MLB Series Wagering- Cardinals at Reds

This is the time of the year when baseball really starts to get fun because there is attractive matchups like this one that has meaningful significance to the pennant races. Almost the entire season, the echoes have reverberated San Diego and Cincinnati (64-48, +13.7 units) were a great baseball story, but eventually they would come back to earth and be the mediocre teams most expected back in March. With eight weeks to go in the regular season, barring a Sands hotel-like collapse, the first place Reds aren’t going anywhere.

Cincinnati’s unemployment rate is hovering at 10 percent, but for the first time in years, the baseball team is providing a positive distraction, in a town known as a great baseball community. The Reds return home off a 5-1 divisional road trip and lead St. Louis (61- 49, -6.1) by one game in the loss column and are 11-4 since July 23, including winning nine of last 11, in which they’ve outscored the opposition 70-33. “It’s time,” manager Dusty Baker said. “They (the players) had been wanting us to focus on it but we had to focus on the Cubs. To come in here and get a sweep in Chicago (first time in five years) is big for us.”

The Cardinals are top heavy and manager Tony LaRussa knows it. If St. Louis is going to repeat as division champions, they have to play better on the road (23-31) and get more out of the back end of the rotation. For this series in the Queen City, St. Louis come fully prepared with Chris Carpenter, Jamie Garcia and Adam Wainwright as the scheduled pitchers for the Redbirds. This terrific trio is 45-24 in games they’ve started, the best in baseball.

Carpenter (12-3, 2.91 ERA) will look to get St. Louis off to a good start in the series and he has been on top of his game. The right-hander is 3-0 in last five starts (all Cardinals’ wins), with undersized ERA of 1.64. Carpenter has three wins already this season against the Reds and is 10-3 with 1.96 ERA lifetime against Cincy. Sportsbooks have St. Louis as -133 money line favorites with total Ov7.5 for this ESPN 7:10 Eastern telecast and Carpenter and the Cards are is 9-1 OVER as a favorite of -125 to -175 this season, winning by two runs per contest.

The Reds counter with their rookie Mike Leake (7-3, 3.86), who after a sensational start, might be tiring, having lost last two starts and been hit hard. His earned run average in those defeats is 7.94 and Cincinnati is 6-15 at home after a win by win six runs or more, like yesterday’s 11-4 crushing of the Cubs. That number overlaps Baker teams that frankly were not very good and this Reds bunch is 24-11 after allowing four runs or less three straight games this year.

Game 1 Edge: St. Louis

The second game of the series brings elements relating to both clubs. St. Louis knows it can leave town atop the NL Central with a sweep and might not have to look back in doing so. The task is fundamentally difficult since Cincinnati has not been swept at Great American Ball Park in more than a year, falling to Colorado over three days in late July over early August.

Granted, Albert Pujols hits against everybody, but coming into this series he’s hot even by his own standards, having gone 16 for 32 with five homers and 11 RBIs in the last seven contests. Against Cincy this campaign he’s hitting .381 with three homers and 12 RBIs. Left-hander Jamie Garcia (9-5, 2.53) got two extra days off between starts after his worst outing of the season (8 runs and 10 hits over five innings) and manager LaRussa hopes that is the right tonic to get the young pitcher back to form. The Cards are 5-1 in Garcia’s last six starts against winning squads.

Cincinnati has been battering lefties of late with 16-5 mark. Reds starter Johnny Cueto (11-2, 3.24) has been devastating with 5-1 record and 1.55 ERA over his past nine starts. Don’t expect St. Louis to load up with LH hitters, as they are only batting .221 against Cueto, compared to RH batters who hitting .274. The Reds are 6-1 in previous seven Game 2’s outings and have won all five in that exact same situation in which Cueto was the starting pitcher.

Game 2 Edge: Cincinnati

The final contest of the series is a day time affair, with Adam Wainwright trading pitches with Bronson Arroyo. Wainwright (16-6, 2.07) often is the second fiddle of the St. Louis staff, but know this, he’s only the second hurler in the Cardinals storied history to have 16 victories and an ERA that low in 24 starts to begin a season. The other is Hall of Fame great Bob Gibson. The Redbirds are 21-18 in day games and if they are favored by -200 or less with Wainwright the pitcher, the Cards are 8-0.

Arroyo (12-6. 3.83) is in the Top 20 of units won at +6.4 in baseball. His career shows a pitcher who runs like a Moet faucet, hot or cold. He’s being scalding with 2.62 ERA in previous 10 starts and has not given up a run in consecutive starts. His changing speeds on his curveball has been wicked, with batters hitting a meek .177 against him. He and the Reds are 6-2 as underdogs and 22-18 under natural light.

Game 3 Edge: Cincinnati

Had my string of five series wins in a row snapped last week; however I feel I get back on track here. The Cardinals have the pitching edge with their exceptional starters, yet they 2-7 in road series since May and are 9-17 in traveling gray uniforms. The play here is the excited home underdog with a lot to prove and Cincinnati builds on lead by Wednesday evening.

Sportsbooks series odds: St. Louis -135, Cincinnati +105

3Daily Winners Pick: Cincinnati

Tim Tebow's New Doo

Not everyone can where this look. Well actually nobody can, not even Tim Tebow.

