Gambler’s Anonymous

Posted on February 1, 2012 by christoph131

For those of you who love to bet, you’re not alone. Although I am skeptic to bet on the actual outcome of the Super Bowl (due to superstition and my incredibly bad track record with betting), I thought it would be fun to check out some of the other wagers that are out there. Here are a select few that your average bookie probably wouldn’t take:

How long will it take Kelly Clarkson to sing the National Anthem? (o/u 1:34)
Will Kelly Clarkson forget or omit at least one word of the National Anthem? ($10 wins $25)
What color will Madonna’s hair be? (anything other than blonde is $10 for $25)
Will Madonna be wearing fish net stockings at any time during the half-time show?
How many times will Giselle be shown during the game? (o/u .5)
How many times will Tyree’s catch be shown during the game? (o/u 1… this is probably the easiest bet ever)

So would you take any of these? Some of them feel like locks. I’m sure there will be even more absurd ones to come in the next few days.

New Draft Record

Posted on February 1, 2012 by christoph131

There have been a record number of underclassmen who have declared for the NFL Draft this year. 65 to be exact. This is well over the record of 56 that declared for last years. One of the main reasons seems like it has to do with the new labor agreement (remember that lockout thing?). Well rookie contracts are now almost half of what they had been in previous years. This encourages these players to get into the league early, get through their rookie contracts sooner, and move on to the larger stipends that come along with their second contracts.

This basically gets rid of any incentive to remain in college to better their draft status for the following years. Hopefully they can figure this out so it does not turn into a nightmare like college basketball.

“Fan First” Environment

Posted on January 31, 2012 by christoph131

Indy is all about the “Fan First” mentality this year while they are hosting the Super Bowl. Last year, when Dallas hosted, there were over 1200 seats that were said to be “unsafe” causing many Steelers and Packers fans to stand to watch the game. Obviously, many fans wanted reimbursement from both the Cowboys and the NFL in general. This year, they are trying to avoid that. Indianapolis is primarily a pretty friendly place, as I am told.

Not to mention it snowed, and since they weren’t ready for it, it made it very difficult to travel to and from events around the Texas area. At least in Indy, if it does snow most bars, hotels, and events are within walking distance. So far, Indy is doing everything the right way. They even brought in people that work for Disney cruise lines and events to show the workers at Lucas Oil Stadium how to maximize the visitors’ experience. So, assuming that the Pats can hold on and crush the Giants, it should be a pretty great weekend for all of those who attend.

Sick of the Void?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by christoph131

What is the point of Spring? (Assuming that spring starts after the Super Bowl on Sunday) And for those of you that say pre-season baseball, just stop. Can’t think of anything? Exactly. After football season, there is nothing good to watch until the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs in June. Sure, Baseball starts in April, but it’s a long season.

There have been multiple articles about how College Basketball could easily fill that void. No one pays attention to college basketball until after the Super Bowl anyways. What if their season were to start around New Years and continue throughout the spring, with March Madness turning into May Madness. Of course there will be people that hate change (just like the BCS system) but it really does make sense. All of those students will not have to leave class for a month when their teams make it all the way. The semester will be over and they can focus purely on basketball. Also, they will only have to take one semester of light workloads, rather than both fall and spring.

“I’m partial, but I think the tournament is the greatest 3½ weeks of the sporting year. I think the tournament is powerful enough that it could be pushed back.” Says Pete Gillen of CBS Sports

I agree. I was in San Diego last year during San Diego States run in the tourney (before they lost to UConn), and it was electric. My friend and I were the only ones rooting for UConn and even then, we were scared to show it at times. However, when you’re at Hooters with a bunch of guys from the Navy, it’s hard to focus on anything but the obvious (drinks, babes, and wings).

College television ratings would sky rocket because there is nothing else to watch, everyone would be able to go out to bars and watch all the games because we would be out of school, rather than using our smartphones to get up-to-date scores, and we would have something to be excited about when we’re awaiting the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup and the Celtics to die off. What do you think?

College Weekend Round Up

Posted on January 30, 2012 by christoph131

Kentucky, Missouri, Murray State, Syracuse, Duke, Baylor, & UNC all won with ease this weekend solidifying their spots in the top 10 for at least one more week. #5 Kansas lost by 8 against unranked Iowa State, which is their first loss in the Big 12 this season. Pittsburgh beat #10 Georgetown in which I predicted would be a tough game as always. #19 UConn continued to struggle against Notre Dame on Sunday. Lastly, #3 Ohio State beat #22 Michigan in a battle of the Big Ten.

