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...and a Happy New Year to you Spark, and to all the BC crew!
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National Hockey League - Short Sheet
NHL
Short Sheet
Wednesday, December 31st
Florida at NY Islanders, 2:05 ET
Florida: 15-9 SU after 3+ consecutive losses
NY Islanders: 1-12 SU in December
San Jose at Minnesota, 6:05 ET
San Jose: 28-7 SU as a favorite
Minnesota: 3-10 SU in December
Colorado at Phoenix, 8:05 ET
Colorado: 43-25 SU when playing their 3rd game in 5 days
Phoenix: 38-60 SU after playing a home game
Atlanta at Carolina, 8:05 ET
Atlanta: 1-11 SU after a loss by 1 goal in their previous game
Carolina: 36-21 SU after consecutive losses
New Jersey at Dallas, 8:35 ET
New Jersey: 7-1 SU after playing 2 consecutive road games
Dallas: 1-6 SU revenging a loss by 4+ goals
Columbus at Anaheim, 9:05 ET
Columbus: 0-8 SU AWAY when playing their 3rd game in 5 days
Anaheim: 8-1 SU after playing 4 consecutive road games
Edmonton at Calgary, 10:05 ET
Edmonton: 9-4 SU AWAY when playing their 3rd game in 4 days
Calgary: 4-10 SU at home after having won 5 or 6 of their last 7
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College Basketball - Short Sheet
NCAAB
Short Sheet
Wednesday, December 31st
Harvard at William & Mary, 12:00 ET
Harvard: 1-11 ATS in road games
William & Mary: 8-2 ATS off BB home games
Northwestern at Penn State, 12:00 ET
Northwestern: 3-11 ATS on Wednesday
Penn State: 7-0 ATS at home off home win
Northeastern at Memphis, 2:00 ET
Northeastern: 10-22 ATS Away after playing as underdog
Memphis: 73-45 ATS off DD home win
Wisconsin at Michigan, 2:00 ET
Wisconsin: 6-0 ATS Away in December
Michigan: 1-7 ATS off 3+ SU wins
Creighton at Indiana State, 2:00 ET
Creighton: 6-1 Over as favorite
Indiana State: 11-2 ATS as home dog
Towson State at NC State, 2:00 ET
Towson State: 3-11 ATS as road underdog
NC State: 8-2 Over after a win by 6 points or less
Pitt at Rutgers, 2:00 ET
Pitt: 5-2 ATS as favorite
Rutgers: 5-13 ATS in home games
Missouri State at Drake, 3:00 ET
Missouri State: 4-14 ATS as underdog
Drake: 9-1 ATS off ATS loss
Evansville at Illinois State, 3:00 ET
Evansville: 16-6 ATS off home win
Illinois State: 7-1 Over this season
St. John's at Providence, 4:00 ET
St. John's: 11-2 ATS Away off DD home loss
Providence: 34-55 ATS at home vs. conference
Iowa at Ohio State, 4:00 ET
Iowa: 15-30 ATS in the 2nd off BB road games
Ohio State: 81-55 ATS off ATS loss
Texas A&M at Rice, 4:00 ET
Texas A&M: 6-1 Under after a combined score of 110 points or less
Rice: 6-0 ATS as a home underdog of 6.5 to 9 points
Bowling Green at Duquesne, 4:00 ET
Bowling Green: 43-26 ATS off BB ATS losses
Duquesne: 1-5 ATS as a home favorite of 6 points or less
LA-Lafayette at LSU, 2:30 ET
LA-Lafayette: 37-58 ATS vs. non-conference
LSU: 28-9 ATS at home off DD home win
Middle Tenn State at North Texas, 5:00 ET
Middle Tenn State: 7-0 ATS Away off BB Unders
North Texas: 8-2 Under after a loss by 6 points or less
Drexel at St. Josephs, 5:00 ET
Drexel: 5-14 ATS as an underdog
St. Joseph's: 10-3 ATS as a home favorite of 12.5 to 15 points
LA Monroe at Ark-Little Rock, 5:30 ET
LA Monroe: 1-5 ATS in road games
Ark-Little Rock: 6-0 Over as home favorite
(TC) Michigan State at Minnesota, 12:00 ET
Michigan State: 0-8 ATS as a road underdog of 6 points or less
Minnesota: 5-1 ATS off BB SU wins
UNLV at Louisville, 6:00 ET
UNLV: 13-3 ATS Away vs. non-conference
Louisville: 8-20 ATS off 3 non-conf games
Gonzaga at Utah, 8:00 ET
Gonzaga: 1-5 ATS playing with 7+ days rest
