Category Archives: Sports

NFL Picks – Week 6 of 2016

Overall Against the Spread: 29-31
Week 2: 8-8
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 6-9
Week 5: 5-8 (1 push)

Here are my week 6 predictions, with the current line in parentheses:
Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers (+3.5): Predicting 23.5-24.1. Bet on the San Diego Chargers.
Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots (-8.5): Predicting 16.3-23.3. Bet on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cleveland Browns at Tennessee Titans (-7.0): Predicting 18.2-25.6. Bet on the Tennessee Titans.
Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints (+3.0): Predicting 24.8-27.6. Bet on the New Orleans Saints.
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins (+2.5): Predicting 24.2-20.5. Bet on the Philadelphia Eagles.
Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions (-3.0): Predicting 19.3-24.1. Bet on the Detroit Lions.
San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills (-7.5): Predicting 18.9-27.7. Bet on the Buffalo Bills.
Baltimore Ravens at New York Giants (-3.0): Predicting 17.6-20.0. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Miami Dolphins (+7.5): Predicting 24.4-20.7. Bet on the Miami Dolphins.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Chicago Bears (-2.5): Predicting 20.5-23.7. Bet on the Chicago Bears.
Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders (-1.0): Predicting 21.5-26.4. Bet on the Oakland Raiders.
Atlanta Falcons at Seattle Seahawks (-6.0): Predicting 23.2-24.3. Bet on the Atlanta Falcons.
Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers (-4.0): Predicting 21.5-23.5. Bet on the Dallas Cowboys.
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans (-3.0): Predicting 22.5-25.0. Bet on the Indianapolis Colts.
New York Jets at Arizona Cardinals (-7.5): Predicting 19.2-27.1. Bet on the Arizona Cardinals.

NFL Picks- Week 5 of 2016

As of Friday morning, still no update on the Panthers line. Whenever the line comes out, bet on the side that makes the Panthers winning by 7.6 make sense.

Overall Against the Spread: 24-23
Week 2: 8-8
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 6-9

Here are my week 5 predictions, with the current line in parentheses:
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers (+4.0): Predicting 22.9-24.1. Bet on the San Francisco 49ers.
Houston Texans at Minnesota Vikings (-6.5): Predicting 14.7-23.0. Bet on the Minnesota Vikings.
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts (-5.0): Predicting 21.8-26.1. Bet on the Chicago Bears.
New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers (-7.0): Predicting 19.3-27.9. Bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
New England Patriots at Cleveland Browns (+10.5): Predicting 22.1-20.6. Bet on the Cleveland Browns.
Washington Redskins at Baltimore Ravens (-4.0): Predicting 19.9-25.6. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions (+3.0): Predicting 24.5-20.1. Bet on the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins (-3.5): Predicting 18.4-22.2. Bet on the Miami Dolphins.
Atlanta Falcons at Denver Broncos (-4.5): Predicting 23.5-28.3. Bet on the Denver Broncos.
San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders (-3.5): Predicting 24.1-27.4. Bet on the San Diego Chargers.
Cincinnati Bengals at Dallas Cowboys (+2.0): Predicting 18.9-23.6. Bet on the Dallas Cowboys.
Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams (-2.0): Predicting 19.4-19.3. Bet on the Buffalo Bills.
New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (-7.0): Predicting 19.0-24.3. Bet on the New York Giants.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers: Predicting 22.0-29.6.

MLB Viewership

Some fun notes from the MLB Viewership numbers (local ratings) this year:

1. More people watched the Mets this year than the Yankees.
2. Fewest fans watching (in absolute numbers): Athletics (19k), Brewers (26k), Padres (28k), Reds (30k), Braves (30k), Marlins (31k)
3. Lowest percent of people in market watching: Athletics (.8%), White Sox (1%), Angels (1.1%), Braves (1.3%), Dodgers (1.3%), Marlins (1.9%)
4. Most fans watching (in absolute numbers): Mets (215k), Yankees (196k), Cubs (174k), Red Sox (167k), Tigers (138k), Giants (117k)
5. Highest percent of people in market watching: Royals (11.7%), Cardinals (8.5%), Tigers (7.6%), Orioles (7.3%), Pirates (7.2%), Indians (7%), Red Sox (6.9%)
6. The Indians viewership is up 71% this year.
7. The Reds (my team) draw 3.4% of viewer’s eyeballs this year, down 22% from last year. Their games tend to be the most watched thing on cable but fall short of 3 local networks this year. It’s a down year, and it was painful to watch them in the first half.

