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By Alex Goldberg  January 26, 2010, at 3:02 pm  The Super Bowl odds are as good as your going to see them right now. With every team eliminated, the odds slip further towards even money. The only way to make sure you get the best odds for your dollar is to lay a bet down right now.
The New Orleans Saints (+200) will host the Minnesota Vikings (+425) this Sunday with the winner of that facing either the Indianapolis Colts (+120) or the long shot, the New York Jets (+700), for Super Bowl XLIV. There are also Super Bowl odds on which conference will win, and the AFC is favored at -145 while the NFC is going off at +115.
You can even get odds on the possible matchups for the big game. The most lucrative and also most unlikely is the Jets vs. Vikings which will pay you a handsome +800 while the most likely and thus least profitable is the Colts vs. Saints which the Super Bowl odds maker has set at -120.
By Alex Goldberg November 16, 2009, at 6:53 pm I’m sure many of you have seen this video already. It already has over 1 million views on youtube, but I felt that it needs to be shared none-the-less. While it is undoubtedly nothing but a lucky shot it is still incredible anyway. Also, for those of you who don’t know, Modern Warfare 2 is now out. Almost every member of the 3rd string safety has it already, and loves it, I sadly do not. But from what they have to say, it is awesome and if, you have a system capable of supporting it, you should go out and buy it right after watching this clip…
By Alex Goldberg August 27, 2009, at 10:49 am Sorry, but comments are closed The 3rdstringsafety has recently entered a partnership with betus.com and we will occasionally be posting articles from them. This is the second of two to be posted today.
The St. Louis Rams have a quarterback who has been to the Pro Bowl in Marc Bulger, not to mention one of the most talented running backs in the NFL in Steven Jackson. Yet they have a 5-27 straight-up record over the last two years (11-21 ATS), which demonstrates the importance of strength on the interior line.
This season it’s a new regime and a new offensive system, but Jackson is still the cornerstone. Will it work for them?
First, let’s take a look at the numbers:
BetUS online sports gambling Odds
To Win NFC West
Arizona Cardinals +140
San Francisco 49ers +225
Seattle Seahawks +210
ST LOUIS RAMS +1100
To Win Super Bowl: +12500
To Win NFC title: +5000
To Reach Conference title game: +2500
Over 5.5 wins -150
Under 5.5 wins +120
The Rams have pretty much become a disaster area. I don’t even want to show you what I wrote about them last season, but in summary, I felt that if a couple of things fell into place, they might be able to contend for a wild card spot. That obviously didn’t happen.
What they did instead was finish 2-14 (6-10 ATS), fire coach Scott Linehan, who didn’t have any answers, and hire former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who will probably place an extra burden on the Rams’ best player.
Of course, that is Steven Jackson, who ran for 1043 yards and caught 40 passes last year, which would be impressive for some running backs but a far cry from his 2334 combined rushing/receiving yards in 2006. The new Rams’ staff hopes that he can get closer to those numbers; in fact, they’re counting on it.
The plan is to install a West Coast offense, which will accentuate Jackson’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and spread the defense out so as to open up running lanes for him to exploit. What new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur’s system will also do is afford Marc Bulger the opportunity to get rid of the ball faster. Bulger is a very capable quarterback, truth be told; his best year was in 2006, when he had 24 TD’s, just nine INT’s and 4301 yards. He has just been massacred with the offensive line he’s been given, suffering 124 sacks over the last three seasons. That takes its toll. Jason Smith of Baylor was taken #2 overall in the draft, and he will be Bulger’s right tackle, while Alex Barron goes to the left side, replacing Orlando Pace.
What happens if and when Jackson gets hurt (he’s missed four games each of the last two years) is a question. The Rams have Antonio Pittman in reserve. Oh well. At least there is a pretty good blocking back in newly-acquired Mike Karney.
The receivers have promise. Donnie Avery (53 catches last year) will get better in his second season, as will Keenan Burton, who was drafted two rounds after Avery and got limited touches last year. Laurent Robinson, who had 437 yards for Atlanta in 2007 but was pretty much frozen out by Mike Smith last year, gets a chance to be a starter, as does Ronald Curry, formerly a member of Oakland’s rotation. Randy McMichael adds a veteran presence at tight end, and may finally be used the way he is supposed to in this West Coast offense, but the Rams are going to be looking for people to develop quickly.
This defense needed a makeover. St. Louis finished 28th in yards allowed and 31st in points allowed, and gave up 81 more first downs than they attained.
Defense is Spagnuolo’s thing, and he has selected Ken Flajole, the former linebacker coach for Carolina, as his new coordinator. These guys like to get out after the passer. Were they reasonably impressed with Chris Long, who they spent a #2 overall draft pick on, but produced only 40 tackles and four sacks? I don’t know, but if he doesn’t step things up considerably, St. Louis may be looking more and more to James Hall, his backup, for a pass rush. There is some upside at the defensive tackle position with Clifton Ryan and Adam Carriker both entering their third season and ready to make a move.
Rookie James Laurenaitis of Ohio State, who slipped into the second round of the draft and may have trouble adjusting to the NFL, is probably going to be handed the middle linebacker job, which sends Will Witherspoon back to an outside linebacker spot. Last year’s leading tackler, Pisa Tinoisamoa, was released.
The Rams’ secondary gave up 8.3 yards per passing attempt, second worst in the NFL to the winless Lions. Spagnuolo reached out and got safety James Butler, who worked under him with the Giants. Cornerbacks Tye Hill and Jonathan Wade are not sparkling in coverage, although Ronald Bartell can be a fixture in this defensive backfield. The standout here is Oshiomogho Atogwe, who had 77 solo tackles and five interceptions from his free safety position last season. A pass rush would help this unit.
