Does Jeremiah Masoli make Ole Miss a contender in the SEC West?

Happy weekend, dudes. Just got a sixer of Red Stripe Light, a rotisserie chicken and am ready to sit down with a supermodel hooker to watch “Clash of the Titans.” Beat that.

Before all that action, I had wanted to think about Ole Miss football. (Who doesn’t?)

Jeremiah Masoli does not make the Rebels a contender in the SEC West. The ex-Oregon QB is expected to land at Ole Miss and could be running Houston Nutt’s offense this season. It’s an upgrade at quarterback for the Rebels, but it doesn’t move them ahead of Arkansas, LSU or Auburn and certainly not Alabama in the West.



I’ve never quite bought into all the Masoli hype. Who has he beaten? He did absolutely nothing against Ohio State in a Rose
Bowl loss and was lousy in two losses to Boise State. But he’s made a couple of highlight runs and put up big numbers against an average USC team last year, so everyone thinks he a game-changer.

I envision Masoli taking over the starting job for the Rebels about week three, having a big game against Vanderbilt and then laying an egg the next week against Fresno State. He won’t make it out of a brutal October stretch, when the Rebels play at Alabama and Arkansas, before coming home to host Auburn (I’m big on War Eagle this year).

Agree/disagree? Are you drinking a better beer than me? Report back, and have the best weekend of your summer.

--DP... [More]

Is Jeremiah Masoli make Ole Miss a contender in the SEC West?

Happy weekend, dudes. Just got a sixer of Red Stripe Light, a rotisserie chicken and am ready to sit down with a supermodel hooker to watch “Clash of the Titans.” Beat that.

Before all that action, I had wanted to think about Ole Miss football. (Who doesn’t?)

Jeremiah Masoli does not make the Rebels a contender in the SEC West. The ex-Oregon QB is expected to land at Ole Miss and could be running Houston Nutt’s offense this season. It’s an upgrade at quarterback for the Rebels, but it doesn’t move them ahead of Arkansas, LSU or Auburn and certainly not Alabama in the West.

I’ve never quite bought into all the Masoli hype. Who has he beaten? He did absolutely nothing against Ohio State in a Rose
Bowl loss and was lousy in two losses to Boise State. But he’s made a couple of highlight runs and put up big numbers against an average USC team last year, so everyone thinks he a game-changer.

I envision Masoli taking over the starting job for the Rebels about week three, having a big game against Vanderbilt and then laying an egg the next week against Fresno State. He won’t make it out of a brutal October stretch, when the Rebels play at Alabama and Arkansas, before coming home to host Auburn (I’m big on War Eagle this year).

Agree/disagree? Are you drinking a better beer than me? Report back, and have the best weekend of your summer.

--DP

I shot 64 on the front nine

I’d like to believe that the headline grossly misrepresents my golf game. You know, kind of like when a coach says the game
was a lot closer than 42-3 score indicates. But I am afraid that putting up such a gigantic number on a relatively short course is a reality check. I’m not very good.

Here’s what type of golfer I am:

Attire: Golf shirt, always un-tucked, with long, Bermuda shorts. Black golf shoes with black ankle socks and a bucket hat of
some sorts. Sunglasses, if I happen to be able to find them on the way to the course.

Clubs: Titleist DCI (3-PW), 52 and 56-degree Vokey wedges, PING putter, Callaway Big Berth 3+ medal; Titleist “Starship” 5-
wood.

Balls: Prefer something above Top Flight, but rarely buy balls these days.

Handicap: I like to say I play to an 18, but, honestly, right now I’m low- to mid-20s. And it’s embarrassing.

Experience: Been playing for over 20 years. Worked at a golf course in the bag room for three years.

Best score: Back-to-back 83s in a tournament on two tough courses.

Attitude: Pathetic. I’m one of those guys who take it too seriously. I beat myself up verbally. But cursing is minimal, and I
don’t throw clubs.

Etiquette: I’m a stickler for the rules and prefer to play with honors off the tee. I’ll take two tee shots off No. 1, because I never warm up, but I adamantly refuse to take another mulligan. Maybe if I’d take one here or there I would enjoy it more.[More]

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Chis Paul thinks he's better than he really is

The overrated Chris Paul is reportedly asking to be traded in order to play with another superstar.
The Knicks seem to his preferred landing spot, with Carmelo Anthony joining him in Manhattan in 2011. Some have said that Paul, Anthony and new Knick Amare Stoudemire envision taking on the Heat and their threesome of stars.

That’s just stupid. The Knick wannabe-threesome would have no chance of beating D-Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh.

Figuring that the salary structures for both teams would have to be somewhat similar, the supporting casts likely would be a wash. It basically breaks down to the mother of all 3-on-3 games. In fact, Stoudemire and Bosh pretty much cancel each other out, too. That leaves LeBron vs. ‘Melo, which would be awesome, and Wade vs. … the 5-10 Paul, who is coming off a knee injury.

Obviously, Paul wouldn’t be matched up with Wade. The Knicks would be forced to put their scrub two-guard on him, probably someone like Matt Barnes. Of course, Paul would get to go at the Heat’s scrub point guard, but I’m certain the mismatch  wouldn’t be as drastic as D-Wade vs. Barnes or whoever.


If I’m the Hornets, I’m getting what I can for Paul and letting Darren Collison take over. If Paul’s dumb enough to believe he could beat the Heat with Melo and Stoudemire in New York, then he’ll never figure out how to win in the playoffs.
If you were to pick three players to take on the Heat’s threesome, who would you take? Kobe-Pierce-... [More]

College football betting theory for the everyday handicapper

To me, the hardest part of betting college football is knowing when to switch gears. I guess I’m stubborn, but when I’ve won a couple in a row betting on or against a team, it’s hard for me to suddenly go the other way.

That’s why I believe that, for a bettor with my limited handicapping time, it’s smart to pick out a handful of teams to bet on or against every game.

I’ve been told by way better handicappers that my theory is stupid. But those guys have more time to handicap during the season than a square like me does.

So, to start last season, I picked out six teams I was going to bet against every game regardless. For various reasons, I chose Ball State, Boston College, South Carolina, New Mexico, Washington State and Kansas State.

Those six teams finished a combined 35-38 against the spread and costing me a large handful of units. Not a good start. But I’m not giving up on my theory and will again select a handful of teams to bet against this year. With my time constraints, I still believe I have a better chance of picking teams to consistently back or fade throughout the season than trying to bet individual games on a week-to-week basis. 

I even wrote a story for Covers on 5 College Football Teams to Bet Against, where some jackass tout called me stupid and said I was writing the article to inflate the lines for books that sponsor Covers. First of all, that’s... [More]