Sunday Gravy Plays November 1st

Houston Texans -3 -110 at Buffalo Bills. The Bills have led a charmed life in claiming their past 2 victories versus a rookie quarterback who couldn't stop himself from making mistakes and a team with a qb in such decline, his next trip will be to the bench. Now they face a bonafide attack in Schaub and company and this team has displayed some of the ability they had garnered from early season prognostications. They mustn't turn the ball over on Sunday, if they don't and win the battle of turnovers, they roll. That's why we're not buying down half point this week. The Buffalo smoke and mirrors show ends here. Play is on Houston -3.

NY Giants -1 -110 at Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants are on a 2 game slide and I don't see it being 3. They take a step down in class after facing the Saints and Cardinals' strong attacks and everyone was witness to the lack of attack by the Eagles last Monday night. Add in no Brian Westbrook and this team is sorely lacking when it comes to creative offensive ability and more importantly execution. Giants are a much better team at executing and have better O line and D lines as well. Like the visitors here to win.

Also adding
Denver +3.5
Tennessee -3
Jacksonville-Tennessee Over 44.5

Sunday Gravy Plays!

Went 2-1 yesterday, the Yankees game was postponed.

Take the Green Bay Packers vs Cleveland Browns OVER 41 -110. Green Bay has a record of 18-7-2 to the OVER in their last 27 road games. This team has a strong and more than capable offense, but their defence continues to allow pts on the board and this year they are just under 20 pts a game in this category. Cleveland is a weak NFL team, but they put up 14 pts in Pittsburgh last week and it could have been more if not for turnovers. At home they put up 20 on Cincy when Derek Anderson took over and 20 on Minnesota in their first game of the year. Both of Green Bay's road games have resulted in 53 pts total. Turnovers, big plays and sacks will be part of this game and scoring points are in play here. OVER 41 for 2 units.

Adding

Indy -14 (-110)
Giants -6.5 (-110)
Yankees -1.5 (+115)

Have a great Sunday!

Saturday Action...

Take the Vancouver Canucks -1.5 (+160) vs Toronto Maple Leafs, game time is 7 p.m EST. This game will have a bit more edge to it than usual as Vancouver accusing Toronto of tampering charges earlier this year is an issue between these two teams. However, Toronto is having trouble scoring and in all likelihood looks to be facing Roberto Luongo as he heats up after a somewhat cold start. Vancouver is a hardworking team and more disciplined and they get the luxury of facing Joey McDonald in the Toronto nets. Like the value here in a Vancouver 2 goal victory.

Adding

New York Yankees -1.5 (+115)
Montreal Canadiens (+105)
Montreal Alouettes -3.5 (-110)

Monday Plays...

For the NFL Monday night, I'm still going with the Over trend, in this case Over 43.5, I also think that the Broncos are for real this season, I took them getting 3 points and also took them on the money line.

In the MLB, I like the Yankees tonight at +122.

Denver-San Diego Over 43.5 (-110)
Denver +3 (-110)
Denver +160
Yankees +122

Have a great day!

Sunday Gravy Picks

Take the New York Jets -9.5 -102 vs Buffalo Bills.The Bills' new motto should be "how many ways can we lose, let us count the ways". This team is underachieving, under pressure and under-manned once again and head into the Meadowlands to face an angry Jets' squad who lost a tough road game last week, but have no time to wallow in that loss. This team is on a two game losing streak and they want a W really bad, and not just a win, they want to thrash the Bills this week and re-establish themselves after those two defeats. QB Sanchez is looking better each week, and with that, so is the offense. The defense has been challenged the past couple of weeks but this game should allow them to dominate again. They will pressure Buffalo and that porous offensive line, the secondary will step up against the receiving core and Buffalo will be in trouble facing another 3-4 scheme like they did last week vs Cleveland in an embarrassing loss for the franchise. They get a couple players back on defense, but lost a couple again, and Buffalo's defensive crew will spend a lot of time on the field in this one. This line can't be big enough for me as I don't see the Bills scoring much or stopping much. 31-10 Jets.