This won’t be an easy job for Spagnuolo and his staff. It’s a rebuilding job for sure, and there exists some doubt that there are enough good players on defense, or enough strength on the offensive line, to help things come together. Bulger’s performance should improve, but he’s got receivers to break in. For a team that has won five games over the last two seasons, incremental gains are the most reasonable things to expect. It’s not an overnight thing, and if I can get +120 in the BetUS NFL odds for a win total under 5.5, I’ll take it.
By Alex Goldberg August 27, 2009, at 10:47 am Sorry, but comments are closed The 3rdstringsafety has recently entered a partnership with betus.com and we will occasionally be posting articles from them. This is the first of two to be posted today.
Don’t you just LOVE matrimonial matches made in narcissistic heaven? For instance, take the union between Brock Lesnar, your new undisputed UFC heavyweight champion (I don’t know why there would have been a dispute in the first place, since one entity controlled the whole thing, but that’s another story), whose core marketing strategy involves flipping the bird to everyone within eyesight and bad-mouthing everyone and everything within earshot (Paul Malignaggi took lessons, if you saw the fights last weekend) and Rena Mero, a name you may not know because she’s had a bit of a branding c**kblock, having to begrudgingly shed that “Sable” label.
That doesn’t keep a good girl down, though. Consider the savvy of Rena, who once sued someone (Vince McMahon) because she didn’t want to take her clothes off for cheap exploitation, only to use that particular “controversy,” in effect, as a publicity boost so that she could take her clothes off for someone else, for more money and more of an audience. Hey, Paris Hilton ain’t got nothin’ on this babe. She’s got enough smarts and survival instincts (you can insert “love and compassion” here if you’re part of her fan club) that she was able to dump a wrestler on his way out and pushing 50 and take up with a guy ten years younger who was on his way to crossover success in the UFC, and now she is the First Lady of mixed martial arts, beating out noted thespian Jenna Jameson in what is a close call.
Lesnar, a walking, talking advertisement for performance-enhancing substances who is now listed at BetUS as a +175 MMA betting underdog should he ever face Fedor Emilianenko in MMA competition (I trust that is either in a ring, cage, octagon or with those musical chairs that break over your head in the WWE), owns a clothing line named “Death Clutch.”
Brock Lesnar’s wife was born Rena Greek. That’s almost too good to be true. Lesnar himself wore #69 in his brief stint in training camp with the Minnesota Vikings five years ago. She got engaged to Mero at about that time. How subliminal. How subtle.
Lesnar, after his UFC 100 win over Frank Mir, said, “Hell, I may even get on top of my wife tonight.”
Wait a minute guy, you’re going a little bit too far with that (or maybe the problem is that YOU’RE going too far and we aren’t. I’m so confused). I don’t know, maybe Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano said that a time or two. Nevertheless, I reminisce about those days of better behavior, like when he was talking about woofing a Miller Light while standing on top of that Bud Light logo in the middle of the Octagon.
He’s talking about the REAL wife, right? Not the “common law” wife, not the “ring persona” wife, not the TV wife? Man, I realize this is all short-term stuff, but how about a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T out there in shallow-land?
I doubt she’s sweating it.
Certainly Ms. Mero (or Mrs. Lesnar) knows all about shock value and cheap publicity. Do you remember when Mero, then known as “Sable,” filed a $110 million lawsuit against the WWF (as it was known at the time), which claimed “sexual harassment” because they wanted her to go topless? If I’m not mistaken, didn’t she pose for a Playboy layout just a few months after that suit was filed? Then didn’t she do it again? And again? During an interview, she admitted that she had been negotiating with Playboy for two years leading up to that first pictorial. I guess as far as lawsuits are concerned, it’s all in the timing.
Erin Andrews of ESPN (that’s her name, right?), who is currently in her 14th minute of fame (tick, tick, tick, tick), is ripping a page from that book – extremely offended that someone looked at her through a hotel keyhole, or something, exploiting her as some kind of sex kitten on YouTube and whatnot, while at the same time negotiating for a couple of sexy, suggestive layouts with well-muscled athletes all around. And I’m sure the offers continue to pour in….for now. Hey Erin, might as well take ‘em. As soon as they find another 5′10″ vixen happy to sell herself, they’ll stop coming.
The thing with Lesnar, which may have started when they were wrestling together (figuratively speaking, I think) in the New Japan promotion while she was still married to Marc Mero, has already survived a breakup of sorts, but marriage (legal or otherwise) ensued.
Poor Mark. He was probably so heart-broken and desperate for attention that he was reduced to taking the opportunity to trash the wrestling business in the wake of the Chris Benoit tragedy, but I haven’t heard much from him since. Have you?
Meanwhile, I’ve got to hand it to Lesnar. There hasn’t been one domestic violence incident, or at least one that I’ve heard about, and that may be a little surprising for a guy who has an affinity for names like “Death Clutch.”
Of course, the night is young, as they say. The thing about ‘roid rage is that it could potentially transform something from a narcissistic heaven to a narcissistic hell. Keep an eye on BetUS for sports gambling opportunities and another on TMZ.
I do keep seeing rumors of a sex tape that’s been stolen, and that might be the next logical “branding” step, but this G.I. Joe/Barbie combo would be too smart not to get some residuals off an extravaganza like that. Breeding seems to be on the agenda. Or haven’t you heard? There is now a child, and wouldn’t you know – they’ve named him “Turk.”
So I guess they’re grooming him for the “squared circle” already.
By Alex Goldberg July 22, 2009, at 2:11 pm I just read some very sad news online, Gidget, the Taco Bell dog passed away yesterday at the age of 15. If you don’t remember Gidget was the little dog responsible for the yo quiero taco bell craze. She surely will be missed by us all.
Heres a little clip to remember her by:
RIP Gidget 1994-2009
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