Welcome to the NFL T-squared!

Being as rookie can really suck!

Dressed for Sunday success and special note

As promised we did come right back with winning day, raising record to 145-88, 62.2 percent. Have an awesome System (91.6%) and equally impressive Top Trend at14-1 running today. Steve of the Left Coast Connection is glowing (not literally) with his recent MLB wagers and has another Best Bet. Good Luck

What I’m letting you know today – From Elias Sports: J.P. Arencibia had four hits and two home runs in his major league debut for the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon. Arencibia is the second player in major-league history to have four hits and two homers in his first major league game. Charlie Reilly did it for Columbus, an American Association team, on October 9, 1889. (The American Association was a major league from 1882 to 1891.)

Special Notice-This blog might be down for a period of time on Monday, due to updates. It will be up again as soon as humanly possible.

The GUARANTEED Plays have a Guaranteed Sunday Smackdown, with top notch information that places us in 91.6 percent winning situation. Need a winner, grab it Now!

On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Baseball System -1) Play Against road underdogs with a money line of +175 to +250 like the Metropolitans, with a NL starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.00 or better on the season. Roy Halladay is the biggest reason for this and this system is 22-2 the past five years.

Free Baseball Trend –2) The New York Mets are 1-14 in road games vs. an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.150 or better over the last two seasons.

Free Baseball Pick -3) Steve is 9-1 the last three days and prefers his Sox White this Sunday afternoon.

Note- If you prefer to have this sent to you daily instead of having to visit the site, sign up for our FREE mailing list on the right.

NFL Preseason Opening Betting -Cincinnati vs Dallas

Think about this for a minute; say you gave up drinking beer for a month. You are used to Guinness or some of the other heavier brews on the market. You dropped a few pounds and decided to treat yourself, but not go crazy and thought a Michelob Ultra is the way to ease back in. That accurately describes the NFL Hall of Fame Game, not overly satisfying after months of no football, but it beats the heck out of watching the World Cup.

Cincinnati and Dallas are defending division champions and each will try to use that as a springboard to bigger and better things in 2010.

The Bengals were one of the more conservative offensive teams in the NFL last season (26th is passing yards) in putting together 10-6 (6-10 ATS) campaign. The front office tried to rectify that situation by giving quarterback Carson Palmer more weapons.

Cincinnati drafted tight end Jermaine Gresham from Oklahoma and added former Tampa Bay wideout Antonio Bryant. In the past couple of weeks, they also brought Terrell Owens on board to shore up the position, suggesting there will be no shortage of commentary with T.O. and Chad Ochocinco.

Coach Marvin Lewis is 15-13 ATS in exhibition contests in his tenure at Cincinnati.

Neither the Bengals nor Dallas is expected to have the regulars play more than a series or two.

The Cowboys were 11-5 (9-7 ATS) in the regular season a year ago and are definitely looking to put the playoff disaster in Minneapolis (34-3) behind them as quickly as possible. Most feel this is a critical year for Tony Romo and coach Wade Phillips, both needing to move to the next level.

The Cowboys brass is disappointed rookie receiver Dez Bryant won’t be available for this tilt, having suffered a high ankle sprain in practice last week. Bryant was the star of camp to that point. Otherwise, Dallas is a mostly veteran team and places little stock in games like this as 5-20 ATS record in the first two weeks of the preseason proves.

Oddsmakers had Dallas as three-point favorites in Canton and they've been flipped to a field goal underdog, with the total at 32.5. The Cowboys are 1-4 ATS in last five as preseason underdogs, while Cincinnati is 11-20 ATS as favorites.

This is the first ever meeting between these teams before the regular season.

NFL Preseason Football Wagering Strategy

For years I never followed the NFL in the month of August, thought it was a waste of time and absolutely had nothing to do with the regular season. The latter point is still true, just not the first one. Over the last seven years I made more money in the preseason then I would have guessed betting football online.

The beauty of exhibition games (NFL hates that term) is their simplicity. I’ve been very fortunate to honestly hit over 63% (44-25) of these plays the last seven years and now I’ll share with you how it happened. Please understand, in hitting a percentage like this, you have to be very selective and really choose your spots. I’ve made a grand total of 69 plays in seven seasons, that is less than three per week. This can be a challenge for those eager to get started and end up making a significant hole before the regular season actually starts.

Pre-Pre Season

Just like in the regular season, it is important to know your teams. Not talking about reading hours of information about every given team, rather to know the coaches and the tendencies of the teams. Coaching blunders and superior game plans can alter the outcomes of contests during the regular season. Still a missed tackle by the opposition or unexpected turnovers can change the ultimate final score, no matter what a coach does. In the preseason, a coach can directly impact the scoreboard by substitution patterns and what his goal is for the team beforehand.

Throughout the internet is interesting fact-based cold data, available for you to learn from. For example, two NFC division foes have shown they could care less about winning in the preseason, instead they are interested in building the team and having it ready for the start of the regular season and often you can find out exactly what the game plan is by going to team websites. The squads that match the criteria are Dallas and Philadelphia, both of whom are 18-31 ATS as favorites over an extended period of time.

