random ramblings fred riecke, gamblersdata
……Bloomberg.com came out with an editorial piece encouraging the legalization and regulation of internet poker in the United States. Yes, it makes a lot of sense. Here is the jist of what they had to say – “The odds of winning the grand prize in the Powerball lottery are 1 in 195,249,054. State governments, by and large, encourage participation in this monopolistic enterprise, even though it randomly rewards a very few people with a very large amount of money for doing very little. Oddly, most states, and the federal government, consider wagering online on a card game — in a fair fight, against other players of varying skill — a moral outrage.” Hard to argue the logic there.
…Bloomberg add – While recognizing the income the government could reap from internet poker, Bloomberg also cited the protection a well regulated system would offer the players. The article concludes, “This approach would allow a transparent U.S. market in online gambling to grow, subject to strict and predictable regulation. And it would recognize that the future of the gambling industry — just like the future of retail or entertainment — will be online. That’s nothing to fear. It offers far better odds for success than a lottery ticket.” And that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
…I don’t know about it being the best game ever, but the Cards triple come from behind win in game 6 of the World Series was certainly one of the best games ever! The fact that the Cards took home the title in game 7 made it even better! With 3 blown saves in one game, the late season bullpen trades that favored the Rangers were rendered moot.
…If you suspected that there were some flaws in the BCS computer rankings, well, you are probably right. A junior college is ranked ahead of the last two Rose Bowl champions in one of the 6 computer rankings systems used in the BCS formula. Arizona Western College checks in at #30 this week in Ken Massey’s computer ranking. That puts the Yuma college ahead of such better known schools as Ohio State, Texas Christian, Houston and Florida State. Garbage in, garbage out.
…In case you thought that the 3 suspended LSU players might not be reinstated for this week’s game versus Alabama, think again. Tyann Mathieu, Spencer Ware and Tharold Simon were back at practice last Tuesday. “We’re going to plan on using them,” said coach Les Miles. Big surprise!
…ESPN’s Craig James has taken a lot of heat for his meddling in the affairs of college football, specifically the role he played in getting Mike Leach fired at Texas Tech. While that was despicable, how is James when it comes to ranking the top BCS teams? Well, last week James had Boise State at #10. Not much respect for an excellent team.
…Speaking of rankings, Stanford, who defeated USC in a thriller, came in at #22 on the poll of computer guru Craig Sagarin. Stanford hasn’t played the toughest schedule,but they had won 15 consecutive games before USC, 10 of those by 25 points or more. Sagarin has 3 loss Auburn at #9.
…Wisconsin has the distinction of losing consecutive weeks on improbable “Hail Mary” passes.
…Bill Cowher to coach the Dolphins? Thanks but no thanks. Amid much speculation that he’d take his talents to South Beach next season, the former Steelers head coach said he’s flattered, but is happy with his current gig an an analyst.
…According to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Los Angeles Lakers guards Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant are willing to take a BRI split of 50-50. Fisher, as you know, is the President of the players union so he must have a general consensus with his players before he makes a deal. Although the head of the union and arguably the best NBA player both like the idea of a 50% split, Boston Celtics stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnet are not in favor of such split. And the beat goes on.
…Is TO suicidal? The fact that zero NFL teams showed up to watch him work out notwithstanding, a publicist for Terrell Owens says he ”absolutely” did not attempt suicide or overdose on pills earlier this month. In a statement, publicist Diana Bianchini says an assistant arrived at Owens’ home on Oct. 6 after he had taken a sleeping aid to fall asleep. The assistant did not realize that, became concerned and called 911. Bianchini says that when police arrived, Owens was responsive. Bianchini says ”reports released with the 911 call are misleading and not factual.” In 2006, Owens made headlines for what police initially considered a suicide attempt but later was classified as an ”accidental overdose” on prescription medicine.
