HONDO
July 9, 2007 -- Hondo wrapped up the front nine with yet another subpar peformance as he missed with the Tribe to increase the accounts payable to 375 alstons and maintain his record in one-run games at oh-for-ever.
Today, he's off to the races. Starting in the Catskills, Mr. Aitch will heed the counsel of the Queen of Monti cello, a/k/a Debbie Little, and make a five-unit invest ment on Lavec Dream in the fifth.
Additionally, Anthony Affrunti, the Post's puny pony picker (if the diet works), insists he's bringing his 'A' game to the sixth at Delaware Park. Despite Affrunti's past assaults on Hondo's financial well- being, Double-A's offering of a three-horse exacta box involving Relear, Seer and Spirit Warrior will be backed with a one-unit play.
Billy Coleman
AFL
3* Chicago/Los Angeles under
Teddy Covers
Teddy Covers
AFL Monday Night (4-0 100% Arena Run) 7/8/07 Daily Selection
7/9/07 AFB Chicago -10 (108)
ANALYSIS: We hopped on the LA bandwagon last Monday Night, just in time for their dominant victory over Utah to open up the playoffs, a 64-42 blowout that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the final score might indicate. LA’s outstanding showing, in front of a national TV audience, gives us all the value that we need to switch sides and bet against the Avengers as their competition stiffens considerably.
LA has a strong road/home dichotomy this year, playing their best football at the Staples Center and their worst football when they’ve traveled to hostile environments. The Avengers are the youngest team remaining in the playoffs. QB Sonny Cumbie has struggled against elite level defenses, particularly when facing a dominant pass rush. We’ve seen this team lose their last four on the road against other playoff squads, losing those four games by a total of 78 points, nearly 20 per contest. Quite simply, this is not the same team when facing top competition on the road.
The Avengers traveled to Chicago earlier in the season, and the results weren’t pretty for those who supported the road underdog. The Rush led 42-10 by halftime, cruising to a 35 point victory. Cumbie couldn’t handle the Chicago pass rush, and the hard hitting Rush defense forced five turnovers. There’s little reason to expect this game to be much different. We’ve all seen football teams look great at home to open up the playoffs, then struggle mightily when forced to face tougher competition on the road the following week. This has all the makings of a similar situation.
The Rush are the defending Arena Bowl champs, with virtually everyone back from that dominant postseason squad of a season ago. QB Matt D’Orazio is a veteran leader; receiver Bobby Sippio is my choice for AFL MVP in 2007 – this team rarely struggles for extended periods on offense. But the #1 rationale behind my support of the Rush in this ballgame is their top notch defense. Chicago’s defense carried them to the championship last year. LA has proven repeatedly this year that they can’t handle quality defenses on the road. And the Rush are in stellar current form defensively right now, allowing just 110 points in their last three games combined! No team in the league allowed fewer points than Chicago this year, giving up fewer than 45 points per game. At home, the Rush have been even better, allowing an amazing (by Arena standards) 36 points per game! On Monday Night, in front of a raucous, sold out crowd and a national TV audience, look for the Rush to continue their stellar defensive play, earning another win and cover for their supporters.
Take Chicago.
This is Jim Feist. My free pick of the day is the game between (107) Los Angeles and (108) Chicago. Take "Over". The early departure of top seeded Dallas on Saturday sure cleared a little better path to the Arena Championship for the defending champion Chicago Rush. We're going with the OVER today and 97 seems to be the key number here. Right now the over/under rests on 97 and both meetings this season between Chicago and LA have landed on 97. In fact, three of the last four meetings between these clubs have been right on 97. However, the meeting here in Chicago back in April found the Rush with little trouble scoring and winning as they cruised to a an easy victory over LA, 66-31. We expect a little better showing today out of LA, however these clubs should both still score plenty to get this game over the 97 line. Take the OVER here on Monday evening.
Stephen Nover at Home Run Derby Jul 9 2007 8:00PM
PICK: Stephen Nover
EXPERT: Stephen Nover
REASON FOR PICK: It is possible to handicap these types of All-Star game props such as Home Run Derby.
Besides obviously taking in the hitter, you have to look at ballpark and who is throwing the ball.
Ryan Howard has all three of these things going for him. The left-handed Howard is a proven home run commodity and can take advantage of AT&T ballpark in San Francisco, which is more favorable to lefties than righties.
Howard also has Ramon Henderson pitching to him. Henderson is the Phillies' regular batting pitching coach. He pitched to Bobby Abreu two years ago in Home Run Derby when Abreu won it and he pitched to Howard last year when Howard won Home Run Derby. Henderson will be making the trip to San Francisco.
Prince Fielder is Howard's main competition. But he's unproven in this type of event and he won't have his regular batting pitching coach at the event.
Some of the other competitors have the disadvantage of being right-handed and being in the American League. This hurts Vladimir Guerrero, Alex Rios and Magglio Ordonez.