Also adding:
Minnesota -3
Green Bay -14
Buffalo - NY Jets Over 36
Tennessee - New England Over 40

Have a great Sunday!

Saturday Action

Take the Texas Longhorns -2.5 -106 vs Oklahoma Sooners. This is all about payback for Texas who feel they were slighted last year after knocking off the Sooners by 10, this year they do it again and then their fate lies in their hands with a little leeway I'm sure this year. But more than that, Texas at home here with this motivation is one thing, but more so, it's about a beatable Oklahoma squad that while without their QB for a spell, has shown they aren't dominating on defense like they have. Texas' speed on D will pressure Bradford and QB Colt McCoy will get his time vs this Sooner D underachieving in my assessment. Like the hometown Horns here to get it done by at least a field goal.

Take the Wisconsin Badgers -2.5 -108 vs Iowa Hawkeyes. They showed grit against the Buckeyes and could have easily had a different outcome in that game. This team is to be reckoned with and at home where they have won 7 in a row and face an Iowa team that is an enigma. They don't do anything really well, but they win. However, the Badgers home and needing this win to set the table for the rest of the year will be too much for the visitor. Like the home team here as well.

Take the Texas A+M Aggies -5.5 -108 at Kansas State Wildcats. The Aggies take a step down in class here after going toe to toe with Oklahoma State last week and they will notice a big difference on defense, as in the fact that the Wildcats D is bad. The Aggies should be able to do what they want in this game offensively and if they get a lead, this Wildcat offense isn't a smooth running machine and has two quarterbacks who have more interceptions thrown than touchdowns this year. Really like the Aggies here, and this would be a 3 unit play if they weren't on the road. They win this by a touchdown at least.

Take the New York Rangers -130 at Toronto Maple Leafs. I don't care if the Leafs had time off to collect themselves and regroup and focus on the task at hand of winning their first game, sometimes too much time is a bad thing. They haven't played since an embarrassing effort on Tuesday night vs Colorado and face a Rangers' team there is a lot to like about. The powerplay is strong, defensively and goaltending are strong elements of their game and this team has some bounce early on in this season. They thrashed the Leafs a week ago and they may not trounce them again, but the Leafs need to change a lot right now, not a little to properly compete, and against this team it will be tough.

Have a great Saturday!

Monday Picks

This holiday Monday results in a smattering of picks over 3 sports.

First of all NFL, I'm taking the New York Jets vs Miami Dolphins Over 36 (-110).
Monday night games tend to be a little more high-scoring, and indeed, 4 of the 5 games played this year have played HIGH. That includes Miami's Monday night game against Indianapolis on September 21st in a game that saw 50 points scored.

The Jets have played OVER in 4 of their last 5 Monday night games, while Miami is on a 12-5 OVER clip in Monday night games.

Also adding...
New York Rangers -1.5 (+170) vs the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)
Montreal Alouettes -6 (-110) vs the Calgary Stampeders (CFL)

Have a great Holiday!

NFL Picks for Week 5

Cleveland Browns/Buffalo Bills OVER 41 (-110). This certainly isn't one of the marquee games of the week in the NFL but with the defense of these 2 teams playing the way they are and with the Buffalo injuries factored in, the OVER is in play in this game from our perspective. These teams combined give up 57 points per game and Cleveland comes into Buffalo off of their best offensive performance with Derek Anderson at the helm. Buffalo is chomping at the bit to get going offensively and against this porous defense, the time is right. Last year Cleveland came into Buffalo and the final total was 56 points with Cleveland as a 4.5 pt dog covering and the total was set at 40.5. This year they come in as a 6 pt dog and pretty much the same total. We will gladly take a similar total result of 56, but 42 is fine with us, and we should get it as bad defenses tend to make average offenses look powerful.

Adding

Oakland vs New York Giants Over 37.5
Pittsburgh vs Detroit Over 44

Have a great Sunday!