…Sports by Brooks reports that Eric Prisbell and Steve Yanda of the WASHINGTON POST have said that as part of a current Maryland Circuit Court case, Michael Beasley recently revealed stunning details about his recruitment to Kansas State and one year-stay at the school. In a counterclaim filed late last month by attorney Mark A. Smith on behalf of Beasley against his former NBA agent Joel Bell, the ex-Kansas State star reported in Montgomery County Circuit Court documents that former Kansas State basketball head coach Bob Huggins hired Beasley’s ex-AAU Coach as an assistant coach for the Wildcats essentially in exchange for Beasley attending the school.
…Oregon defensive back Cliff Harris and cars just don’t mix. Last Monday night he was cited for several infractions, including driving on a suspended license and driving without insurance. Oregon coach Chip Kelly quickly suspended Harris from the team indefinitely depending a review of the incident. As a result of the suspension, Harris will not be allowed to participate in any team-related activities. According to Eugene police, Harris was stopped on a city street Monday afternoon because an officer noticed he was not wearing a seat belt. Thanks to all the other illegal things he was doing (no license, no insurance) Harris faces more than $950 in fines. The car Harris was driving – which police say belongs to a relative – was impounded.
…Add Harris Cars 2 – For those who don’t know, Harris was also pulled over in June by Oregon State Police for driving 118 miles per hour on a suspended license. During that incident, the state trooper smelled a strong odor of pot, and when he asked the passengers who had the marijuana, Harris responded, “We smoked it all.” He was suspended “indefinitely” after that incident as well, and missed the season’s opening game, a loss to LSU. Will Oregon coach Chip Kelly keep Harris on the sidelines for the rest of his career? Not likely if Kelly’s track record is examined. The rest of the season? Again, not likely.
…New Chicago Cub honcho Theo Epstein won’t be sitting on his hands. Traditionalists who want to see Wrigley Field left alone probably will not. “I wouldn’t look for that old scoreboard to be sitting on top of the center-field bleachers for many more years,” the general manager said. “There’s $20 million (a year) sitting up there if they put up a giant Jumbotron. I know people are attached to tradition, to that scoreboard, but is taking it down any bigger change than putting seats on top of the Green Monster? He’s right.
…From www.fannation.com comes this interesting tidbit. “This is opinion: The latest NBA lockout stalemate is all about the basketball-related-income (BRI) split. The owners want 50-50. The players want 52-48. This is fact: The belief that NBA Players Association president Derek Fisher has been co-opted by commissioner David Stern – and promised the commish he could deliver the union at 50-50 – caused NBPA executive director Billy Hunter and at least one member of the union’s executive committee to confront Fisher on Friday morning and make him reassess his 50-50 push, a source familiar with the negotiations told FOXSports.com Friday afternoon.”
…After dispatching veteran BJ Penn, NIck Diaz is once again set to face UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, at the UFC’s Super Bowl event in February of 2012.
…The Red Sox are still trying to figure out what they are going to do next year and who their manager might be. In addition, they have some major personnel issues. Eight Red Sox players — Erik Bedard, J.D. Drew, Conor Jackson, Trever Miller, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield — officially became free agents Sunday. Of course the most interesting free agent situation will be what the World Series champion Cardinals do with free agent Albert Pujols.
…Congrats to Tony La Russa – nothing like walking out on top of the world. Hopefully, Penn State’s Joe Paterno will follow suit. But it’s more likely that Joe Pa will die on the field. Evidently some Ranger fans were hoping for a Ron Washington retirement. Two straight World Series losses is not too bad.
…What is going on with Tennessee running back Chris Johnson? Johnson, you may recall, signed a hefty $53.5 million contract in September. That seemed justified as he was the league’s leading rusher for 3 years. This year he is averaging a tiny 2.9 yards per carry. Last Sunday Johnson was expected to regain some form since he was going against the hapless Colts, considering the Colts had the worst rushing defense in the AFC. So what happened? Johnson ran for 34 yards on 14 carries, a 2.4 per carry average. Ouch!
…How can you figure college football, or the pros for that matter? Oklahoma comes off a home defeat to Texas Tech and pounds upstart kansas State. So what does Texas Tech do at home against an Iowa State team sporting 4 consecutive losses? They lose to Iowa State by 34. Then there’s that egg the Saints laid against the Rams. Go figure.