The odds are short on Howard. But this isn't about value. This is about getting the winner right. It looks like Howard
July 9, 2007 -- Hondo wrapped up the front nine with yet another subpar peformance as he missed with the Tribe to increase the accounts payable to 375 alstons and maintain his record in one-run games at oh-for-ever.
Today, he's off to the races. Starting in the Catskills, Mr. Aitch will heed the counsel of the Queen of Monti cello, a/k/a Debbie Little, and make a five-unit invest ment on Lavec Dream in the fifth.
Additionally, Anthony Affrunti, the Post's puny pony picker (if the diet works), insists he's bringing his 'A' game to the sixth at Delaware Park. Despite Affrunti's past assaults on Hondo's financial well- being, Double-A's offering of a three-horse exacta box involving Relear, Seer and Spirit Warrior will be backed with a one-unit play.
Billy Coleman
AFL
3* Chicago/Los Angeles under
Teddy Covers
Teddy Covers
AFL Monday Night (4-0 100% Arena Run) 7/8/07 Daily Selection
7/9/07 AFB Chicago -10 (108)
ANALYSIS: We hopped on the LA bandwagon last Monday Night, just in time for their dominant victory over Utah to open up the playoffs, a 64-42 blowout that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the final score might indicate. LA’s outstanding showing, in front of a national TV audience, gives us all the value that we need to switch sides and bet against the Avengers as their competition stiffens considerably.
LA has a strong road/home dichotomy this year, playing their best football at the Staples Center and their worst football when they’ve traveled to hostile environments. The Avengers are the youngest team remaining in the playoffs. QB Sonny Cumbie has struggled against elite level defenses, particularly when facing a dominant pass rush. We’ve seen this team lose their last four on the road against other playoff squads, losing those four games by a total of 78 points, nearly 20 per contest. Quite simply, this is not the same team when facing top competition on the road.
The Avengers traveled to Chicago earlier in the season, and the results weren’t pretty for those who supported the road underdog. The Rush led 42-10 by halftime, cruising to a 35 point victory. Cumbie couldn’t handle the Chicago pass rush, and the hard hitting Rush defense forced five turnovers. There’s little reason to expect this game to be much different. We’ve all seen football teams look great at home to open up the playoffs, then struggle mightily when forced to face tougher competition on the road the following week. This has all the makings of a similar situation.
The Rush are the defending Arena Bowl champs, with virtually everyone back from that dominant postseason squad of a season ago. QB Matt D’Orazio is a veteran leader; receiver Bobby Sippio is my choice for AFL MVP in 2007 – this team rarely struggles for extended periods on offense. But the #1 rationale behind my support of the Rush in this ballgame is their top notch defense. Chicago’s defense carried them to the championship last year. LA has proven repeatedly this year that they can’t handle quality defenses on the road. And the Rush are in stellar current form defensively right now, allowing just 110 points in their last three games combined! No team in the league allowed fewer points than Chicago this year, giving up fewer than 45 points per game. At home, the Rush have been even better, allowing an amazing (by Arena standards) 36 points per game! On Monday Night, in front of a raucous, sold out crowd and a national TV audience, look for the Rush to continue their stellar defensive play, earning another win and cover for their supporters.
Take Chicago.
This is Jim Feist. My free pick of the day is the game between (107) Los Angeles and (108) Chicago. Take "Over". The early departure of top seeded Dallas on Saturday sure cleared a little better path to the Arena Championship for the defending champion Chicago Rush. We're going with the OVER today and 97 seems to be the key number here. Right now the over/under rests on 97 and both meetings this season between Chicago and LA have landed on 97. In fact, three of the last four meetings between these clubs have been right on 97. However, the meeting here in Chicago back in April found the Rush with little trouble scoring and winning as they cruised to a an easy victory over LA, 66-31. We expect a little better showing today out of LA, however these clubs should both still score plenty to get this game over the 97 line. Take the OVER here on Monday evening.
Stephen Nover at Home Run Derby Jul 9 2007 8:00PM
PICK: Stephen Nover
EXPERT: Stephen Nover
REASON FOR PICK: It is possible to handicap these types of All-Star game props such as Home Run Derby.
Besides obviously taking in the hitter, you have to look at ballpark and who is throwing the ball.
Ryan Howard has all three of these things going for him. The left-handed Howard is a proven home run commodity and can take advantage of AT&T ballpark in San Francisco, which is more favorable to lefties than righties.
Howard also has Ramon Henderson pitching to him. Henderson is the Phillies' regular batting pitching coach. He pitched to Bobby Abreu two years ago in Home Run Derby when Abreu won it and he pitched to Howard last year when Howard won Home Run Derby. Henderson will be making the trip to San Francisco.
Prince Fielder is Howard's main competition. But he's unproven in this type of event and he won't have his regular batting pitching coach at the event.
Some of the other competitors have the disadvantage of being right-handed and being in the American League. This hurts Vladimir Guerrero, Alex Rios and Magglio Ordonez.
The odds are short on Howard. But this isn't about value. This is about getting the winner right. It looks like Howard
