The officiating change in the NBA caught some headlines early in the year because it was new. The chatter died down because not even the NBA plays attention to the NBA in the middle of the season, but now it is at full blast. The officiating crackdown on ‘bad behavior’ re-emerged in the spotlight when Joey Crawford chucked Tim Duncan and was then subsequently suspended. The league then came down on the Crawford in an appropriate manner in that the message was consistent. “If you act inappropriately you will be punished”, that is the NBA’s message. The refs are now going to defend their own. Being that this is the first playoffs with the new hard-line approach, the players will invariably cross the line if for no other reason than no one really knows where the line is. Players that are able to adapt an attitude befitting a CYO Sportsmanship Award winner, will be better served.
It happened last night. I liked the Warriors getting 9.5 and I know they would’ve covered had the Warriors not had two dudes, Davis and Jackson no less, get run from the game. Not saying they shouldn’t have been, just saying they were. Expect a few more incidents like this to happen again around the league. The teams and players that can not control themselves must be thought of as a liability, even if only to a minor degree.
Playoffs So Far: I can’t say that I am surprised at anything that has transpired in the playoffs. I like the Warriors more now than I did, but still think the Mavs will win that series . . . The Bulls can sweep the Heat, and just may . . . Detroit will be resting soon . . . New Jersey will all their warts will still advance because of experience and then get SMOKED in the next round. However, should Toronto find a way, they will be very dangerous next round because they will get a missing ingredient which is Playoff Confidence . . . Cleveland is getting a free pass this round . . . The Nuggets will be the next team to implode like the Warriors . . . The Lakers will not make a run at the Suns, repeat WILL NOT . . . The Rockets are interesting, very, very interesting. I think I like them.
Tonight I like a 2-team parlay of (Pistons -2) (Rockets +4.5) for 3-Stars and the (Suns -4) for 2-stars
For those of you that have made use of Online Sports Books in the past you are well aware of the crackdown the US government has begun against these organizations. CEOs of these companies are being sought around the world and jailed in an attempt by our government to control the flow of money to places and people they deem worthy. I am not going to argue that in today’s world it is important that money be accounted for so that it does not fund unsavory entities. However, the problem is that the stance taken is more fascist than anything else and is in direct violation of World Trade Organization laws.
The US government likes to declare others as haters of freedom and democracy, yet no organization has done more to restrict the freedoms and liberties of people all around the world, and in the US, than the US government. If you are a pig-headed, right-leaning freak that blindly falls in line with the US government than you can ignore this message. For the rest of us freedom and wagering loving people it is time to take some action and hold our government accountable to follow the rules of the World Trade Organization.
My rant is over, so please go to World Sports Exchange, read the front page and contact your representatives to remind them who they serve.
With the NBA playoffs now set, here are my predictions for First Round winners:
Eastern Conference
Detroit over Orlando in 5 games
Chicago over Miami in 6 games
New Jersey over Toronto in 7 games
Cleveland over Washington in 5 games
Western Conference
Dallas over Golden State in 6 games
Phoenix over L.A. Lakers in 6 games
San Antonio over Denver in 7 games
Houston over Utah in 7 games
I am not a regular hockey fan, meaning, I don’t watch much if any hockey during the regular season. I do however very much enjoy Playoff Hockey. I also loved Sega NHL ‘94, I played that and got inebriated entirely too much during my college and early post-college years. I will most likely not have much to say during the NHL playoffs, so I am really looking for you readers to pick up the slack.
Here is my one observation so far. The last time a New York team took a 3-0 lead in a 7 game series, with Game 3 being a blowout win was the Yankees in 2004. The Yankees put up 19 runs in Game 3, the Rangers put up 7 goals in Game 3. Rangers beware.
Marcus Vick 
4-stars that it was Marcus Vick.
I am of the firmest belief that Just Paying Attention (JPA) is sufficient to achieve mediocrity. When JPA is accompanied by Hard Work (HW), Success (S) then becomes more probable. Pr(S) = JPA x HW4
Pr(S)
0 – 20: Don’t forget anything is possible.
20.01 – 45.00: You never know.
45.01 – 55.00: There is a chance.
55.01 – 65.00: One that got away
65.01 – 80.00: Count on it
80.01 – 89.99: if it doesn’t happen, reevaluate
90.00 +: no reason it shouldn’t happen, if it doesn’t more than 77% of the time, then stop everything!
How do you interpret the above? How do you define JPA, HW and S? Is HW to the fourth power adequate? over-hyped?