Utah: 5-1 ATS off SU win
Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois, 8:00 ET
Northern Iowa: 1-7 ATS this season
Southern Illinois: 9-2 ATS at home off ATS loss
Bradley at Wichita State, 8:00 ET
Bradley: 9-0 ATS off conference win
Wichita State: 0-6 ATS off road conference loss
North Carolina at Nevada, 10:05 ET
North Carolina: 19-9 ATS after a non-conference game
Nevada: 0-6 ATS after a game committing 8 or less turnovers
Wyoming at Utah State, 10:05 ET
Wyoming: 11-27 ATS when playing only their 3rd game in a week
Utah State: 22-10 ATS in home games in December
Added Games
Akron at UNC Greensboro, 2:00 ET
Akron: 7-0 ATS as a road favorite of 6.5 to 12
UNC Greensboro: 4-16 ATS off a road loss
Manhattan at LaSalle, 4:00 ET
Manhattan: 0-6 ATS after having won 3 of their last 4
LaSalle: 3-0 ATS after playing a game as an underdog
Loyola MD at Duke, 4:00 ET
Loyola MD: 8-1 ATS AWAY
Duke: 1-3 ATS when playing with 7 or more days rest
** (TC) Denotes Time Change
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National Hockey League – Write up
NHL
Write-up
Wednesday, December 31
Hot teams
-- Sharks won three of their last four games.
-- Colorado won its last three games, scoring 14 goals.
-- Dallas won four of its last five home games. Devils won five of their last seven games.
-- Columbus won its last two games, 3-0/2-0.
-- Calgary won three in row, five of last six games. Oilers won three of their last four games.
Cold teams
-- Panthers lost five of their last seven games. Islanders are 1-12 in their last thirteen games.
-- Minnesota lost nine of its last eleven games.
-- Coyotes lost three of their last four games.
-- Thrashers lost their last three games, all by one goal. Carolina is 6-11 in its last seventeen games.
-- Ducks lost three of their last four games.
Totals
-- Last three Florida games all went over the total.
-- Five of last six Minnesota games stayed under the total.
-- Under is 4-1-1 in last six Colorado road games.
-- Over is 14-3-1 in last eighteen Atlanta games.
-- Four of last five Dallas games went over the total.
-- Last four Anaheim games all went over the total; last four Columbus games all stayed under.
-- Five of last seven Calgary home games stayed under the total.
Series Records
-- Islanders lost their last six games against Florida.
-- Sharks won their last eight games against Minnesota.
-- Colorado won five of last seven visits to Phoenix.
-- Carolina won six of last eight games against Atlanta.
-- Devils won last two games against Dallas, 4-2/5-0.
-- Ducks won six of last seven against Columbus.
-- Oilers won five of last seven against the Flames.
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National Basketball Association – Write up
NBA
Write-up
Wednesday, December 31
Hot Teams
-- Orlando covered four of last five as a road favorite.
-- Pistons won their last four games, but are 1-6 vs spread in last seven games as a home favorite.
-- Bucks are 11-4-2 vs spread as a road underdog this season.
-- Nuggets are 5-1 as a road favorite.
-- Oklahoma City covered five of last seven as a home underdog.
Cold Teams
-- Bulls lost three of last four games, but are 3-1 as a home underdog.
-- Nets failed to cover last four tries as a road underdog.
-- Rockets failed to cover last three tries as a home favorite.
-- Toronto covered one of last four tries as a home underdog.
-- Golden State is 0-2 as a road favorite this season.
-- Clippers are 4-7 as a home underdog this season. 76ers are 1-3 against spread as a road favorite.
