Miscellaneous Articles

NFL Handicapping: Top NFL Free Agent Pickups
by Robert Ferringo - 8/5/2009

For NFL players the first week of August is a time to get your bearings, stretch out, and get back in the flow. For NFL fans the first week of August is a time to get your bearings, stretch out, and figure out which players shuffled around in the offseason and how that is going to impact their new squads.

College Football Handicapping: Bounce-Back Players
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2009

You can’t handicap injuries. But you certainly can adjust to players returning from seasons lost to things ranging from fluke knee tears in the spring games to eligibility issues from the previous year. Below is a list of 12 guys that missed all or most of last season. Each one should have a tremendous impact for their teams while coming back from lost 2008 seasons:

NASCAR: Pennsylvania 500 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard - 7/31/2009

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Tony Stewart will try for a sweep in the Keystone State as NSCS returns to the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for the Pennsylvania 500. Gamblers interested in backing the June winner Stewart (6/1) should note that since 1974 there have been eight season sweeps at Pocono, but only twice in the past ten years. Denny Hamlin was the last driver to accomplish this feat in 2006 while Johnson swept in 2004.

NFL Handicapping: New Important Assistants
by Robert Ferringo - 7/30/2009

There aren’t many people outside of the Keystone State or the Tri-State Area that know much about 35-year-old Sean McDermott. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that at least four of out of ever five people that just read that sentence can’t even tell me what team McDermott is employed by. Yet, the new Philadelphia Eagles coordinator is at the head of the list of assistant coaches whose performance is going to have the most impact on this team this season.

Fall Football Preview: College Coaches on Hot Seat
by T.O. Whenham - 7/30/2009

As a bettor it's not always clear whether the hot seat is a productive place for a coach to be or not. In some cases, the pressure can motivate the coach to raise his efforts to a new level, and push the team to save the job of a guy they like. In other cases the situation can cause the team to quit listening to the coach and can make things pretty awful.

Fall Football Preview: College Teams Primed for Resurgence
by Robert Ferringo - 7/29/2009

Every team in the country heads into August with dreams of fame, fortune, and bowling. But unfortunately, more programs than not are going to fall on their face this season and have those dreams shattered, and then rammed through their throat, well before Halloween. However, even the clubs that endured bitter and salty seasons in 2008 feel that they are primed for big bounces in 2009.

NFL Betting: Regular-Season Rushing Leader Predictions
by Matt Severance - 7/28/2009

NFL training camps open this week – I don’t know about you, but I can hear the angels signing to that news – so it’s really time to start hitting the NFL futures odds hard here at Doc’s.

NFL Handicapping: Profiling the New Coaches
by Robert Ferringo - 7/27/2009

Not For Long. As Jerry Glanville famously espoused, that phrase is not only a cute anachronism for the National Football League’s call letters but also the amount of time that a head coach can expect to hang around while dueling with the slings and arrows of professional football. But then again, what did he know?

College Football Handicapping: Overrated Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 7/25/2009

While it is tough to be overrated before you are even rated, I am going to make a preemptive strike at some of the squads that will be among the favorites to win their conference and/or make it to a significant bowl game. With some of the schools on my Most Overrated List it may seem like splitting hairs (USC, for example, makes this list). But the idea is that these teams below are going to be overrated not just by fans and media, but also by the books.

College Football Handicapping: Best Revenge Spots
by Robert Ferringo - 7/25/2009

Some handicappers believe that The Revenge Game is the most overrated angle in college football betting. I, on the other hand, fully believe in the power of Revenge as it pertains to amateur athletics although I do believe that it is an overused angle by some gamblers.

NASCAR Betting: Allstate 400 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard - 7/25/2009

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson have combined to win the past four Brickyard 400 events as NSCS continues after a mid-summer break last weekend, with the 16th Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday at 12:30 p.m., televised by ESPN.

Fall Football Preview: NFL Quarterback Rankings
by T.O. Whenham - 7/23/2009

We're in the calm before the storm of the NFL season. That means we have time to do things now that we probably wouldn't in November. Here's one of those things - let's rank the 32 likely starting quarterbacks to start the NFL season this year.

NFL Handicapping: Playoff Props and Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 7/22/2009

NFL training camps haven't started yet, and they are basically meaningless from an outsider's perspective for weeks after they do start, so hungry football fans are forced to find ways to fill the time over the next few weeks. One of the ways we can entertain ourselves is by looking at what props might be worth betting on.

Fall Football Preview: College Football Rookie Quarterbacks
by Justin Johnson - 7/22/2009

Each year in college football there is a guaranteed turnover at all positions. With graduations and players leaving early, lineups are almost always in flux. The 2009 season is set to open and at least 39 of the 120 Division I teams are slated to start the year with a new signal callers under center.

2009 NCAA Football Predictions
by Jay Horne - 7/21/2009

The 2009 College Football Season is shaping out to be one of the most anticipated seasons in history. We have the return of all three Heisman Trophy finalists, who will all be in the hunt for a National Championship. The Florida Gators will attempt to stay on top of the food chain as they seek their second straight national title.

Fall Football Preview: Top CFB Conference Games
by Robert Ferringo - 7/20/2009

Lyndon B. Johnson once said that the United States was not just a nation but “a nation of nations”. I couldn’t think of a more apropos description of the college football landscape, as the regional rivalries, secular loyalties, and local legends and lore that shape each individual conference are really what provide the foundation for what makes this sport so great.

Fall Football Preview: 10 Can’t Miss Non-Conference College Games
by Robert Ferringo - 7/20/2009

For all of the BCS bitching that we have to endure during the college football season, there is one thing that playoff advocates can’t deny: perhaps no other major sport gets as intense and as interesting, as quickly, as college football does.

Fall Football Preview: Impact Freshmen
by Justin Johnson - 7/20/2009

With the early departure of star players, underclassmen are often thrust into a prominent position. Many times a coaching change leaves a roster in turmoil with players having to play out of position until a new crop can be restocked to the lineup.

Fall Football Preview: Most Experienced CFB Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 7/17/2009

The Heisman winning quarterback is not what should scare the 2009 Florida Gators’ opponents the most. Nor should it be the brilliant, renaissance coach that can lead an assault on your team with the precision of Curtis LeMay. And Florida’s adversaries shouldn’t be most frightened by the speed, skill and voracious appetite for victory that the Gators bring to the field every Saturday.

Fall Football Preview: Sleeper BCS Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 7/17/2009

Right now all of the college football futures talk is about which teams have a chance of unseating Florida as the BCS National Champions. And while any case against the Gators, or for another squad, is going to seem flimsy given the Gators’ reservoir of talent and experience, I believe that there are still some teams out there that could jump up and make a not-as-miraculous-as-it-seems run to the national championship game.