…More BCS nonsense - The computers don’t seem to like the Big Ten. Nebraska is the highest-placed team in the BCS standings, at No. 10. But the Huskers’ average computer ranking is 12th. That’s the highest of any league team. Penn State, which has lost only to Alabama, is 16th in the BCS standings; the Nittany Lions’ average computer ranking also is 16th.
…The computers also don’t think too highly of Oregon. The Ducks actually dropped a spot in the BCS standings, from seventh to eighth, despite beating Washington State . The Ducks are sixth in both polls, but their average computer ranking is just 13th. Oregon’s only loss is to LSU in the opener.
…Unbeaten Houston is 13th in the BCS standings. The Cougars are ranked eighth by two computers, but another (Billingsley’s) doesn’t have them in the top 25 and they are 23rd in the Sagarin Ratings.
…Once again a team sitting out a bye week lost ground in the ratings. The victory at USC propelled Stanford past Boise State in the third set of BCS standings. The Cardinal were sixth last week, but its win and Clemson’s loss – the Tigers had been fifth last week – was enough to move them past Boise State, which was off last week. There is just no logic to that stuff!
…At least one loss Oklahoma failed to pass up Boise last week. OU did move up to sixth in this week’s BCS standings, a three-spot jump from last week. The Sooners manhandled previously unbeaten Kansas State, giving their computer rankings a big boost. The Sooners still trail unbeaten teams Oklahoma State (third), Stanford and Boise State in the BCS standings, but they play at Oklahoma State on the final weekend of the regular season and Stanford has to play Oregon, which is eighth in the standings, on Nov.12.
…The Cleveland Indians can no longer afford to wait for Grady Sizemore to get healthy. The team declined Sizemore’s $9 million contract option for 2012 on Monday, making the injury-plagued three-time All-Star center fielder eligible for free agency. Injuries have sabotaged Sizemore’s career, limiting him to just 210 games the past three seasons. He has undergone five surgeries, two on his knees, in three years and is no longer a base-stealing threat.
…What ever happened to the “Field of Dreams” field? The couple who owns the famous field from the 1989 film have sold it to a company who plans to build a multi-field baseball and softball complex. The 193 acre Iowa farm made famous by Kevin Costner’s ‘Field of Dreams’ was sold for somewhere around $5 million to Go The Distance LLC, who plans on building a multi-field baseball and softball complex. The owners told the New York Times that they plan to name the complex “All-Star Ballpark Heaven”, but that the field used in the movie that fans have flocked to for over 20 years will not be affected, as the new complex will be built on a different portion of the farm.
…Giant fans – your life is about to become a living hell. The NY Giants are atop the NFC East at 5-2 despite not impressing anybody. Another come from behind victory, this time against the winless Dolphins, has the Giants sitting pretty for now. But despite their come from behind history, the next 5 games figure to test the Giants’ strength in a big way. The roster of opponents in order comes up New England, San Francisco, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Green Bay. Come from behind wins won’t come easy against that group. Wins may be hard to come by against that group unless the Giants play a complete game, not just half a game.
…There is no doubt that Tim Tebow is no Cam Newton. Not even a Joe Flacco or John Beck. Some have called him the worst QB in the NFL. Here’s what his coach said. “He started out pretty efficiently, went down and scored a would-be touchdown that was denied (when officials ruled the play out of bounds), had a field goal, and then basically went into hibernation for about nine series,” Fox said. “The game was out of hand.”
…I’m no Tebow fan nor a Tebow apologist, but didn’t anyone notice something strange about the Denver offense? So Fox says that Tebow started well, but went into hibernation, that was interesting. The Broncos started in a spread offense with Tebow in the shotgun. It’s the perfect way to let Tebow be Tebow. He should be in the shotgun on almost every play. He took the Broncos down so easily on that drive. And then. . .they stopped using the spread offense. What would you expect to happen – Tebow all of a sudden turns in to a Joe Montana clone? It’s no secret that neither the coach or John Elway think Tebow is their guy. That’s fine. They get paid to make those decisions. By why ditch the spread/shotgun after one scoring drive?
