55 - 57 wins. That should be enough for the home court advantage in the first round. They added Damon Stoudamire and later Kurt Thomas that should play today.

In the game today we should see Duncan dominating the boards and leading his team to victory. It is as simple as that. West or Chandler don’t stand a chance guarding him and even though with Parker out, I doubt that will stop the Spurs. In order for Hornets to win, they need a strong day from their Peja. I think that Popovich knows it as well and will put Bowen on him and tell him not to leave him alone for a second.

The handicap can always be an issue and 6 points handicap means that Spurs needs a solid win for us to cash in.
This Saturday the NBA bet is on the San Antonio Spurs -6 !! Click Here for the latest lines and betting information…

Thursday Feb 14, 2008
10:00 PM EST
 

The Idaho Vandals may be just 5-17 straight up, but all five of those wins have come at home and they may have a surprise in store for the Fresno State Bulldogs tonight.

Fresno State had a losing 11-13 record as well, and they are just 2-9 SU on the road, making them a poor investment as road favorites. Fresno’s only two road wins have come against Division II Winston-Salem and against a Louisiana Tech team that is one of the very worst clubs in Division IA. Yes, the Billdogs squeaked out a 72-70 win here in Idaho last season, but they failed to cover that contest as road favorites, the exact same role they are in here.

Now the Vandals have lost four straight games, but three of those were on the road where they are 0-12 SU this year. They have been far more competitive at home, where they are actually outscoring their Division IA opponents by a scant +0.3 points per game. By comparison, Fresno State is being outscored by an average of -5.7 points per game on the road.

Idaho is now 3-1 against the spread in the last four head-to-head meetings including 2-0 at home, I expect the Vandals to build on that this evening.

Bet on Idaho +4…

February 3, 2008
University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, AZ
6:17 PM ET on FOX

The line for this game started extremely high. This is due to two reasons, the Patriots are very strong team and second the oddsmakers know that the “average Joe” bettor will be betting on the New England Patriots. This line should actually be New England -10 but was inflated by about 4 points at opening.

Yes, the Patriots are good, but don’t forget the Giants played them well in the Meadowlands and the Giants have been playing very well away from home. New England QB, Tom Brady, is also very questionable lately with his lower leg injury. The Giants will also be coming in with a ton of confidence after their NFC Championship win in the snowy confines of Lambeau field.

Don’t forget that the Patriots have not been blowing out opponents in the second half of the season like they were in the first. They might be 18-0, but they haven’t been destroying anybody.

The Patriots have been to 3 of the last 6 Super Bowls, and have won none of these by a larger margin than three points. I see the Patriots walking away as Super Bowl champs but I doubt they will cover the spread.

For Super Bowl Sunday February 3, 2008 the bet is on the NY GIANTS +14 !! Take as many points as you can get and run !!

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January 28, 2008
EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
9:00 PM ET on NBA TV

The Jazz are a fantastic 18-3 at home this season while winning by an impressive average of +12.8 points per game. They are a sparkling 22-8-1 against the spread in their last 31 contests going back to last season. They have also won four straight and seven of their last nine and they have won eight straight at home.

The Spurs appeared to be in a spot to assert themselves on Saturday, as they figured to make a statement vs. a New Orleans Hornets team that owns the best record in the Western Conference. Instead, San Antonio scored a grand total of only 51 points over the last three quarters of a 102-78 blowout loss, the worst home loss of Tim Duncan’s career. They must now go on a long road trip as the rodeo comes to the Alamo Dome, and the Spurs have a losing 8-9 record away from home this season while going 6-11 against the spread.

I feel the home team will dominate yet another game and cover the spread by far!! This is a small price to pay for a team with the records that the Utah Jazz are boasting for this season.

This Monday night the bet is on the Utah Jazz -2 !!

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It seems fitting that Sylvia is again on a card with Mir. It seems fairly likely that the result will be the same as last time, a loss. This match is for the interim heavyweight championship, and Sylvia, the Maine-iac, has the chance to become the second man to win the title three different times. In order to do so he will have to get past Nogueira, who is making his second UFC appearance, but is viewed by many to be perhaps the second best heavyweight in the world. The Brazilian is a Jiu-Jitsu specialist who ruthlessly pursues the submission. Both fighters have only three losses in their careers, but the man from Brazil has faced and beaten better competition, is a more intimidating fighter. Sylvia will put up a good fight, but as much I see Nogueira coming out on top.

Click Here for the latest UFC 81 fight odds and updates…

Taking place on Saturday, Feb. 2, UFC 81, which has been dubbed “Breaking Point,” will be an excellent warm up for the Super Bowl the following day.

The much-anticipated UFC debut of former WWE champion Brock Lesnar is finally here. It may not be the best card we see that night, but it is the one that will be most talked about leading up to the big day.

Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir - The biggest question about Lesnar is whether he can actually make the transition to MMA. He has fought just once, and it was for K1 against a late fill-in after his original opponent had to pull out because of an injury. He won in less than two minutes, but that proved nothing.

There is one thing that we can be sure of with Lesnar - he is a ridiculously good athlete. When he made his ill-advised bid to make the Minnesota Vikings after leaving the WWE in 2004 he put up some incredible performance stats for a guy his size - a 4.7 second 40-yard dash, a 35-inch vertical leap, and a 10-foot standing broad jump. His performances in the wrestling ring were consistently athletic beyond what is typical of heavyweights, and he was the 2000 NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion. In other words, his fighting skills might be questionable, but his athletic skills aren’t. It’s that that makes this debut so highly anticipated.

Lesnar doesn’t have a good track record for sticking with anything for the long term. He left the WWE when he was at the top after just three years in the organization. He said at that time that his dream was to play in the NFL, but he was undisciplined in training camp, skipped practices without permission when he was injured, and he refused an assignment to NFL Europe when the team said his skills needed improvement. If Lesnar truly wants to be a great MMA fighterhe can do it.

When it comes to a first opponent in the UFC, Lesnar certainly could have made it easier for himself. Frank Mir not only won the vacant UFC heavyweight title by beating Tim Sylvia, but he broke Sylvia’s arm with a vicious armbar in the process. We never got to see what he could do as champion, though, because a motorcycle accident cost him to miss 14 months of action and lose his title. He hasn’t been quite the same fighter since his return, with just two wins in four fights. On the plus side, he is a submission specialist that could cause a lot of trouble for Lesnar if he can get a hold of the wrestler. On the other hand, Mir has struggled with stamina, so he won’t likely be able to keep up with Lesnar if the match goes long.

I believe that the superior athleticism, size and power of Lesnar will come out on top.

Click Here for the latest UFC 81 fight odds and updates…

Tue Jan 22 ‘08 7:00p

The Toledo Rockets have been a bad road team in recent years, but the Eastern Michigan Eagles are weak favorites, and this is a rare road site where Toledo has actually had some success.

The Rockets may be just 5-11 straight up including 0-10 on the road, but they are a more respectable 7-7 against the spread overall and 4-5 ATS on the road. More importantly, Toledo has a six-game winning streak in the head-to-head series with EMU, with two of those wins coming in this building. The Rockets won rather handily 66-56 here last season.

Eastern Michigan is just 6-10 overall including 3-3 at home, making them vulnerable giving this many points. They are outscoring their home opponents by a scant +1.5 points per game, not nearly enough to cover this spot, and they have been very erratic offensively while shooting just 41.4 percent from the field.

The bottom line here is as bad as Toledo has been on the road, we simply do not trust Eastern Michigan as a favorite and we would not be shocked if the Rockets post there first road win of the year tonight.

Bet on Toledo+5.5…