Week 1 - Know your Coaches

This is extremely important if you have a desire to have extra money BEFORE the regular season starts. Be assured all the oddsmakers know these numbers, it is your duty as well if you expect to profit. With Mike Shanahan in Washington, expect him to continue the same methods that have made him a great coach. As opposed to many head coaches, Shanahan has always placed a value on winning to set the right tone for his team where he has been in charge, his squads have covered over 63 percent of the time the first two weeks of the preseason.

Another important factor is first year coaches. This year we only have three taskmasters that are taking over new teams. Each has been a head coach at this level in the past and will want to establish how they will be running their programs. After going through grueling training camps, each will want to prove to his players that the work has been worth the trouble. Nothing pays off like winning. Historically, these coaches can bring a nice profit in contests where they don’t meet one another. Undoubtedly, these generals will want to bring in their type of players and it will be reminiscent of what legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel once said, “We’ll win soon, just not with these players.”

One last area to consider is coaches in peril. These fellows know their jobs are in jeopardy and have to deliver wins, even if it has to start in August. Among those that could be a good bet this month are Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville and Lovie Smith in Chicago. Both have the wolves howling at their door and early wins and a good camp would quell the noise, at least for the time being.

Week 2 - Be ready to pounce

This is one of the two weeks online football betting strategists can really take advantage of the lines and make large profits at online sports betting outlets. The most important factors this week are prior performance and motivation. These are largely tied together of which you can take advantage. Last season the Dallas Cowboys barely showed a pulse, let alone putting forth any effort and were humbled by Oakland of all teams 31-10 as two-point underdogs in the opener. This didn’t sit well with Wade Phillips and the coaching staff and they put Cowboys players thru the paces. Training camp is hard enough and the last thing any player wants this month is coaches hollering and screaming about effort. Dallas responded very positively and toppled Tennessee 30-10 as field goal favorites.

Likewise, just the opposite can occur as Tom Coughlin of the New York football Giants found out. In an unusually spirited opening contest, the Giants and Carolina went at it and New York won a hard fought game 24-17 as three-point faves. The very next week Coughlin’s club could do nothing right, especially on offense and were handled easily by Chicago 17-3.

Know this, Philadelphia is 10-1 ATS in week 2 and Dallas is 7-1 ATS.

Week 3 –Dress Rehearsal

This has become the most important week of the preseason, at least for coaches to get a real sense of where the team is and if they were on schedule. Starters will play about two-thirds of the game and a semblance of a game plan will be implemented. Many of the same principles still apply about motivation, with a few variations of note.

The coaches and players place additional importance on this week, thus giving a good showing does matter. In the preseason, situational handicapping has relevance, especially for teams losing by 10 or more points the week before. This is noteworthy, with back-ups playing and the games should be fairly evenly matched. Once again coaches will create further accountability through motivational and psychological tactics. In 2005, New England was humbled by the Saints in week 2, losing 37-27. In reading the Boston papers, Coach Belichick made it quite clear another defensive effort of that nature was not acceptable. The Patriots went to the thawed frozen tundra and laid a whipping on Green Bay 27-3.

How this works to your advantage is maybe the coach feels the team is coming along too fast and wants to dial it back. We all know head coaches are control freaks. They want to build you up to tear you down and vice versa. As mentioned in the preseason, these maniacal masters love to put the team thru grueling practices after a weak effort. Others might feel the club is peeking way to early and let them slack a bit after exceptional performance, while closely monitoring they don’t lose their edge. This is part of the other aspect of analyzing situations, teams off blowout wins or losses.

This is where knowing the personality of a head coach is so important. When Mike Holmgren was in charge, he was famous for taking his team on emotional roller-coaster in August, never letting them feel too good or bad about themselves. Super Bowl winning coach Sean Payton is a noted “go for the jugular” type and he served notice last season, as his team was ready and they were 3-0 SU and ATS, outscoring the opposing teams 100-28 before calling off the dogs.

Week 4 – Pick your spots and be ready for the regular season

The final week of the season is nothing more than final preparation for most teams trying only to avoid injury and making final cuts. The Indianapolis Colts are 2-8 ATS in their final preseason tilt, including five straight spread losses. Be cautious in your plays the last week. If you are having a winning preseason, a game or two that you really are sure of is worth the risk. If you are having a so-so or below average time in picking winners before the start of the regular season, save your money for what you care about. This is what you have been looking forward to anyways.

Final Thoughts

Take the time to review the box scores. Do not do this for the traditional reasons as you might believe. Looking at stats and trying to figure out your fantasy team has nothing to do with the preseason games. What this is for is future reference. This can lead to insights about any team’s depth. Every NFL team is going to have injuries. By reviewing the box scores this time of year, you might find a team that has built up a 17-0 or 20-3 leads with the first team players in two different games and ends up losing both contests in the second half. This could be a red flag that when this team has injuries during the season, the drop off will be precipitous. Most importantly, don’t overanalyze, follow the coaches of the 32 teams and have fun.

Bring on Saturday!

It was a crazy night in baseball Friday and we ended up on the wrong side three times. We’ll look to immediately change that with our Best System that is 82.2 percent. The Top Trend is perfect 13-0 in a NL matchup and Steve of the LCC is hot and offers his top play. Good Luck

What I’m letting you know today – I never thought I would see Tiger Woods look like such a hack on the golf course. Having spent a good portion of my life in the business, I know the game will eventually humble everyone and it has a strong hold on Mr. Woods presently. Nonetheless, sad to watch.

