August 20th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Picked up another win with Liverpool beating Stoke City 4-0 while Burnley pulled off a huge upset, defeating Manchester United 1-0. Tomorrow looks like a switch back to some easier matchups, so good luck and on to the picks!

Picks
1) Mark Calcavecchia vs. Jonathan Byrd - Byrd cards a lower front 9 score
2) San Francisco Giants @ Cincinnati Reds - San Francisco
3) Hamburger SV @ Guingamp - Hamburger SV win
4) Sergio Garcia vs. Lucas Glover - Glover cards a lower front 9 score
5) Usain Bolt's 200m Finishing Time: 19.33 seconds or less vs. 19.34 seconds or more - 19.33 seconds or less
6) Valencia @ Stabæk IF - Valencia win
7) Atlanta Braves @ New York Mets - Atlanta
8) Philadelphia Eagles @ Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis
9) Josh Johnson strikeouts vs. Houston Astros hits off Johnson - Astros hits off Johnson
10) New England Revolution @ Seattle Sounders FC - Seattle Sounders FC win
11) Indiana Fever @ Sacramento Monarchs - 149 points or more
12) How Many Total Bases Will Albert Pujols Record: 2 or fewer vs. 3 or more - 2 or fewer

August 19th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Up to the 5 win mark again with the Americans taking 1^st and 3^rd in the 400m hurdles yesterday. The Tigers pulled off a nice win against Seattle to move a game further ahead of the White Sox in the division. With two outs and men on 2^nd and 3^rd Fernando Rodney got caught up in a battle with Jose Lopez. Lopez kept hitting the ball foul and had a full count. Rodney started throwing pitches high and inside, settling on a 99mph fastball. Finally with the 12^th pitch Rodney took the fastball down low, well out of the strike zone and got Lopez to whiff. End of game, Tigers win. It's good to have a dependable closer which most playoff bound teams do. Relief pitching made the difference tonight in two games with Boston winning and Texas losing and I suspect Boston's relief pitching will help land them the wild card spot in the AL. Well, on to the picks.

Picks
1) Ivo Karlovic vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu: 2 sets played vs. 3 sets - 2 sets
2) IAAF Men's Discus Final: Gerd Kanter vs. Any Other Throwers - Kanter
3) Maccabi Haifa @ FC Red Bull Salzburg - FC Red Bull Salzburg win
4) Manchester United (@ Burnley) vs. Liverpool (v. Stoke City) - Liverpool has a larger margin of victory
5) Los Angeles Angels @ Cleveland Indians - Los Angeles
6) Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz vs. Aaron Hill and Adam Lind - Hill and Lind record more total bases
7) Florida Marlins @ Houston Astros - Houston
8) Los Angeles Galaxy @ Chicago Fire - Los Angeles win or draw
9) How Many Innings Will Rich Harden Last: 6¹/₃ or less vs. 6²/₃ or more - 6¹/₃ or less
10) St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers - Los Angeles
11) Minnesota Lynx @ Los Angeles Sparks - 76 points or fewer in the 1^st half

Previews & Notes
1) In the first round Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated world #46 Mischa Zverev 6-1 7-5 while Ivo Karlovic took down #13 Gael Monfils 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(2). The results are on the official tournament website, here. Discounting Challengers matches Karlovic is 1-0 against Mathieu with a straight sets victory in Rome last year. SkyBet has Karlovic as a fairly heavy favorite to win this match. Karlovic is +110 to win in straight sets while Mathieu is at +350 for a straight sets win. For 3 set victories it's +275 and +450 for Karlovic and Mathieu, respectively. This is the first match of the day on court 3 so barring weather it should start right on time and be decided well in time for the next picks of the day.

2) Gerd Kanter is far and away the biggest individual favorite to win this event and is even favored against the field. SkyBet has him at -200 with the biggest challenger being Virgiljus Alekna at +350. When accounting for the sportsbooks profits and combining the odds for the field, however, Kanter is only about -115 against the field. The IAAF website has a good preview for the final. Highlights being that Kanter has won 28 straight discus events with his last loss coming in July of 2008 to none other than Alekna.

August 18th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Well, picked up a couple of wins with Igor Andreev and Carp n' the Cards. Yesterday was almost entirely made up of major favorites coming through. Kevin Gregg blew a 1 run lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9^th making the Padres the only minority pick to pull through on this day. Tomorrow might be a little trickier, so on to the picks!

Picks
1) Chelsea @ Sunderland - Sunderland wins, draws, or loses by 1 goal
2) Nationality Of 400m Hurdle Winner: United States vs. Any Other Nationality - United States
3) Seattle Mariners @ Detroit Tigers - Detroit
4) Josh Beckett Strikeouts vs. Toronto Blue Jays Hits Off Beckett Or Tie - Blue Jays hits
5) Phoenix Mercury @ Chicago Sky - Chicago
6) Kansas City Royals @ Chicago White Sox - Chicago
7) Chicago Cubs @ San Diego Padres - 4 runs scored before 5^th inning
8) Alana Beard vs. Candace Parker - Beard more 1^st half points

August 17th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)A 2-0-0 day today with Tottenham Hotspur defeating Liverpool and the Angels romping past the Orioles with a 9 run 13^th inning. Baltimore was one home run away from winning that game for a while but didn't really threaten to score in the extra innings otherwise. And can ya believe it? Angels @ Baltimore is on the board again except this time it's Santana (CGSO vs. Tampa Bay last start) against young strikeout pitcher David Hernandez. I gotta say I like the Angels' chances once again assuming Santana is really back to his old form. So good luck tomorrow and on to the picks.

