Thursday MLB Free Play: Athletics at Red Sox

Take the ‘under’ 9 1/2 when the Oakland Athletics visit the Boston Red Sox in the final game of their four-game set this afternoon. Both of the starters in the matchup have pitched well lately. Jon Lester (9-7, 3.79 ERA) has an AL-best 1.83 ERA since May 31 and opponents are hitting just .202 against [...]

Jorge Gonzalez’s Free MLB Winner!

Look for the Dodgers to bounce back here against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers lost to the Cardinals last night 6-1 but did have 11 hits in the game, nine coming off Chris Carpenter. The Dodgers faltered once they had men in scoring position. As a team the Dodgers were 3-15 with men in [...]

MLB Free Play for Friday: Reds at Cubs

Take the Chicago Cubs on the moneyline. The Cubs are starting to hit the ball a lot better averaging 5.4 rpg over their last seven games while hitting .266 as a team. The Cubs opponents are hitting just .221 against them over their last seven games and I look for Randy Wells (5-4, 3.00) to [...]

Monday MLB Free Play: Mets at Nationals

Take the New York Mets on the moneyline. We are getting solid value here Monday night with the superior overall team who should not be dogs in this game. The Nationals just lost four straight to the Chicago Cubs and they are just 2-12 in their last 14 home games against a team that has [...]

Cokin’s Hardcore Baseball: Halladay sweeps, Friday freebie

The Roy Halladay rumor mill is churning at a pretty good clip right now, and it figures to speed up even more with the deadline fast approaching. When Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi first let it be known that Halladay was officially available, I was pretty sure he’d be dealt quickly. But now it appears [...]

138th British Open Betting Preview

Golf betting jumps across the pond for the 138th playing of the British Open Championship. This year’s major event sets up shop at the Turnberry golf resort in southwest Scotland (July 16-19). The tournament will be played on the resort’s Ailsa Course, which spans over 7,200 yards (par 70). The course was actually lengthened a [...]

Post All-Star Break handicapping

So many teams change form in the second half of a baseball season that I often think its best for handicappers to just start from scratch after the All-Star break. * Mediocre teams who had been hanging around .500 start to fall off the pace because they lose their spirit, or because key guys who [...]

Cokin’s Hardcore Baseball: All-Star thoughts; Thurs. freebie

Chalk up another win for the American League as they maintained their mastery over their NL counterparts with Tuesday’s 4-3 win. Here are a few observations from the mid-summer classic as well as the accompanying events. First off, the game itself. I enjoyed it, as it was my type of baseball. Good pitching, good defense [...]

New coaches hope to upgrade NFL and college programs

Football head coaches get all the glory, but top assistants can be extremely important in a team’s success or failure. Offensive and defensive coordinators have great influence on game plans and a unit’s effectiveness. There was no better example two years ago than NY Giants’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. He came over from the Eagles [...]

UFC 100 Betting: The Greatest Card Ever?

Rarely are sports betting fanatics treated in the way they will be when they examine the UFC 100 odds. Certainly, a centennial is always a cause for celebration, and a monumental event. For mixed-martial arts, it is a way of saying “we made it,” to the general public, and the sporting world at large. For [...]