The GUARANTEED Plays hit the big play on Philadelphia, but Houston couldn’t hold 5-2 lead in the ninth and I suffered yet another extra inning loss (8-23 on the season) for a 2-2 day. Today I’m pulling out all the stops and have FIVE BIG PLAYS in baseball for under $10 per selection which is Guaranteed to show a profit.

On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Baseball System -1) Play Against road underdogs with a money line of +100 to +150 like Houston, who are bad NL offensive team, scoring 4.1 or less runs a game, against an average starting pitcher (ERA=4.20 to 5.20), with a starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.250 or better on the season. Read that again if you have to, but know this, 37-8 isn’t terrible.

Free Baseball Trend –2) The Phillies and Mets game isn’t on my radar; however hard to overlook Philly is 13-0 at home when the total is 7 to 7.5 over the last three seasons.

Free Baseball Pick -3) Steve is 6-0 the last two days and has Minnesota as his top Play for Saturday.

Note- If you prefer to have this sent to you daily instead of having to visit the site, sign up for our FREE mailing list on the right.

2010 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

By Marc Lawrence of Playbook.com

There are highs and lows in every major conference. In the Mountain West Conference they range from 70 feet to 7,200 feet in altitude.

They also range from 2009’s National Coach of the Year (TCU’s Gary Patterson) to one-win New Mexico.

For a league an unsung as the MWC, they find themselves atop the pecking order in a handful of meaningful categories in the FBS. Among them: TCU QB Andy Dalton leads all returning signal callers in career victories (29), while Utah has more consecutive bowl wins (9) than any team in the nation.

In addition, the Utes and the Horned Frogs will ride 17 and 14 game home win streaks, respectively, into the 2010 season.

With 26 all-conference players returning in 2010, it would be no surprise to find this league to improve on its 25-16 bowl mark since 1996. After all, they’re riding a mighty nice high in the MWC these days.

Note: Team writeups excerpted from the 2010 PLAYBOOK Football Preview magazine. Numbers following team name represent the amount of returning starters on offense and defense, with an asterisk (*) designating a returning quarterback. Designated ‘Play On’ and ‘Play Against’ Best Bets follow each team’s preview.

AIR FORCE – *5 / 5
TEAM THEME: WHERE’S THE BEEF?
While the Falcons welcome back just five starters on offense, including QB Tim Jefferson, the quintet accounted for 100% of the team’s passing yards, rushing yards and total scoring. The concern for HC Troy Calhoun is rebuilding an offensive line that loses all five starters to graduation. Despite losing nearly 1,500 pounds of beef, the Force will again feature a ground attack that has led the MWC in rushing 26 of 28 years, including each of the last 12. There are a few issues on the defensive side, as well. The last time we saw the Falcons’ stop unit in action was in the Armed Forces Bowl where they shut down high-powered Houston, 47-20, picking off Case Keenum SIX times. However, only five starters return from that opportunistic unit which ranked No. 11 nationally while leading the country in turnover margin, including zero on the offensive line. Yes, there are some holes to fill this season in Colorado Springs but in ‘Calhoun We Trust.’
PLAY ON: vs. Navy (10/2)

BYU – 6 / 6
TEAM THEME: CREATURES OF HABIT
Who needs a calendar when you have a Bronco? By the end of November, you can pretty much count on double-digit wins from BYU and by the third week in December you can always find the Mormons in Sin City. For the fourth time in five years, Bronco Mendenhall’s Cougars won 10-plus games, while a fifth straight season was capped off with a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl. In truth, last year’s 11-win season was probably a bit disappointing. After surprising Oklahoma to start the season, the Cougars were upset at home by Florida State and lost for the second year in a row to conference rival TCU. They’ll get a chance to make amends this year with trips to Tallahassee and Fort Worth. With just six starters returning on each side of the ball, we need to see more before assessing those chances. One thing we know for sure: we’ll be rolling the dice with Bronco’s boys come December.
PLAY AGAINST: vs. Utah (11/27)

COLORADO STATE – 4 / 10
TEAM THEME: HONEY, PLEASE COME BACK
After leading the Rams to their first winning season since 2003 and delivering their first bowl victory in seven years, the Ft. Collins courtship was on for HC Steve Fairchild. A 3-0 start to 2009 pressed the engagement but, like a jilted lover, things got ugly. Real ugly. A season-ending nine-game losing skein was even more befuddling considering the fact that the Rams were favored in four of those contests. For Fairchild to get back in the sack, he’ll need the offense to revert to their productive 2008 form. Easier said than done with only four starters back in the mix, including a new signal-caller for the third straight season. The defense, as a whole, took baby steps in 2009 but the D-line, in particular, showed vast improvement. With 10 starters back on that side the ball, and a recruiting class that Rivals.com called CSU’s best in ten years, maybe Steve can get his groove back.
PLAY ON: vs. UNLV (10/16)

