Sports Then and Now

The Colts fake punt was one of the many odd plays so far in the 2015 season.

Sports are so much more volatile today. It seems that in years past, players performed more consistently, dynasties lasted longer, and upsets were few and far between. But today’s NFL is anything but predictable. Some teams overachieve, others fall short. Players are full of surprises. And it’s anyone’s guess who will be hoisting the Lombardi trophy come February.

So the ability to view as many games as possible is quite the gift these days. If you hear an update that suggests something bizarre is about to take place, it’s amazing to be able to jump to another channel and get right in on the action. Sure, it will all air on highlights later, but the element of surprise and the chance to watch it live is unparalleled.

There are quite a few reasons why you might be kicking yourself if you don’t have DIRECTV Sunday Ticket or some kind of way to view any game at any time. If you still don’t get on the horn after reading this, you’ll be kicking yourself all season.

Fantasy Sports

Let’s just get right to the point. This hobby has become hugely popular. It is lots of fun, because it gives you the potential for bragging rights over not just your friends, but over coaches and GM’s who might have traded, released, or not drafted a player who you think can be successful.

And thanks to popular fantasy websites like Fan Duel and Draft Kings, you can actually win money with your immense knowledge.

So you’ve got to follow the games, not just to find the outcomes of matchups where your potential victories are involved, but also to scout players and teams to see what you will want to do for the next week. With a full-league television option, you’ll never miss a thing. Read the rest of this entry →

Central Michigan may have only a 3-4 overall record, but they are 6-0-1 against the spread so far in 2015.

Guess who the best bet in college football has been so far in the 2015 season. They’re a program that’s never been to a major bowl game. They have serious problems on offense. There’s only a couple marginal NFL prospects on defense. Heck, they don’t even have a winning record. Meet the Central Michigan Chippewas. Their 6-0-1 against the spread (ATS), making them the only team in major college football not to lose a bet for their backers in Las Vegas.

Central Michigan is 3-4 overall. Their quarterback, Cooper Rush, plays a high-percentage game, completing 68.5% of his passes with a 16/6 TD-INT ratio. Rush only gets 8.02 yards-per-attempt, a nice average. But there is no running game to speak of—the team’s leading rusher has just 228 yards. The result is an offense that’s 131^st in the country in scoring in spite of playing almost half their games against fellow Mid-American Conference members, a league noted for its wide-open styles.

That’s what makes Central Michigan so interesting from a handicapping perspective. ATS records have a strong tendency to find their way back to the middle as bettors adjust and the oddsmakers shift the line. But Central Michigan’s low public profile and the fact they won’t play any signature games the rest of the season means the betting public is not going to be in action…which means they might continue to slide under the radar.

This coming week is going to be a test case of Central Michigan’s continued ATS viability. They have to go on the road as a favorite—more than a touchdown no less, giving (-7.5) at Ball State. It’s not against good competition, as Ball State is 2-5, but quietly covering a game like this would be a good sign that the Chippewas will continue to be a good bet.

Central Michigan might be the only unbeaten ATS team, but there are five others who have only lost one game against the number. Here’s the rundown…

Notre Dame (6-1 ATS, 6-1 overall): We move from a low profile school to the school with perhaps the highest brand-name recognition. Because of that, Notre Dame usually isn’t a good bet. But years of subpar performances and a collapse at the end of last year’s regular season finally took the wind out of the Irish’s sails. Read the rest of this entry →

The loss of pro bowl wide receiver Dez Bryant has left a huge void for Dallas. Bryant suffered a broken bone in his right foot in the season-opener against the Giants and had surgery the next day. He is expected to return later this season.

The significant injuries to the skill players of the Dallas Cowboys have left them without their star power this season and made the NFC East more even. Wide receiver Dez Bryant’s broken right foot, quarterback Tony Romo’s fractured left clavicle, and the loss of Lance Dunbar for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL have turned the Cowboys into a more predictable and ordinary team.

These injuries and others along with suspensions have left Dallas playing without a full deck all season. Cornerback Orlando Scandrick was lost for the season with a torn ACL in training camp and prized rookie defensive end Randy Gregory suffered a high ankle sprain in the 27-26 season-opening win over the New York Giants and his been out ever since. Linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive end Greg Hardy were both suspended for the first four games before each played in their first game this season on Oct. 11.

As a result, the division has been and will be more competitive this season. The playing field has been leveled. All four teams can beat each other on any given day and nine wins could win this division this year unless a team gets on a big winning streak. Philadelphia and the Giants both started the season 0-2 and the Eagles have not been as strong as expected. Washington plays up-and-down football, is mostly stuck in mediocrity, and is always looking up in the division. Heading into week six, New York led the division at 3-2 while everyone else was 2-3. Although the Cowboys have lost three straight, their 2-0 division mark was a plus at this time.