Saturday Plays

MLB Play

LA Dodgers vs St Louis Cardinals OVER 8.5 -115. The listed Pitchers are Vincente Padilla and Joel Piniero. A major step down in quality of pitching for this game after the first 4 starters. Lots of hits in this series but not a lot of runs. Venue change and the fact St Louis needs this to stay alive says the runs come about in this one. Both pitchers 6-0 OVER last 6 starts combined with ERAs both OVER 5. Rain and bullpens could come into play, helps our cause.

NHL Play

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Toronto Maple Leafs OVER 6 -135. It will once again be a circus in town with Sid and his Stanley Cup teammates coming to Toronto and the electricity will be palpable once again. These two teams as they are 9-1-1 to the OVER in the last 11 meetings. Pitt bounced back with 5 goals in a big win after a bad home loss, while Toronto will come out hard after being read the riot act in their last effort versus Ottawa. Toskala starting for Toronto helps us as well. Like goals here, play OVER 6.

Have a great Saturday!

MLB Sunday

Taking the Minnesota Twins -1.5 (-105). This chance to make the playoffs is in the Minnesota Twins hands now after the Chicago Whitesox helped them get to this point today by beating the Detroit Tigers yesterday. Now the Tigers and Twins are tied on top of the Central Dvision and if both win today they go to a single game tiebreaker. But if one team loses, the other heads to the American League Playoffs. Detroit starts an hour earlier than the Twins so Minnesota will get to see how things are playing out but the real edge today is in favor of the Twins simply because of their opponent and who is pitching. While Detroit has to face a strong lefthander in John Danks, the Twins get the good fortune of facing Luke Hocehvar.

Not that they should be cocky about this, nor will they be,but Minnesota facing this guy on the road is a good thing. Hochevar has a 7.53 ERA and only a 3-7 record away from Kansas City. At home he is decent, on the road is another story. In 4 of his last 5 starts on the road, his pitching line is disturbing. He has allowed 26 runs and 37 hits in only 20 innings pitched. He just doesn't get hit, he gets bombed on the road, and Minnesota will be showing up today for sure.

This isn't about Minnesota's pitcher Carl Pavano pitching on 3 days rest, as the leash will be short if he gets into trouble, it's about Minnesota making the most of their opportunity and gettting to this kid Hocehvar and then to a KC bullpen which is not as good as Minnesota's. The Twins are 7-3 in their last 10 as they fought hard to get to this position for a shot at the post-season. KC is 2-8 in their last 10. I like the Twins here in a blow-out.

Top 10 things never spoken before by a hockey player.

Thanks to David Letterman and the New York Rangers, Wednesday’s topic was “top-10 things never spoken before by a hockey player.”


Here’s what they had to say:

10 Donald Brashear: “Instead of fighting, why don’t we work things out over brunch.”
9 Dan Girardi: “Between you and me, I have no idea what the hell icing is.”
8 Marian Gaborik: “What this team needs is a skating kitty.”
7 Brandon Dubinsky: “I really wish these fans would watch their language.”
6 Chris Drury: “High scorer gets to pick which Barbra Streisand CD we listen to on the bus.”
5 Marc Staal: “Forget all the goals and the awards, Gordie Howe has one nice looking butt.”
4 Christopher Higgins: “For good luck, I lick the puck.”
3 Ryan Callahan: “My real dream is to work at an insurance company.”
2 Henrik Lundqvist: “Who can concentrate on hockey when Jennifer Aniston still hasn’t found love.”
1 Sean Avery: “I wish Letterman was on at 10.”

If you like Top Ten Lists, check out http://toptentopten.com

NFL Week 4

This week I'm loving the New England Patriots -1.5 vs. the Baltimore Ravens. The Pats hope to get Wes Welker back, and his quick, darting routes would be valuable against an aggressive Baltimore defense. Ravens bring the AFC’s top-scoring offense and a 3-0 record into Foxborough, but have lost their past two games there by a combined 44-6.

Also adding St.Louis - San Francisco Over 37 and New York Giants - K.C. Over 42.

Have a great Sunday! Hey Halloween is coming, better get in the spirit!