NEW MEXICO – 5 / 6
TEAM THEME: BABY STEPS
When you are winless without a TD in your last four season openers, a new team motto is needed. “Take the Next Step” is the phrase Mike Locksley has opted for in 2010. These young Lobos managed only one win for Locksley in his rookie season, but they showed marked improvement over the season’s final five games, losing the stat battle by an average of 59 YPG as compared to a negative 161 YPG in the first five games of the year. “The last five games we improved about 50 to 60 percent in almost every vital statistical category, and the last five games included the best teams in the conference. We got better, we stepped forward,” confirmed Locksley. Blue-chip DT recruit Calvin Smith and a defensive line that returns three starters assures these Lobos are taking steps in the right direction… slow but sure.
PLAY ON: vs. San Diego St (10/23)

SAN DIEGO STATE – *9 / 8
TEAM THEME: ABOVE ALL HOKE
If you listen to HC Brady Hoke, it’s time for his Aztecs to get physical. His first year at the helm saw San Diego State double its win total from the previous season, thanks to a defense that improved dramatically against the run. Yet opponents still more than doubled their rushing output per game (165 to 78). The continued development of both the offensive and defensive lines is critical if the Aztecs are to produce their first winning season since the MWC formed in 1999. Skill wise, Brady’s bunch is in good shape with the return of WR’s Vincent Brown (778 yards, 6 TD’s in six games before a season-ending thumb injury) and DeMarco Sampson, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility.
A relatively soft non-conference schedule may give Hoke the push he’s looking for early, but can this group hold their ground after visiting BYU, Wyoming and TCU? Time will tell.
PLAY ON: vs. UNLV (11/27)

TCU – *9 / 7
TEAM THEME: A TAD(POLE ) OLDER
The Frogs just seem to keep on multiplying. TCU had more freshmen (17) on the depth chart last season than seniors (13) and the 27 seniors on this year’s roster more than double last year’s number. Despite a disappointing bowl loss to Boise in which they held the Broncos to 25 points below their season average, the Horned ones completed a perfect regular season for the first time in school history. As always, it was about the ‘D’. Since 2005, the Frogs have allowed a meager 79.5 rushing yards per game – tops in the nation. In fact, over that span, Gary Patterson’s stop unit has held 45 opponents to under 333 total yards of offense, producing a 42-3 record in those contests. The offense is also in good hands as QB Andy Dalton, the MWC player of the year in 2009, returns. With only one tough conference roadie (Utah), it looks like the Fort Worth Frogs will, once again, be jumping.
PLAY ON: vs. Oregon St (9/4)

UNLV – *8 / 8
TEAM THEME: MR. CLEAN
Mike Sanford is out and Bobby Hauck is in as six straight non-winning seasons was all the UNLV brass could stomach. They’ll gamble that the winningest coach in the FCS over the last seven years can change the Rebels’ fortunes. Hauck compiled a stellar 80-17 mark at Montana while leading the Grizzlies to three national championship games. SR QB Omar Clayton returns along with four starting offensive linemen and 1,291 of the team’s 1,522 rushing yards. However, Hauck plans on cleaning house if necessary as he contends that, “No job is safe now or ever, really. You may see a lot of spread principles in our offense because that’s what the strength of our personnel is.” With nine bowl teams on this year’s form, including four non-conference bowlers, it may take some time before Hauck cleans up this mess.
PLAY ON: vs. Wyoming (11/13)

UTAH – *8 / 4
TEAM THEME: SAND BAGGERS
Playing in the MWC, Utah is America’s best-kept secret. However, every year when we publish our Bowl Stat Report, Kyle Whittingham’s Utes come front and center. That’s because Utah owns the winningest bowl percentage (12-3, 80%) in Division 1 history of teams with at least 15 appearances. They also own the nation’s longest current bowl win streak at 9 – and Whittingham has been a part of all of them. QB Jordan Wynn, the MVP of last season’s Poinsettia Bowl, is back. So too is RB Eddie Ware, who rushed for over 1,000 yards in 10 games last season. Ware is joined in the backfield by Matt Asiata, who led the conference in rushing through the first four games before a knee injury ended his season. Checking the scoresheet we find twelve starters in all, including six all-MWC perfomers, returning to Salt Lake City as Whittingham looks to make it 10 strikes in a row.
PLAY ON: vs. Iowa St (10/9) – *KEY as dog

WYOMING – *7 / 7
TEAM THEME: JUST DO IT… AGAIN
Chase Daniel, former Missouri quarterback, was right on the money when he proclaimed that his former OC Dave Christensen was “going to take that program to levels it’s never seen.” In short order, Christensen took the Cowboys bowling for the first time since 2004 and then proceeded to upset Fresno State as a double-digit dog in the New Mexico Bowl. Some may say it was the new Nike uniforms they wore for the first time in 2009. Others argue the five 4th-quarter comebacks orchestrated by MWC Freshman of the Year QB Austyn Carta-Samuels had more to do with it. “We didn’t utilize all of our offense last year… I think we can start moving toward what we originally envisioned for the spread when we came here… I believe we’ve improved our team athletically,” said Christensen. It’s hard to argue with success.
PLAY AGAINST: vs. Colorado State (11/20)

Breakaway Friday

A split from Thursday has us at 143-84 and we look to build on this record with an 80 percent system in the AL. Also in the junior circuit, one club is on a long losing streak in a particular situation. Good Luck

What I’m letting you know today – From Elias Sports: James McDonald, who was traded to the Pirates by the Dodgers last week, won his debut with Pittsburgh on Thursday and in the process of doing so became the first starting pitcher to allow no runs and strike out at least eight batters in his first game for the Pirates since 1907, when Nick Maddox threw a shutout with 11 strikeouts in his major-league debut.

