Posted Thursday, November 13, 2008 12:47 AM
The weekly BCS shuffle has provided
more drama this fall than Grey's Anatomy.
And if you've followed the national title hunt as closely as I have,
you've heard the term “style points” spouted a lot over the last
week or two.
What
the college football mouths are talking about when they mention style
points is that little something extra teams must do to break into one
of the five BCS bowl games. There are plenty of teams that must wow
the BCS with some additional offense or defense in the final three
games of the season.
This
is a great chance for bettors to play these programs that would normally get unattractive spreads.
The Big 12 is a
perfect example of where the value lies in style points. Texas, Texas
Tech and Oklahoma run a very likely risk of ending up tied atop the
South standings when it's all said and done.
In that case, the
conference tie breaker turns to the BCS rankings. The highest ranked
team will advance to the Big 12 title game where they will run over
Missouri and move on to play for the national championship.
In
order to get into that position, those three Big 12 South schools are
going to have to go all out. Expect the Sooners to pile on the points
if they get up on the Red Raiders next weekend – making Oklahoma
minus whatever a solid bet.
The
same can be said for the Longhorns. They face Kansas Saturday and
lowly Texas A&M in the final game of the season. ... [More]
Posted Sunday, November 09, 2008 03:44 PM
The 2008-09 NBA season has some players
sporting spiffy new looks. We're not talking a full-out Queer Eye
makeover, but it's enough to make them stand out on the court without
even touching the ball.
So long cornrows
Some where Latrell
Sprewell is crying.
The tightly wound
braids that have adorned the heads of NBA superstars like Lee Nailon,
Ricky Davis and Brad Miller (for real) are finally on the way out.
Even king of the
complicated cornrow, Carmelo Anthony, has traded his trademark 'do
for a smooth half-fro. Melo recently opened a barbershop in Denver
and apparently his updated hairstyle is a publicity stunt. The spot
is called STUDIO 15, a homage to Anthony's jersey digit, and had its
grand opening Thursday.
I was hoping his
former teammate Allen Iverson would also ditch his well-known lid
when he was traded to Detroit earlier this week. However, it looks
like AI will be keeping his cornrows and won't go throwback Iverson
circa 1996.
It's jus... [More]
Posted Saturday, November 01, 2008 07:27 PM
I'm not a huge NBA guy.
I'm not saying I'm a small man. I run about 6-foot-4 and would make a solid 15th option off the bench after the third assistant and waterboys had their minutes.
I'm saying the National Basketball Association doesn't tickle my pickle.
It's not that I don't like basketball or know nothing about the league. I have the same sort of demeanor about pro ball that most NBA crowds have.
I arrive halfway through the first quarter, sit on my hands for most of the game, then cheer like hell down the stretch.
I prefer the college game, and it's not just a desperate grab at my university glory days.
NCAA basketball is an event each night. The student section is infectious, spreading foul-mouthed mayhem throughout the arena. And the players leave their hearts, sweat, tears, skin and chances of getting laid later on the floor for 40 minutes.
NBA guys don't have to play for poonanny. They're in the NBA – whic... [More]