What situation or situation type is this being applied to?
I would love to know your ideas and thoughts. Please post your responses as a Comment to this post so that others can learn from your perspective. If you are shy and don’t want your response public, then please Click Here and email your comments to me.
thedean@deanbrowski.com
With college basketball now over I like to split my focus between the NBA and Major League Baseball. I don’t know that last time I watched a regular season NBA game from start to finish. I also am not sure it is necessary to watch an entire game, but it is vital for me to being paying more attention to team’s strengths and weaknesses. As I have discussed before, our personal insights into matchups, both at the team and individual level, are an important piece to the equation. Without it, we are left to guess, or worse yet we default to old habits and biases, which will never do us any good.
I will also be publishing a multiple part post on Progressive Betting, which is how I like to wager on baseball. In a nutshell, with Progressive Betting I wager on a team for a period of time, i.e. a series, a month, or open ended. I wager on that team every time they play and my wager is always in an amount that will progress me forward a number of units I pre-determine going into the selected time-period. I will discuss and give examples of how this system has brought me success ever since I began implementing it.
In closing, a few quick thoughts on Florida’s win over Ohio St the other night. For the first time in the tournament Greg Oden wasn’t in foul trouble, and that meant trouble for the Buckeyes. I am as guilty as the next for not giving the Ohio St. guards their due. They are a solid group and were the reason for the Buckeyes success. Florida’s game plan was brilliant in that it recognized the true strength of Ohio St, which was not the man-child in the middle but rather their guards. The Gators let Oden rack up points, but never let his teammates find their groove. Great job by Billy Donovan, please don’t go to Kentucky.
I have discovered that when it comes to my rooting interests, in games where my team isn’t playing, that I am motivated much more by wanting a team to lose than I am wanting a team to win. Fortunately for me I am not a fan of any teams that have been down-right horrible for extended periods, Knicks aside, so it’s not as if my love component has been inactive. For the purpose of getting a point across, I am going to reveal the teams that I root for in professional and college sports. I would not say I am a die-hard fan of any team, I think too rationally to ever let myself get caught up in the successes and failures of people I don’t know and of contests I have no control over. A point is coming with all of this, so just hold on. Here is my list:
Here is my point: all of the above teams have given me reasons to be positive for a long time; games to be excited about, playoffs, championship games, improvement from one year to the next, etc. Having the opportunity to watch an athletic competition and to pull for one side because you honestly and truly want that team to win is vital in order to maintain the proper Love-Hate Ratio (LHR) in your kinetic chain. Since the late ‘80s I have never had to go consecutive sporting seasons without at least one of my teams having some level of success, giving me something to be positive about. It is important to note that I am not talking strictly about winning championships. Take the Yankees for example: they have not won a championship since 2000, but every year they are in the playoffs, they are playing and winning big games and that keeps the love flowing. Not love for the team, just love, positive feelings, a reason to smile and feel upbeat. Almost every team on my list has given me reasons to be upbeat, again Knicks aside. The problem for me with college basketball is that there is no team that I really pull for so by default I root for teams to lose, and that makes my College Basketball LHR way out of whack. I honestly believe it is why my NCAA Tournament brackets have gotten worse each year. I am too busy hating.
I bring this up because across this country tonight, the vast majority of people will not be rooting for the team they love, they will be rooting for the team or the player that they hate. Ohio St. and Florida fans aside, both these universities, and Joakim Noah, cause an uprising of hate and disdain in most everyone else. Ohio St. cheats, they lie and they steal. What separates them from the others that cheat is their arrogant and pathetic alums that are somehow proud of the way their athletic programs are run, but when a guy like Maurice Clarrett falls victim to the Machine of Corruption that the Buckeyes are, that fan base turns on him and mocks him. Ohio St. has blood on its hands, but the fans of the Suckeyes are so thirsty and pathetic for fake glory they whore themselves out for a win, any win at all.
Florida on the other hand is hated because they are the defending champs in football and basketball, and they are slightly obnoxious. Well, Noah is REALLY obnoxious and the rest of the team is normal. There will be a fair number of people just rooting against Noah tonight, I am not one of them. I will not be rooting for anyone, but rather my hate will flow in abundance against the Ohio St Buckeyes yet again.
In January I took the Gator football team because the line was too high and I didn’t think Ohio St. was good enough to cover a line that big. Tonight I lay my money on the Gators once again, because they are, by far, the better team.
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