The GUARANTEED Plays missed on the Dodgers last night as James Loney left four runners on base in his last two at-bats when the score was still 3-0. Moving ahead to today, I have an Out of the Park Guaranteed Baseball Winner and Twin Pack of MLB Night Time Winners. Join 3Daily Winners and cash in with these Guaranteed Plays.

On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Baseball System -1) Play Against all underdogs with a money line of +125 to +175 like Cleveland, a weak hitting team with batting average of .260 or less, against a very good AL starting pitcher with ERA of 3.50 or less, whose batting .200 or worse over their last three games. This system just meets our criteria at 56-14, 80 percent.

Free Baseball Trend –2) The Boston Red Sox are 0-11 in road games vs. AL teams scoring 5.2 or more runs a game in the second half of the season over the last two years.

Free Baseball Pick -3) LCC Friday consensus is 5-0 on San Diego over Arizona.

Note- If you prefer to have this sent to you daily instead of having to visit the site, sign up for our FREE mailing list on the right.

In search of Thursday layups

After a few not so hot days, came back strong with 3-0 Wednesday, taking record to 142-83. Today we have a Top Trend that is strictly perfection and the LCC has another Free consensus play. Good Luck

What I’m letting you know today – Brett Favre might have other problems on his hands besides playing football, literally. Read here.

The GUARANTEED Plays were absolutely correct with Atlanta last night. Tonight I have another GUARANTEED WINNER on the docket ready to increase your bankroll yet again. This play is packed with winning information and you’ll be in relaxed position early and often.

On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Baseball System -1) Not one good system worth anything today.

Free Baseball Trend –2) The L.A. Angels are 12-0 after a game where they had 17 or more hits over the last three seasons.

Free Baseball Pick -3) The LCC has 6-0 consensus on the Philadelphia Phillies in South Florida.

Note- If you prefer to have this sent to you daily instead of having to visit the site, sign up for our FREE mailing list on the right.

3DW Line Moves – Crucial Betting Info

A thinner baseball slate has those doing baseball betting fixated on four contests. Two of the games feature side action and the other two hone in on the totals. Take a read and see if you agree or disagree with the wagering public in Thursday’s action.

L.A. Angels at Baltimore 7:05 EDT

Buck Showalter is paying immediate benefits for the Baltimore Orioles, winning his first two games as the skipper. The Orioles offense has come to life scoring 15 total runs in back to back contests, something that has happened only twice since June 25. The O’s will face face Dan Haren (7-10, 4.42) and see if they can orchestrate their third home sweep of the season. The focus for baseball bettors has been on the total, since it began at 8.5 and has been elevated to 9. Granted, Haren was pitching for an awful Arizona club, however his ERA was still lofty 4.86 and he’s 16-7 OVER in 23 starts. While there is a little excitement in the land of crap cakes, the Orioles are 26-11 UNDER at home having won two of their last three.

Colorado at Pittsburgh 7:05 EDT

The Rockies have won five of six and Pittsburgh is playing like Pittsburgh, having lost 10 of 13, so why would online sports betting analysts be favoring the Pirates? The Bucs opened as +161 money line home underdogs and have actually wandered downward to +150 or less at various sportsbooks. The Pittsburgh bullpen was dreadful in 9-4 defeat to Cincinnati and the Pirates are 4-22 after the bullpen was rocked for six or more runs since 2008. The answer my friends is not blowing in the wind, its right here. Did you know Colorado is 4-14 in road encounters after a win and astonishing 0-9 (-9.2 Units) as visitors having won three of their last four games this season? Toss in the fact tonight’s starter Jeff Francis (4-3, 4.44) and Rockies are 0-7 (-9.7 Units) vs. an NL team with an on-base percentage of .315 or worse and just maybe this dog might have some bite.

San Francisco at Atlanta 7:10 EDT

This potential playoff matchup is strictly about perception. Tim Lincecum and the Giants were -121 ML road faves and are now -108 or lower at online sports betting outlets. Atlanta’s Major League best 36-14 home record undoubtedly is a factor, as is 17-5 mark at Turner Field playing against teams with a winning record this season. Yet, it is impossible to ignore San Francisco’s recent 13-3 joy ride on the road for exactly the last month, plus having the knowledge of Lincecum being 6-1 with 2.70 ERA against Atlanta. The outcome could be decided by how the Braves batters hit in the clutch. After batting under .200 with runners in scoring position for a 10-game stretch, Atlanta busted out eight runs in stopping New York yesterday. Taking advantage of similar opportunities probably will determine the Game 1 winner.