Coming into this season, Philadelphia was supposed to be a high powered team under Chip Kelly’s up- tempo style. The signing of Sam Bradford and 2014 NFL rushing champion DeMarco Murray were believed to give the Eagles the upper hand in the division but their offense has not shown it. The Giants were an unknown and the Redskins fortunes were unpredictable with questions at quarterback. Read the rest of this entry →

After earning the starting quarterback job, Cardale Jones has been inconsistent so far this season.

Ohio State and Michigan State have stayed undefeated so far this season, but neither one has played to expectations. In fact, that might be the understatement of the year. If you bet both the Buckeyes and Spartans in every game this year, you would be 1-11 against the spread (ATS)! Michigan State hasn’t covered the number yet this year. Ohio State’s only cover came in the first game of the season against Virginia Tech, and had Tech’s quarterback not gotten hurt, they might be sporting an ATS goose egg of their own.

Now, each team will be in the national spotlight this week. Michigan State’s visit to Michigan (3:30 PM ET, ESPN) will be the platform for ESPN’s Gameday. And the ABC prime-time game will be Ohio State’s home game with Penn State, kicking off at 8 PM ET. Will the Buckeyes and Spartans see their ATS fortunes change?

We’ll begin with Michigan State, whose problems seem deeper and whom has already suffered in public esteem. The Spartans, after rising as high as #2 in the polls a couple weeks ago, has been dropped to #7 without actually losing a game. For handicappers, the more noteworthy development is that Michigan State has lost regard in the betting markets.

They opened as a six-point underdog to Michigan and that line was quickly bet up to (+8). It’s an astonishing reversal in perception of both teams that’s taken place in a very short period of time. Read the rest of this entry →

Today’s Sports Then and Now blog remembers the late Reggie White.

An ordained pastor and Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman, this NFL defender brilliantly embodied his fitting Minister of Defense nickname.

During a storied 15-year NFL career, the Minister of Defense delivered his football version of a fire and brimstone sermon by dominating opposing offenses.

Whenever Reggie White set foot on the football field, he constantly administered defensive pressure. And, when away from the gridiron, he tirelessly catered to the needs of inner-city youth and those less fortunate through his work as a Christian minister.

NFL.com rated White as the #7 NFL player of all-time, and ESPN Sports Nation named him the greatest player in Philadelphia Eagles history. His storied career validates their lofty choices.

White graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1984 after being named SEC Player of the Year during his senior season. The Minister of Defense then played two years in the now defunct USFL with the Memphis Showboats, earning the 1985 USFL Man of the Year Award.

After the USFL folded, White proceeded to the NFL and starred for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1985 – 1992. Read the rest of this entry →

Everett Golson has been making strides in the offense of Jimbo Fisher.

The last time the Florida State Seminoles played a really big game they were in the College Football Playoff and getting crushed by Oregon, 59-20 in the Rose Bowl on January 1. Since then, they’ve stayed in the news for off-the-field incidents and getting a transfer quarterback, Everett Golson from Notre Dame. Amidst all that it can be easy to forget that FSU hasn’t actually lost a regular season game since 2012. They face their first real test of 2015 when Miami comes to Tallahassee on Saturday night to renew a great rivalry (8 PM ET, ABC).

Florida State’s undefeated regular season last year was marked by so many near-misses that it became a storyline as to whether the defending national champs would actually be excluded from the Playoff in spite of their perfect record. Given that, it won’t surprise you to learn that the Seminoles were an atrocious bet—in spite of going 13-0 in the regular season, they only covered the Vegas number three times. And this season has started with signs that it might be more of the same.

The Seminoles are 4-0, and have covered twice, so maybe they won’t be quite the same moneyburner they were in 2014, but the early signs aren’t good. One of the ATS covers was a season-opening 59-16 win over Texas State as a (-27.5) favorite. The games against more legitimate competition haven’t gone quite so smoothly…

*A 34-14 home win over South Florida was a non-cover as a (-27.5) favorite
*A 14-0 win at Boston College was enough to cover a relatively short (-9.5) line
*A surprisingly close 24-16 game at Wake Forest decisively missed the (-19) number.

Now Florida State is giving (-9) to a Miami team that comes in 3-1, and the Seminoles might have to go with a third-string running back. Dalvin Cook, easily the team’s best offensive playmaker left the Wake game early with a hamstring injury and backup Mario Pender is already out.

That’s going to shift the burden to Golson. So far he’s avoided the turnovers that cost him his job at Notre Dame and led to the transfer—no interceptions thus far and while the schedule obviously hasn’t been very good, the Boston College defense is very good. But the mistake-free Golson has come at a price—the big plays he often made in South Bend have also disappeared. Read the rest of this entry →