NFL Picks- Week 4 of 2016

Overall Against the Spread: 18-14
Week 2: 8-8
Week 3: 10-6

Here are my week 4 predictions, with the current line in parentheses:
Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals (-7.0): Predicting 21.9-22.6. Bet on the Miami Dolphins.
Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars (+2.5): Predicting 24.3-25.3. Bet on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (-4.5): Predicting 19.0-26.2. Bet on the New England Patriots.
Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens (-3.5): Predicting 19.1-23.3. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
Cleveland Browns at Washington Redskins (-7.5): Predicting 23.9-25.8. Bet on the Cleveland Browns.
Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons (+3.0): Predicting 24.6-27.9. Bet on the Atlanta Falcons.
Seattle Seahawks at New York Jets (+1.5): Predicting 19.8-19.9. Bet on the New York Jets.
Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears (+3.0): Predicting 24.5-24.3. Bet on the Chicago Bears.
Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans (-5.5): Predicting 15.8-19.2. Bet on the Tennessee Titans.
Denver Broncos at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3.0): Predicting 26.3-23.0. Bet on the Denver Broncos.
Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals (-7.5): Predicting 17.3-24.3. Bet on the Los Angeles Rams.
New Orleans Saints at San Diego Chargers (-3.5): Predicting 22.4-29.6. Bet on the San Diego Chargers.
Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers (+3.0): Predicting 23.8-25.0. Bet on the San Francisco 49ers.
Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers (-5.5): Predicting 20.3-21.7. Bet on the Kansas City Chiefs.
New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings (-4.5): Predicting 15.7-23.1. Bet on the Minnesota Vikings.

NFL Picks- Week 3 of 2016

Overall Against the Spread: 8-8
Week 2: 8-8

Here are my week 3 predictions, with the current line in parentheses:
Houston Texans at New England Patriots (even): Predicting 19.4-23.2. Bet on the New England Patriots.
Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals (-3.0): Predicting 20.0-22.0. Bet on the Denver Broncos.
Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills (+4.5): Predicting 23.2-20.5. Bet on the Buffalo Bills.
Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville Jaguars (even): Predicting 22.1-20.0. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers (-7.0): Predicting 20.6-25.1. Bet on the Minnesota Vikings.
Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans (-1.5): Predicting 22.2-25.4. Bet on the Tennessee Titans.
Washington Redskins at New York Giants (-4.5): Predicting 17.4-25.4. Bet on the New York Giants.
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers (-7.5): Predicting 20.5-24.4. Bet on the Detroit Lions.
Cleveland Browns at Miami Dolphins (-10.0): Predicting 18.7-24.4. Bet on the Cleveland Browns.
Los Angeles Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-4.5): Predicting 17.4-21.1. Bet on the Los Angeles Rams.
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (-9.5): Predicting 19.4-19.7. Bet on the San Francisco 49ers.
New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs (-3.0): Predicting 22.9-25.7. Bet on the New York Jets.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles (+3.5): Predicting 20.2-23.5. Bet on the Philadelphia Eagles.
San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts (-2.5): Predicting 27.8-25.7. Bet on the San Diego Chargers.
Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys (-7.0): Predicting 18.9-24.7. Bet on the Chicago Bears.
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints (-3.0): Predicting 22.8-25.7. Bet on the Atlanta Falcons.

NFL Picks- Week 2 of 2016

My NFL betting model uses scores from previous weeks to predict the results of the current week of games. Here are my 2015 and 2014 betting results, where I am a combined 205-174 (54.1%) against the spread.

Now, it is week 2, so I only have one week of results with which to build my model. And it’s based on scores alone. It doesn’t know that Carolina’s loss was to a good Denver team and that SF blew out a bad Rams team. So in reality, I don’t expect SF to beat Carolina outright (though they have a good chance against the spread). Nonetheless, the model has been profitable when run over the last 30+ years, even in week 2. Given that, here are the predictions for week 2:

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills (+1.0): Predicting 17.5-20.7. Bet on the Buffalo Bills.
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins (-2.5): Predicting 22.9-21.4. Bet on the Dallas Cowboys.
Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots (-6.5): Predicting 17.3-21.1. Bet on the Miami Dolphins.
Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3.0): Predicting 19.0-26.5. Bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
San Francisco 49ers at Carolina Panthers (-13.5): Predicting 20.5-18.6. Bet on the San Francisco 49ers.
Tennessee Titans at Detroit Lions (-5.5): Predicting 20.9-28.0. Bet on the Detroit Lions.
Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns (+6.0): Predicting 19.0-17.9. Bet on the Cleveland Browns.
Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans (-2.5): Predicting 20.7-24.4. Bet on the Houston Texans.
New Orleans Saints at New York Giants (-4.5): Predicting 21.4-26.1. Bet on the New York Giants.
Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams (+3.5): Predicting 18.6-16.4. Bet on the Los Angeles Rams.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Arizona Cardinals (-6.5): Predicting 22.9-22.6. Bet on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos (-6.0): Predicting 22.4-26.5. Bet on the Indianapolis Colts.
Atlanta Falcons at Oakland Raiders (-4.5): Predicting 22.4-28.4. Bet on the Oakland Raiders.
Jacksonville Jaguars at San Diego Chargers (-3.0): Predicting 22.0-25.9. Bet on the San Diego Chargers.
Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (+2.0): Predicting 19.9-23.9. Bet on the Minnesota Vikings.
Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears (-3.0): Predicting 21.1-19.4. Bet on the Philadelphia Eagles.

Teaching Kids to Shoot Basketball One-Handed

A lot of kids seem to have odd shooting mechanics in basketball. While playing yesterday, I was holding a towel to wipe my face with my non-dominant hand. I was still able to guide the ball on the shot with the towel in my hand (with my dominant hand doing the shooting), but I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I was a two-handed shooter, like some kids.

Idea: If you want to learn to shoot one-handed, hold something in your non-dominant hand while shooting. A small towel is probably about the right size.