Cleveland at Boston 9:40 EDT

The Red Sox are doing their best to field a team with all their injuries. They’ve lost two of three to Cleveland and want to salvage a split with Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-3, 4.22) on the mound. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his last three starts against the Indians. The wagering public was in sell mode for this matchup at total of 8.5, with the new number is 9. Matsuzaka is 33-15 UNDER when the total is 9 to 9.5; however Boston is 10-2-1 OVER after their opponent allowed two or less runs. The Tribe is 12-4-2 UNDER after a win in last 18 outings, but is 6-2 OVER playing a Game 4 of a series.

3DW Bonus Info

Money Line Nugget
The L.A. Angels are 12-0 (+13.3 Units) against the money line after a game where they had 17 or more hits over the last three seasons.

Totals Nugget
San Diego is 14-2 OVER in August road games the last two years with average score of 11.6 total runs.

Run Line Nugget
Florida is 30-11 (+19.2 Units) against the run line vs. teams outscoring opponents by 0.5 or more runs a game in the second half of the season since last year.

3DW Line Moves is copyrighted content of Impact Sports Solutions, Inc and Doug Upstone. All rights reserved.
Please feel free to forward this to friends; just keep the entire article intact and unaltered.

Trying to nail Wednesday Winners

Time to turn this blog around and deliver the kind of winners that has helped build a 139-83 record in the last 222 picks. The Best System was a winner on Tuesday and we think we have another at 88.6 percent. The Top Trend is dam close to perfect in the South and the Free Play will be up soon. Good Luck

What I'm letting you know today – Don’t you just love coaches who talk out of both sides of their mouth repeatedly. Houston Nutt of Ole Miss has not struck gold on the recruiting trail and after two successful years of coaching another coach’s players, the Rebels are believed to be at or near the basement in the SEC West.

Noted trouble-maker and talented quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was booted from the Oregon football team after being arrested again. Still needing to complete is college education (wink-wink) and football eligibility, Masoli found the right university of higher learning. Nutt said he would have never considered the troubled young man, but his back-up quarterback suffered injury that will prevent him from playing this upcoming season, thus he needed an experiences second-stringer. RIGHT!

The GUARANTEED Plays lost a tough 3-2 decision with Texas and expect to rebound this evening with Guaranteed selection in the senior circuit that will make us both Winners. This contest has a particular pitcher in Perfect 10-0 situation.

On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Baseball System -1) Play Against road underdogs with a money line of +175 to +250 like Houston, with NL a starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.00 or better on the season. This is common sense system since if a team is that big an underdog with what appears to be a descent hurler, they would be expected to struggle. How much you wonder, the underdog is 8-62 in this spot with 0-5 record this year.

Free Baseball Trend –2) The Braves and Kris Medlen are 12-1 vs. teams averaging 2.75 or less extra base hits per game.

Free Baseball Pick -3) The Left Coast Connection has 8-0 consensus on Atlanta tonight.

Note- If you prefer to have this sent to you daily instead of having to visit the site, sign up for our FREE mailing list on the right.

The “Big Uglies” can lead to college football profits

The glamour position of football is the quarterback, followed by running backs. These are the players that get all the love (and hate) and pub from the media, fans and football bettors. However, longtime college football announcer Keith Jackson and every football coach that ever walked the sidelines above peewee level knows it all starts up front, as Jackson used to say, with the “Big Uglies”.

An offense line can set the pace of a game, running the ball down opposing teams’ throats by opening chasms Levi Johnson and is temptress could walk thru hand and hand. The same would also be true in the passing game, providing the accomplished quarterback time to answer email, plus update Facebook and Twitter pages.

The opposite could also be true of the college football teams that are rebuilding offensive lines due to graduation or defection. A talented quarterback may be taking his life into his own hands trying to avoid the onslaught of defenders (see Jimmy Clausen tape at Notre Dame), to look downfield to complete a pass. What about the star running back who needs a compass to run north and south, since there are no holes to run thru and becomes accustomed to bouncing everything outside.

In the rest of this article, we’ll look what teams have the most and fewest returning offensive linemen and what impact that could have on their universities upcoming season and for those betting on football.

The best place to start is teams that have all five O-linemen back along with their starting quarterback.

Ball State
Colorado
Florida State
Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
Minnesota
South Florida
Wisconsin

Specifically, the Seminoles and Badgers are expected to be teams not only competing for the top of their respective conferences, but also nationally. Guard Rodney Hudson for Florida State and tackle Gabe Carimi at Wisconsin, are on virtually everyone’s first team All-American list. Wisky’s John Moffitt is believed to be no worse than the third best guard in the country.

Colorado’s offense should be further improved this upcoming campaign and Fresno State’s pounding running game should create more havoc on the WAC.

New coaching staffs are in place in South Florida and Louisiana Tech, which could see the shifting of players up front, making improvement less certain. Ball State and Minnesota might have all these individuals back, but that doesn’t mean they were that good to begin with. Collectively, this entire group is worth following.

The next grouping is five offensive linemen back, with a different starting signal caller.

Georgia
Kansas
Memphis
Northwestern
Oregon
Rice

With this contingent, the head coach and his offensive staff will try to build around these players before heading into conference action. These behemoths are being counted on to open holes and keep the opposition off new quarterbacks. These large fellas actually have a great deal of pressure on them as opponents will game plan to have more defensive players at the line of scrimmage to create chaos with blocking assignments and to confuse new field general or make backs less instinctive when carrying the pigskin.

