Back from a successful Wimbledon as I backed Roger Federer to win at another location, but missed with Sharapova. Now tennis has returned to New York and all is right with the world. I'll be making my way down a few times from New England, chillaxin' at the folks City apartment and toasting my good picks and counting my money at the end of each late night, late August evening. Grunts will punctuate the hot days and cool nights at the site of the old World's Fair.
In the long run, though, we can thank master builder and planner Robert Moses for giving us 20th Century man's modern marvels, Jones beach and you can't swing a dead cat in NYC and not hit a bridge or park with Bob Moses' touch.
While Bob Moses was a lot of things, he wasn't a gambler. He left that to Damon Runyon's crew, all of whom would go out and enjoy the spaces Bob Moses created for the Denizens of NYC and environs.
Course, these days it still is David Dinkins who gets the credit for the Tennis Center but long before D-Squared Moses had all of it planned out. Not that he held any regard for going to the sports.....but he always knew how to leverage and float a bond to get his money for his thousands of parks and recreation projects.
So we're gonna take a page out of Moses' book and put Tammany Hall's money on:
Phau -152
Pella +190
Isotomin -310
Falla +100
Mahut -120
Berdych -610
Rogowksa -110
Oprandi +190
Erakovic -300
Rus -112
U. Radwanska +190
All lines from 5 Dimes.
For what it is worth backed Gold Medalists to win in Flushing this year.
GLTA
Impaler
Double-J did his best Kyle Busch impression as his engine expired while leading the pack with five laps remaining at MIS last week. Tough loss JJ, but you'll recover with the company of your five Sprint Cup titles! RFR bitch Biffle was the eventual winner and while I picked the team I missed out with the driver as I backed Kenseth last week.
This week we are back to some short-track racing and if last night's race was any indication, the new surface will produce a lot of bump-n-run and congrats to Logano for bringing home the victory last night. What a great kid he is. Love his attitude, love his youth and love his smile. Keep bringing the thunder JL! Saddler wasn't too thrilled with his shove by Stenhouse jr. but that is how it is at Bristol-even if Stenhouse did apologize immediately to ES.
Can JL win B2B? Not business to business but back to back? Not sure if he'll take it again but he is sure fun to watch.
And remember folks, drivers who show up in this column end up leading the race and/or winning. That said, let's get down to my favorite double-stacker-BK. Yep Brad Keselowski (+600) is the defending race winner and led last week at Michigan.
Don't forget that of the last six races at Bristol three drivers have won back to back. If Keselowski wins then he'll be the fourth consecutive back-to-back winner at Bristol.
Another driver that has been dubbed "Mr. Bristol" is Kyle Busch who has the favorite spot, bet down from 9/2 to 4/1, the main concern with KB (other than the usual) is that he hates the new surface at Bristol and his engines keep blowing up. Stay way from BK and KB.
Meanwhile, if you didn't feel the heat from Johnson last weekend after MIS then you weren't paying attention. Today's pick is based on last weekend's result (even if Mears is leaving from the pole).
Pick! Jimmie Johnson, 7/1.
GLTA....
Well they said it couldn't be done, but the Old Man just keeps on ticking as Mark Martin will start today's race from the pole while he'll be accompanied by Cousin' Carl (99) on the outside. Double-J and Junior had troubles and find themselves at the back of the pack due to a blown engine for JJ and and a back-up car for Junior. As Chad Knaus said this only means JJ has to pass 42 cars to win. Nice positive spin on things for the HMS Crew Chief.
More to the point when was the last time you say the 99 with the Checkers? It won't be today either. As for Brad Keselowski, he has already three checkers this year, but will start the race outside the Top-10.
I think this is the day we RFR pops the cherry at MIS-it has been forever since they have had a driver win.
XFACTOR - Repave
MIS got repaved this year so it will be interesting to see how the drivers' set-ups go and how they are able to adapt to the new surface.
RFR headquarters and association with Ford make this a special race for RFR and their drivers. While it is tempting to throw your ducats on Biffle at 10/1 I am backing Matt Kenseth at 15/1.
GLTA!
Impaler
Stewart +180
Or
Ambrose +150
Not a ton of value on this bet to win today, but good luck if you are playing....
Impaler
Kind Bud, KB, and Kyle Busch are all the same and should be the winner at the end of the rain delayed race! Good luck to all-
Staying off Hamlin for the same reason as last week, and while most are riding the bumper of Double-J, but just because the public likes something it doesn't mean you have to....
GLTA have fun and stay safe!