A Standing O: The Madness March-es On

Like Russell, I am mourning the death of my bracket. First it was Louisville dealing me a nice shot in the family jewels before an uppercut from the most awful foul ever killed Pittsburgh--and my bracket. So now that the Madness has settled, I'm left without a ton to root for. But Alex O gives me some hope in his latest post:

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At the bottom of this post are the odds for the next 2 evenings of madness. This is what one resorts to when their bracket has blown up----- Texas, Purdue, and Pitt not good picks. At least I am ahead of Rochelle Rochelle in the NYaT pool!

I am sure I am not alone in rooting for the dogs--- and I don’t mean the Huskies---- they are either a pick ‘em or a favorite. I mean the underdogs: VCU, Richmond, and Butler. I’ll even throw in BYU, why not. I’ll root for Jimmer, who was graced with a name that somehow reminds me of the famous Johnny Cash song “A boy named Sue” --- worth a download.

Interesting side note is that VCU and Richmond make Richmond the first city to have 2 sweet 16 teams since LA in 2007. More on that go here.

Estimates place the total dollar amount of American office pools in excess of $3 billion, with the total cost in lost productivity in the neighborhood of $1.8 billion. Wow, how about them apples.

It was nice to see that Yahoo in their matchup breakdown includes the spreads. To me it is essential in doing any analysis, the oddsmakers in Vegas--- or I guess in the Caymans for the on-line bookies, do their hard work and tell us what the spread is. Sometimes I think there are wrinkles. VCU has blown out its last 3 opponents after barely getting in---- how much is that a factor in the spread vs. Florida State?

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Three Thoughts: Rangers, Phil, Jets and I'm Back From Vegas

Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog, but I was on a mini-vacation to Las Vegas. Fear not, because I'm back with three sports-related thoughts for you:

1. The ending to the Rangers' season was about as brutal as it gets. 82nd game and the shootout. Tough way to be sent home. The Rangers' problem all season was scoring and in that final game, the issue came to a head. I watched this game from Lagasse's Stadium/Sports Book in the Palazzo. It was one of the nicest places to watch a game--though it will always be soured a bit by what I saw there (and the rude hostess who refused to turn on the game). I don't think the Rangers were going to go anyplace in the playoffs. But the chance to beat the Devils (AGAIN) in the playoffs was one that I was looking forward to. Let's hope this off-season leads to some retooling of the team and the end to the Wade Redden and Michael Rozsival eras on Broadway. Maybe even the Sather era too...(hopefully)
2. Las Vegas loved Phil. Watching the Masters from Vegas was interesting because of the betting interest vs. the rooting interest. I'm not sure which way most of these people were leaning, but they all seemed to love Lefty. Tiger got cheers as did the rest of the pack--but no one got the roars form the crowd quite like Mickelson. People may have had rooting/betting interest in Lee Westwood, Anthony Kim or Fred Couples, but no one seems to have won golf fan's hearts and wallets combined quite like Phil Mickelson. Especially now with Tiger's public demotion.
3. The Jets are pretty large favorites. As soon as the Santonio Holmes trade came across the ESPN screen, the Mandalay Bay sports book jumped the Jets odds to win the Super Bowl to 6-1. The only team better than the Jets were the Colts at 5-1. The Jets were very close last year and the odds makers seem to be taking the flurry of off-season moves as the push they need to get over the top. They should be a better team, but the 2nd best team in the NFL? Or the second-most-likely team to win the Super Bowl? I'm not sure yet.

I am now back, refreshed and ready to blog. I'll throw up something on the Yankees today and hopefully last night's LOST as well a bit later. I miss the bright lights of Vegas but it's time to get back to blogging...and rooting for my baseball bets--the Brewers to win the NL Central, the Braves and Rockies to make the NLCS...with the Rockies hopefully winning and losing to the Yankees in the World Series. Picture above is taken from my Blackberry (sorry, a little blurry) from the Mix Lounge in THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.

Super Bowl XLIV Pool Analysis

The Super Bowl is less than 72 hours away. Some people are deciding whether to host or attend a party, others are deciding which team to root for, while still others are deciding what they will be eating and drinking on an evening that is as much about eating and drinking as watching football.

But for millions, one of the most important decisions that must be made is: which square(s) should I pick in my office/family/friend betting pool? Not an easy decision. Courtesy of hiram@hellskitchen-ny.com by way of KP, here is some well-written and thoroughly-researched analysis of this extremely popular form of Super Bowl wagering:

Super Bowl XLIV Square Pool Analysis

Yankees Get Hinske

Well the Yankees went out and got a bat: Eric Hinske. Via MLBTradeRumors:  

 "Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  reports that the Yankees acquired Eric Hinske from the Pirates for two minor leaguers, Eric Freyer and Casey Erickson. ESPN.com's Amy Nelson says the Yankees are also sending the Pirates cash."

I'm not sure this was the bat that the Yankees needed to get (or if they really needed to get a bat), but this is an interesting move for the Yankees as they acquire a player that they've coveted for a while now. I've coveted him for my sports betting. Hinske's line is .255/.373/.368 with one homerun and 11 RBIs in 106 ABs. Not exactly a bi g slugger. But he does provide insurance at 3B and can play both corners in the outfield and infield. 

For his career, Hinske is a much better hitter vs. righties than lefties. He's also a slightly better pinch hitter than when he starts (.833 OPS to .769 OPS).

I do wonder if it would have been better using these prospects to acquire a bullpen arm, but the Yankees felt they needed to upgrade their bench and have done so with this trade.