Memphis and Kansas have new head coaches, lending itself to period of adjustment for new blocking schemes. The rest of the squads will have to set the tone for the makings of a successful season and earn the trust of those following football betting lines.

The next patch is teams with only one lineman having starting experience from a year ago. A smart quarterback’s knowledge of the offense and ability to hit open receivers proficiently can take some of the pressure off until this unit gels.

Vanderbilt, Southern Miss, Kentucky and Hawaii all fit the aforementioned situation, with the Golden Eagles from Hattiesburg, MS having the best opportunity to prosper with the quarterback duo of Austin Davis and Martevious Young being able to chuck the ball to 6’6 DeAndre Brown, C-USA’s finest pure pass catcher. Coach Larry Fedora is offensive-minded and has the best chance for achieving success with somewhat limited options.

Bobby Johnson resigned at Vanderbilt just last month, making a prickly predicament that much worse and Joker Phillips will quickly learn that lacking experience in the offensive line is no joke in the SEC.

That brings us to Air Force and Florida Atlantic, who have no O-Linemen that started the majority of games a year ago. Though hardly ideal, the Air Force and all military universities face a somewhat similar issue most years. Unless a linemen ends up being unusually skilled (which is unlikely since they could go somewhere else and just play football), few underclassman play early in their careers. The zone blocking scheme the Air Force employs is more about cohesiveness than blowing somebody up across the line of scrimmage. Plus, the Flyboys have two good quarterbacks for their offense, each with a different skill set to help offset having five newbies that will block for them. Nonetheless, it might pay to watch this team in September as play against BYU, at Oklahoma and at Wyoming and watch the stats to see if the Falcons come together quickly.

It might be long season for Florida Atlantic. Technically, the Owls don’t have returning starting QB, however senior Jeff Van Camp was forced to play the last five games due to injury of decorated Rusty Smith. However, around him are five fresh faces in the line and five of top six pass catchers have graduated.

When the bowl season comes around, invariably the talk of commentators will turn to “the offensive line carried this team for much of the year” or “this club failed to meet expectations because the offensive line didn’t block as presumed”. Use this information as a good starting point for the upcoming college football season.

The end of the line for Favre?

Well Brett Favre has reportedly retired again. I like most have had about as much as this as I have of Snookie (gosh where would they ever find another one like her in New Jersey, except maybe by crossing the street).

It’s really a challenge to give him the benefit of the doubt since he’s had more retirements than Cher. All these antics have left me without the warm and fuzzy feeling I used to have for FAV-RE having attended his first game coming off the bench for Don “Magic Man” Majkowski on Sept.27 1992. Now 285 consecutive regular season starts later, it might be over.

Internet reports have oddsmakers scrambling to adjust odds on the Vikings and the poor folks that had Minnesota Over 9.5 for season win total, well find another Futures wager to hopefully break even.

No matter your feelings, he was one of the all-time great quarterbacks and to do what he did last year is incomprehensible at 40. If this is truly it, time will heal all wounds and he will be celebrated again in Wisconsin and throughout football.

I still have to wonder however, if Minnesota starts 2-2 or 1-3, does Commissioner Gordon, aka Brad Childress, launch the Batman signal in the sky (likely a large No. 4), with Dallas, at Green Bay and at New England the next three games to save Metropolis or Minnesota?

Tuesday's Top Plays and more

Hit the skids a bit of late, but we’ll try and turn this around starting today. Ken gave us yesterday’s winner and he’s getting hotter than a steering wheel that was out in the desert sun all day and offers another top Free Play. The Top Trend takes a look at how a certain club plays after hanging a zero on the scoreboard. The Best System is just that at over 90 percent.

This plus baseball info and Guaranteed Play for Tuesday. Good Luck

What I letting you know today – I was doing some research today and came across what looked to be pretty interesting numbers. San Diego is a below average hitting team, but when they have 10 or more hits, they are 28-7 this season. In all other games the Padres are 34-33.

This led me to think how that might stack up against the best teams. The Yankees are impressive 37-11, but Tampa Bay blew me away at 41-6 with double digit hits. Clearly strong pitching matched with good hitting leads to wins. For the sake of comparison, I checked out Kansas City who can hit, but lacks quality pitching and they are 31-22, proving hitting can overcome a lot of problems, but not all of them.

The GUARANTEED Plays were right on the nose with Atlanta last night and today my Guaranteed pick has more edges in tonight’s matchup than an octagon table, including one that is 80 percent. This is a Special Winner or Wednesday is Free!

On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/3Dailywinners

Free Baseball System -1) Play Against all underdogs like Florida with a money line of +175 to +250, batting .250 or worse over their last 20 games, against opponent with a sizzling starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.000 or less over his last five starts. You’ve seen this before and difficult to ignore 67-7, 90.5 percent.

Free Baseball Trend –2) Pittsburgh is 1-12 revenging a shutout loss to opponent this season.

Free Baseball Pick -3) Ken picked up three more winners last night including Oakland and Tuesday has San Diego burying Manny-wood for good.

Note- If you prefer to have this sent to you daily instead of having to visit the site, sign up for our FREE mailing list on the right.