NCAA Weekend Preview

Posted on January 27, 2012 by christoph131

I am going to just skip over Friday because the only ranked game consists of #23 Harvard vs. Yale… Not even gonna touch that one. On Saturday, #1 Kentucky looks to stay perfect in the SEC against LSU, which shouldn’t be tough considering their star-studded line up. #2 Missouri looks to bounce back from their loss against Oklahoma State with a game against Texas Tech. Normally you could count Texas Tech out but the way Missouri played the other night, they could be in trouble. #4 Syracuse will face a tough test when they play always-strong West Virginia in a battle of the Big East. #5 Kansas will most likely run over Iowa State, even though they have a pretty decent record so far. #10 Georgetown plays usually-ranked Pittsburgh in a big game. Even though the Panthers are unranked, they are going to give Georgetown a run for their money at 4:00 on ESPN.

On Sunday, #22 Michigan will look to take down power house #3 Ohio State. This in my opinion will be the game of the weekend. At night, Notre Dame will look to take advantage of #19 UConn’s recent struggles. However, UConn will be wearing their new uniforms (click here) , so maybe they can find some sort of spark that they have been lacking in recent weeks.

Rondo Plays Big (except he’s injured)

Posted on January 26, 2012 by christoph131

For those of you who didn’t notice, the NBA has moved away from their “Where Amazing Happens” slogans and moved towards their “Big” advertising attempt. Rajon Rondo happens to be the main star of the first installment of the commercial. “The focus on Rondo is that he plays big” according to Danny Meiseles, executive vice president and executive producer of broadcasting for the NBA. They also focus on Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki, but seeing as they are not from Boston, we can just ignore that.

For Rondo to even be put in the same character as the best scorer (KD) and the best white guy in the league (other than Scalabrine of course), is pretty amazing. He needs to be the future of our team now that we are getting older, and it is nice to see that the league recognizes his hard work from when he came into the league from Kentucky a few years ago. Many skeptics thought he was crazy but he showed hard work and fortitude and has become one of the best players around.

Nike’s New Uniforms

Posted on January 26, 2012 by christoph131

We all know about the Oregon Ducks and their uniforms that change every week. Now Nike has released a new Platinum line for 9 powerhouse basketball teams (both men and womens? because everyone cares about that) . The teams that were chosen to wear the Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms are Arizona, UConn, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and Syracuse men and the Baylor and UConn women. Being a big UConn fan, I like the idea of changing it up, maybe they can play better too! On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind seeing UNC and Duke lose in those colors, or any colors for that matter. These jerseys will debut on Sunday when UConn plays Notre Dame. Each teams jersey has a little bit different coloring, but for the most part look the same.

Blame It on the Lockout?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by christoph131

If you had to guess who had the best TV Ratings among NHL teams who would you choose? Flyers? Penguins? Blackhawks? Rangers? Guess again. The Buffalo Sabres statistically have the most people tuning in to watch them lose. Probably because they have nothing else to watch (i.e. Buffalo Bills) and they are basically a part of Canada. Typically, the Sabres and the cry baby Ryan Miller are usually a good squad. However, they are only 20-24 this season, sitting last place in the Northeast Division.

“The league’s biggest feel-good story locally is in Boston, where the Bruins have carried over the momentum from their 2011 Stanley Cup win to post the biggest local TV ratings increase this season. NESN’s average rating of 5.25 (third-highest in the league) is up a whopping 89.5 percent from last year. The average of 125,000 homes that tune in to Bruins games is the highest in the NHL.”

-Sports Business Journal

Clearly, Boston has found a revived love after seeing the Celtics enter into senior citizen status. It also probably helps that our hometown Heroes won the Stanley Cup last season (in case you guys missed it). The lockout in the NBA definitely has helped this as well, because you either watch hockey, or find a reality TV show to watch, which ironically is probably more exciting than watching the Celts this season. So keep tuning in after this all-star break as the Bruins make their second run towards the cup. Even if you don’t watch it, waste all of your schools power by turning on every TV in your dorm to NESN during game time to get the ratings up so we can get ahead of pointless Buffalo.

Updated College MVP

Posted on January 24, 2012 by christoph131

A little over a month ago, I took a poll to see who everyone thought the MVP of college basketball was. Jarred Sullinger received the most votes, with Perry Jones III came in second. I thought it would be fun to take it again to see how players have grown (or fell off). I used the same exact players that I did a month ago, with updated stats and ranks. I think that many things have changed since the last poll. UConn completely fell off and I don’t see Jeremy Lamb as being a top 5 player anymore. Even though Kansas has lost 3 games, they are still one of the top teams thanks to their superstar Thomas Robinson, who averages a double-double and is a beast on both ends of the floor.

Just about everyone’s stats have dropped off a bit, but that is to be expected with the heart of the season playing out. So who do you guys think is the MVP of the league so far, just over halfway through the season?