Picks
1) Igor Andreev vs. Nicolas Kiefer - Andreev
2) BK Häcken @ Malmö FF - BK Häcken win or draw
3) Will Tommy Hanson Be The Winning Pitcher (Diamondbacks @ Braves): Yes vs. No - No
4) Los Angeles Angels @ Baltimore Orioles - Los Angeles
5) San Francisco Giants @ New York Mets - New York
6) Staten Island, New York vs. Bernardsville, New Jersey - Staten Island
7) Carolina Panthers @ New York Giants - New York
8) Chicago Cubs @ San Diego Padres - San Diego
9) St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers - St. Louis

August 16th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Very poor 1-3-0 day for me today. Started out with a Sean O'Hair loss. The man who finished 10^th at the Masters had the worst round of the entire remaining field. Then I picked up a win with Urbandale, Iowa in the Little League World Series. I skipped past a few picks and settled on the Seattle Storm which was a loss and then I stubbornly took another Seattle team. The Mariners were quite bad as they were shut down by Mitre. Well, the less said about those picks the better and on to a new day.

Picks
1) Angel Cabrera vs. Kenny Perry - Cabrera cards a lower or equal front 9 score
2) Liverpool @ Tottenham Hotspur - Tottenham Hotspur win or draw
3) San Francisco Giants @ New York Mets - New York
4) Andy Murray vs. Juan Martin del Potro: Murray Wins In 2 Sets vs. Any Other Result - Murray wins in 2 sets
5) Los Angeles Angels @ Baltimore Orioles - Los Angeles
6) Tony Stewart vs. Jimmie Johnson - Stewart has a better final position
7) Houston Astros @ Milwaukee Brewers - Milwaukee
8) Boston Red Sox @ Texas Rangers - Texas
9) Tiger Woods Wins By 3 Or More Strokes vs. Any Other Result - Any Other Result
10) Chicago White Sox @ Oakland Athletics - Chicago
11) Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves - Atlanta
12) Chula Vista, California vs. Granite Bay, California - Chula Vista

August 15th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)2-1-0 today. Started off with Mickelson and Rory getting me back two games, but then I skipped over Roddick and the Phillies and ended up going down with James Shields and the Rays. Frustrating. So on to the picks.

Picks
1) Ryo Ishikawa vs. Sean O'Hair - O'Hair cards a lower front 9 score
2) Wigan Athletic @ Aston Villa - Aston Villa win
3) Urbandale, Iowa vs. Columbia, Missouri - Urbandale, Iowa
4) Peabody, Massachusettes vs. Lincoln, Rhode Island - Lincoln, Rhode Island
5) Tiger Woods' 3^rd Round Score - 69 or higher
6) Jason Leffler vs. Brad Keselowski - Leffler has a better final position
7) Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves - Philadelphia
8) Atlanta Falcons @ Detroit Lions - Detroit
9) San Francisco Giants @ New York Mets - New York
10) Colorado Rockies @ Florida Marlins - Florida
11) Seattle Storm @ Atlanta Dream - Seattle
12) Andy Roddick vs. Juan Martin del Potro - del Potro
13) Russellville, Kentucky vs. Bartholomew County, Indiana - Bartholomew County, Indiana
14) Phoenix Mercury @ San Antonio Silver Stars - San Antonio
15) Boston Red Sox @ Texas Rangers - Boston
16) Salem, Oregon vs. Mercer Island, Washington - Mercer Island, Washington
17) Los Angeles Sparks @ Sacramento Monarchs - Los Angeles
18) New York Yankees @ Seattle Mariners - Seattle

August 14th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Well, Tiger killed my streak and played a great round to take the lead at Hazeltine. I figured he would get a bogey on the back nine like he did in all four rounds in 2002, but he did not. Detroit and then Mickelson for par got me back two wins, but I missed out picking the big favorite San Antonio to win over Bridge City. I ended up taking CC to allow more hits, but after the marathon game against the White Sox last night Seattle never had a chance. I did finish over .500 in my picks, barely, and that will be the goal today. So on to the picks.

Picks
1) David Toms vs. Phil Mickelson - Mickelson cards a lower front 9 score
2) Rory McIlroy vs. Jim Furyk - McIlroy cards a lower or equal front 9 score
3) Belenenses @ Leixoes - Belenenses win or draw
4) Tiger Woods' Score On No. 15: Birdie (4) vs. Any Other Score - Any Other Score
5) Andy Roddick vs. Novak Djokovic - Roddick
6) Connecticut Sun @ Washington Mystics - Washington
7) San Francisco Giants @ New York Mets - New York
8) BC Lions @ Toronto Argonauts - BC
9) Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves - Philadelphia
10) Minnesota Vikings @ Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis
11) Toronto Blue Jays @ Tampa Bay Rays - Tampa Bay
12) Boston Red Sox @ Texas Rangers - Texas
13) Los Angeles Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks - Los Angeles
14) Denver Broncos @ San Francisco 49ers - Denver
15) Chicago White Sox @ Oakland Athletics - Oakland