Back-to Back
-- Milwaukee is 5-3 vs spread if they played the night before.
-- Clippers are 3-4 vs spread if they played the night before.
Totals
-- Four of last five Chicago home games went over the total.
-- Three of last four New Jersey road games went over the total.
-- Six of last eight Houston home games went over the total.
-- Six of last seven Toronto home games stayed under the total.
-- Under is 8-5 in last thriteen Golden State games.
-- Six of last seven Philadelphia games went over the total.
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College Basketball – Write up
NCAAB
Write-up
Wednesday, December 31
Notes on the best of today's games.............
Rutgers shot 54% from floor LY in shocking (+18.5) 77-64 win at Pitt, in game Panthers led 39-32 at half. Pitt is 12-0 this season, winning its only road game 56-48 at Florida State (was 48-all)- they also won pair of games on neutral court, by 13-14 points. Rutgers had won four in a row before losing by 22 at North Carolina in its last game.
Home side won both Missouri State-Drake games LY, with Bears 65-54 losers in their visits here; Drake was 22-66 from arc in the two games in LY's series. State was up 15 in second half, but lost in OT in its Valley opener Sunday vs Illinois State. Drake shot only 34.5% in its conference opener, losing 76-65 at Evansville.
St John's was only 5-11 in Big East LY, but one of wins was 64-62 at home vs Providence, turning ball over only eight times (+7). Red Storm lost 82-70 in its only road game so far; they lost last two games, 81-67 vs Va Tech, 70-56 to Miami. Friars are 8-4, 7-2 at home, also losing at BC 81-76, but they did beat Rhode Island by a point.
Illinois State needed OT to stay unbeaten Sunday, after being down 15 in second half; Redbirds are 5-2 vs spread when favored this year-- they beat Evansville twice LY, 74-66 here (-5.5), 49-47 on road (-7.5). Aces are 702 and have higher RPI than State; they're 0-2 on road, but losses are at Butler (75-59) and North Carolina (91-73), two top-25 teams.
Home side won both Iowa-Ohio State games LY, with Hawkeyes losing 79-48 here (+13), winning 53-48 at home (+5); neither team took double figure FTs in either game. Hawkeyes are 1-2 on road, losing 57-55 at BC (+8), 60-43 at Drake (+1). Ohio State is down two players- they lost by 28 to West Virginia in last game, its first loss this season.
Middle Tennessee (+3) upset North Texas 69-60 at home LY, shooting 51% from floor, 11-11 from line. Blue Raiders won four of their last five games, winning 81-53 vs Troy in Sun Belt opener- they're 0-2 on road, losing at Vanderbilt (65-57), Belmont (82-69). UNT is 7-3, 1-1 in league games, winning by 14 at ULL, losing by 6 at New Orleans.
UL-Monroe lost couple close games to Ark-Little Rock LY, 59-57 here (+8), 59-55 at home (+12); they were 10-41 from arc in the two games, and took 18 less FTs than UALR. This year, ULM is 0-7 on the road so far, losing 86-58 at ULL in Sun Belt opener. Trojans are 8-3, winning by 6 in conference opener vs Arkansas State.
Louisville pulled away from UNLV 63-43 LY (was 26-23 at half); Cards have date with Kentucky on deck, could be looking ahead- they're 8-2 so far after beating UAB by 20 in last game. Big East home faves are 28-30 vs spread. UNLV won last six games after 5-2 start; they're 3-0 on road, winning at UTEP, Fresno State and Nevada-Reno.
Gonzaga (-10) beat Utah 61-59 LY, leading 26-25 at half; former Utes' coach Giacoletti is Gonzaga assistant now. Zags lost its last three games after 7-0 start, losing at home to Portland State in last game- they're 2-1 on road, winning at Indiana (70-54), Washington St (74-52). Utah is 2-4 in last six games, after a 5-1 start.
Northern Iowa (+6.5) upset Southern Illinois 54-49 in MVC tourney in March, after home side had wn both meetings during season, with UNI losing 67-47 here, after beating Salukis 68-63 at home. Panthers are 1-3 in last four games, losing MVC opener in double OT vs Indiana St, after pair of road losses, at Iowa (65-46), Wyoming (74-65).
