Three out of Five for Spurs; Among the all-time best?

Basketball Betting Lines

06/18/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Spurs walked into Quicken Loans Arena on June 12 needing to win two games in order to sweep the Cavaliers and win their third NBA championship in five years. Both contests were close, but in the end, the better and more experienced team prevailed.

Many in the media spent countless hours debating if San Antonio has reached "dynasty" status and a large proportion felt that four titles in nine years does not necessitate the elite standing of such clubs as the 90s Bulls, winners of six of eight, or the Lakers run of three straight earlier in the decade. I wholeheartedly agree that the Spurs arent in that class...yet. But with the big three - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili - set to return next year, four rings in six years sounds mighty impressive.

Some radio talk show hosts had also mentioned that San Antonio does not even fall into the class of the New England Patriots, a team that had won three Super Bowls in four years. I highly disagree with that statement, as theres not much difference between three titles in four years or three in five. The bottom line is the Spurs are the NBAs team of the decade - three titles and a solid chance for a fourth in the next year or two, which would be one more than the Lakers.

DEFENSE WINS TITLES, JUST NOT TELEVISION VIEWERS

Not only does defense win championships, it also gets team's there. The NBA champ has finished in the top three in points allowed in four of the last five years, and four of the last six finalists also ended up in the top five. One of those clubs that didnt make the list, more than made up for it in the playoffs, as Miami finished second in that category to Detroit in the 2005-06 postseason. The Heat were 13th during the regular season.

This year, the Spurs led the league in scoring defense (90.1 ppg), while the Cavs were fifth at 92.9. The Finals were a microcosm of that statistic as three of the four games went UNDER the totals in convincing fashions. The fourth and final games finished at 165 with the OVER/UNDER set at 176. That was as close as it would get. The first contest was an 85-76 San Antonio win for 161 points, which crushed the total set at 179.5. The third game was even better for those playing the UNDER, as the two teams combined for 147 points, 32.5 points below the number.

There are those that say it was boring basketball...and the ratings surely reflected it. This years finals set an all-time low in terms of the television audience with the horrendous rating of 6.2 and an 11 share. The projected wisdom is that network programming, especially sports, do not get the ratings they used to back before the onslaught of cable and the Internet. Still, that doesnt explain how last seasons Miami-Dallas series blew the San Antonio-Cleveland match-up to smithereens.

The six-game affair between the Heat and Mavs crushed last weeks series by over 25%. The only way to clarify the difference is to mention one name - Shaquille ONeal. Nonetheless, isnt LeBron James supposed to be the next Michael Jordan? Wasnt he dubbed that coming off his spectacular 48-point outburst on the road in game five vs. Detroit? Didnt many people say that he has a chance to be even better than Michael? Why wasnt he the draw NBA higher-ups thought he was?

The answers are hard to pinpoint but might lie with his opposition - the Spurs. The 6.2 rating topped the previous low, a 6.5 marking when these very same Spurs defeated the Nets in 2003.

Another answer could be that not many people care too much about the sport, or sports in general on the tube these days. Since 1982, only four series registered single digit numbers and all four came in the last five years. The only one that finished over that mark Shaq's series vs. the Heat.

Two seasons ago, San Antonio defeated Detroit in an epic, seven-game series and, yet, the TV ratings were the second lowest since 1981. Defense wins championships, but it also drives away the viewing public in droves. Sure many people would have preferred seeing the run and gun Suns or the upstart Warriors, but that style of play doesnt bring trophies to the locker room.

Both the Suns and Warriors finished one-two in scoring this past season with 110 and 107 points per game, respectively, but Golden State ended up in last place on the opposing end allowing 107 ppg. Phoenix didnt fair any better and finished eighth from the bottom at 103 ppg. Two years ago, the Suns also let up 103 per contest (third worst in the league) and failed to reach the NBA Finals. Coincidentally, they allowed the same 103 points per game the year before that and finished last in the league in that category.

Commissioner David Stern tinkered with a big change at the start of this past season bringing in a new-styled ball, but that got pushed out on January 1, 2007. It will be interesting to see if he decides to do something else to combat public apathy towards his sport.

Logic dictates he should leave it alone. The best thing he ever did was making sure high school athletes get at least one year of college ball and with Greg Oden coming into the league next season, the NBA might usher in a new version of "Shaq," which is so important since ONeals time has passed.

The league has come a long way from having its championship series on tape delay prior to the Magic and Bird infusion, but more rivalries have to be established before Stern and his staff can take it to the next level. Its unfortunate that there doesnt seem to be a dominant team in the Eastern Conference. Maybe if the Cavaliers get the services of another superstar to go along with LeBron, they will be the team to watch in the coming years, not just by NBA standards, but by the viewing public.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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