Beasley hopes to turn over new leaf in Minnesota
Basketball Betting Lines
07/23/2010 -
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Telling the truth has never been much of a
problem for me, especially with things that really aren't going to amount to
much when Saint Peter is making the decision on whether I'm fit to enter the
pearly gates.
Back in 1998, I was one of dozens of columnists that thought Ryan Leaf would
be a better pro quarterback than Peyton Manning. Fast-forward 12 years and I'm
one of the few that still admit to that error.
Heck, Leaf had the stronger gun and was actually a better athlete than Peyton
at the time, but those kinds of measurables didn't take into account the 10-
cent head and spotty work ethic that accompanied Leaf's million-dollar arm.
Hindsight painted me as a poor judge of talent and the former Washington State
star as not only one of the biggest disappointments in NFL history but a
felon. On April 14 of this year Leaf pleaded guilty in Amarillo, Tex. to seven
counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of delivery
of a simulated controlled substance. The court sentenced Leaf to 10 years of
probation and fined him $20,000.
One little mistake shouldn't stop anyone from getting back on the horse,
however, and I have done it many times over the years with some good
predictions and some bad.
In 2008, I was back on the NBA beat and thought the Chicago Bulls should have
taken Kansas State star Michael Beasley over Windy City native Derrick Rose.
It was certainly a defensible position. Beasley was one of the most dominant
players in the country during his freshman campaign at K-State, averaging 26.2
and a nation's best 12.4 rebounds. His 866 total points and 408 rebounds
ranked third and second, respectively, among all freshmen in NCAA history, and
the Maryland native also led the nation in double-doubles (28), 40-point games
(three), 30-point, 10-rebound games (13), and 20-point, 10-rebound games (22).
The resume' was there but the thing that put Beasley over the top for me was
his size. At 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds, "Beastley" had the prototypical NBA
body.
The Bulls made their decision and plucked Rose, while Miami settled for Beasley
at No. 2. It certainly hasn't been the basketball equivalent of Manning-Leaf
just yet, but you can bet Chicago is quite happy with its selection thus far.
Rose was named Rookie of the Year in 2009. an All-Star in 2010 and has
developed into one of the game's best point guards while Beasley has struggled
mightily with the off-the-floor problems.
In September of 2008, Beasley was involved in an incident at the NBA's Rookie
Transition Program along with fellow freshman Mario Chalmers and Darrell
Arthur. Police responded to the hotel room of Chalmers and Arthur following a
fire alarm and claimed that the room smelled strongly of burning marijuana,
but none was found and no charges were filed. Beasley was eventually fined
$50,000 by the NBA for his involvement in the incident after Heat basketball
chief Pat Riley forced him to confess to league officials that he had slipped
out the door when the police arrived.
Things worsened by the next year when Beasley checked himself into a Houston
rehab facility, just days after he posted pictures of himself on Twitter with
what looked like marijuana in the background. The forward also wrote a number
of vague postings hinting at suicide.
Beasley emerged unscathed and actually improved most of his numbers during his
sophomore season in South Beach but with Riley executing a plan to team Dwyane
Wade with LeBron James and Chris Bosh, he was no longer part of the plan in
South Florida.
The former second overall pick was shipped unceremoniously to the Twin Cities
for a pair of second-round picks in order to clear much needed salary cap
space.
One man's trash can be another's treasure and the rebuilding Wolves think they
might have something in the supremely talented Beasley.
That said, Minnesota president of basketball operations David Kahn has quickly
made it clear that the kid gloves are off, speaking very honestly about
Beasley's perceived problems.
"Michael Beasley smoked too much pot in Miami, but he's a changed man now.
Make that, changed young man," Kahn told a Minneapolis area radio station.
"He's a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana and has told
me that he's not smoking anymore and I told him that I would trust him as long
as that was the case."
It's conceivable the more laid-back, family-friendly Midwestern atmosphere is
just what Beasley needs to turn over a new "Leaf" and finally become the
player he should be.
"He has developed a really good support system around him this past season in
Miami," Kahn said. "He is growing up -- he's not grown up. He's 21. If you had
given me this kind of money and put me in this kind of world with these kinds
of pressures attached to it and some of the demands, I don't know how well I
would have handled it. I think that if Michael was 25 or 26, maybe I would
have felt differently. Some of these kids simply deserve the opportunity to
make mistakes and grow up."
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The deal for the second-round draft choice is reportedly worth $1.7 million
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Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vancouver Canucks defenseman Sami Salo is
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Sanogo left
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
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