Notre Dame won pair of high-scoring games vs DePaul LY, 89-80 (-10) at home, 98-91 here (-5) where they made 13-23 from arc and led by 16 at half. Irish are 7-2, winning by 11 at LMU in only road game. DePaul won four of last five games after shaky 4-4 start; they're 2-4 vs spread as an underdog this season.
Road team won both Bradley-Wichita games LY, with Braves winning a 63-54 game here, when they led by 21 at half, holding Shockers to 35% from floor, after they had shot 64% in first meeting. Bradley is 7-5 this season, 0-3 on road, losing by 23-16-12 points. Wichita is 5-6 after they lost conference opener 68-56 at Creighton Sunday.
North Carolina hasn't lost yet and probably won't lose; they're 2-0 on road, winning by 17 at UCSB, 35 at Michigan State- they open its ACC schedule Sunday vs Boston College. Nevada is rebuilding this year, 6-5 so far vs D-I teams, losing at home to Pacific (67-59), UNLV (64-57). WAC underdogs are 18-13 vs spread, 3-1 at home.
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Six-pack for Wednesday
-- Angels signed Brian Fuentes to be the closer, definite downgrade from K-Rod; they're also much weaker at 1B now, but they're a lot better than anyone else in AL West anyway.
-- John Daly got suspended from PGA Tour for six months, which may be why he's been playing in Europe so much lately.
-- Timberwolves blew 29-point lead and lost at Dallas, not an easy thing to do, either getting a big lead, or blowing it.
-- WAC teams wind up 1-4 in bowl games, with only win vs MAC teams; Mid-American teams are still winless in bowl season.
-- Rice got its first bowl win since '54 Cotton Bowl, good for them.
-- Funny that Mike Shanahan got fired but Dick Jauton didn't; who would you rather have as your head coach?
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Wednesday's List of 13: Suggestions for 2009 (yeah, right).....
13) The one thing we need next year is Plaxico Burress to come up with a line of sports clothes, complete with kevlar pants. You can never be too safe when you go clubbing.
12) I'd like to see some of those NHL teams that are struggling in the Sun Belt to move back to Canada, where hockey is king.
11) I know this is a pipedream, and I've ranted about it a lot this fall, but could we get the NFL Network on basic cable? I know Sunday Ticket is stuck on DirecTV, but the NFL Network we should get.
10) I'd like to see NBA teams be allowed to play any defense they want to; in what other sport are there illegal defenses? College hoops are fun, and they allow zones. Market teams and not stars.
9) I'd like to see Terrell Owens become a pro wrestler. Fulltime.
8) I'd like to see ESPN hire Billy Packer to work a couple of games a week; the guy was working college hoop back when we saw one game a week on the CD Chesley network.........he deserves that much.
7) I'd like NBC to tell Notre Dame that if they want to cash checks like they're a football factory, then start acting like one-- re-invest a little cash into their athletic facilities, and relax admission standards so they can compete with the USCs of the world. Its not too much to for NBC to ask that Notre Dame be an 8 or 9-win team every year,
6) I'd like the NFL to take the radios out of players' helmets, make the game more human, less robotic and coach-driven.
5) How about if ESPN hired Maria Bartiromo as an anchor? Why do I have to put CNBC on to see her? Is this too much to ask?
4) Actually, I'd like to be able to tailor my own cable system, with no CSPANs, no soccer, no food channels, but lot of sports and movies. Why isn't this possible? We put a man on the moon 40 years ago, but I can't watch any TV stations I want? Hmmmmmmm
3) Baseball needs to lift the blackout on Extra Innings package for the Saturday afternoon games; because FOX shows a Game of the Week, I get to watch less baseball, even though I'm paying $180 for season to supposedly watch every game. This makes no sense.
2) I'd like to see a PGA Tour event where each player is allowed to use only four or five clubs, just something different. They're usually allowed to use fourteen clubs.
1) We need the NBA to hold a 64-player 1-on-1 tournament in the summer, with each player naming a charity to play for. How great would this be? They'd raise a freakin' fortune.......
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