Can the Redeem Team bring back the Gold Medal in men’s
basketball to the USA?
Despite recent ineptitude, Team USA
led by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo
Anthony and Dwayne Wade are overwhelming 1/4 favorites to not flop this campaign.

The Americans did look impressive in sweeping all three
tune-up contests. Spain,
led by Pau Gasol,
Jose-Manuel Calderon, and Juan Carlos Navarro is next at 7/2. Clutch Manu
Ginobili leads Argentina,
which seems like a fantastic long shot at 10/1.

The Argentineans also have NBA players Fabricio
Oberto, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, and Carlos Delfino.

Russia
is 14/1, followed by Lithuania
at 20/1. In contrast to previous Olympiads, neither of the former Soviet
countries features a current NBA athlete.

The famed “Miracle on Ice” when the USA shocked the world
and won the 1980 Olympic hockey Gold Medal, is widely considered to be the
biggest sports story of last century, as voted by virtually ever media outfit
that compiled such a list.

The oddsmakers are apparently given little credence to a
major factor in the stunner: being the host country. Host China
is a mind-boggling 50/1 despite being led by current NBA stars Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, former NBA player Wang Zhizhi and several CBA
contributors. All the ingredients for a “Miracle on Rice” are there.

Perennial power Croatia
is also considered a probable also ran at 100/1. Check out all the Beijing Olympic
betting odds.

The kickoff of the 2008 season still is weeks away but
there are at least a couple of good reasons why college football betting should
be near the top of your wagering playbook right now.

For starters, it’s never too early to begin
researching the upcoming gridiron campaign, which begins with 14 games on
Thursday, Aug. 28. More importantly, sportsbooks already have future book lines
posted, asking gamblers to wager on which university will be crowned the Bowl
Champion Series (BCS) national titleholder in Miami,
January
8, 2009.

Sure, some future book lists are drenched with vigorish, but savvy bettors understand that a swig of
bitter juice this summer may be worth the discomfort if you can taste the fruit
at the end of the vine come January. That’s because while betting an individual
team may have some value in and of itself, the real advantage is in holding a ticket
on a live team for the BCS title game.

In that regard, bettors need not pick the winner of
the BCS game, just one of the two participants. If you have the favorite in
futures, then you can assure yourself a solid payday by betting the underdog in
the championship game. You can take the points and possibly win twice-if your
future book favorite wins but does not cover-or opt for the dog on the money
line, where you’ll only win once, but the return on the underdog will be
greater.

If you hold a future book ducat on the BCS underdog,
then a profit can be assured by betting the favorite on the money line.

Of course, before any of this college football
betting manipulation can take place, you have to identify a likely candidate
(or three) for the BCS title game. Like last year, it’s unlikely that the
championship game will feature an undefeated team and, as was the case last
season, even a team with two defeats could play for the title.

With that in mind, let’s look at some early
contenders (future book odds in parentheses):

Southern Cal (3/1): The Trojans
have some huge holes to fill (seven players were drafted in the first two
rounds) but Coach Pete Carroll has shown an ability to quickly reload and this
year should be no different.  What’s more, USC gets all its toughest foes—Ohio
State, Oregon, Cal,
Arizona State
and Notre Dame—at home, where they’re 35-1, straight up, since 2001.

Florida
(13/2): Sixteen returning starters, including Heisman Trophy
winning quarterback Tim Tebow auger well for the
Gators making a strong rn at their second national
title in three years.  The schedule is favorable with top opponents LSU
and South Carolina forced to
visit The Swamp and Georgia on a neutral field in Jacksonville. 
Still, getting through the SEC minefield unscathed won’t be easy.

Ohio State (8/1): The
Buckeyes return 19 starters from last year’s BCS runner-up, the most of any
team in the top 25.  Their defense is rock solid but Ohio
STate has
a September trip to USC that could derail their title aspirations, if only
temporarily.

Oklahoma (10/1): Sam
Bradford, the NCAA’s most efficient quarterback last
season, returns, as do a doszen other starters, and the Sooners meet all their most challenging
opponents including Texas Tech, Nebraska
and Kansas, at home.  Missouri
is ot on this year’s
schedule and, as usual, the game against Texas
in Dallas, Oct. 11, will go a long
way in deciding each team’s future.

Georgia (10/1): The good
news is that the Bulldogs, who finished ranked second nationally a season ago,
return 17 starters.  The bad news is that they have the third most
difficult schedule in college football this year, paying top 25 teams LSU, Auburn
and South Carolina on the road
and Florida on a neutral
field.  Win three out of four and Georgia
could be in the title game.

Texas (12/1): Given a
brutal schedule that features games against Oklahoma,
Texas Tech, Missouri and Kansas,
we think 12/1 is a little light for a team that returns just 11 starters.

Virginia
Tech (15/1), Missouri (15/1), LSU (18/1), West Virginia (20/1), Auburn (20/1),
Clemson (20/1), Wisconsin (30/1), Illinois (30/1), Tennessee (30/1) and Kansas
(33/1) all have appeal
as college football betting future book longshots who
could surprise in what looks like a wide-open race to the BCS title.

Tiger Woods is injured, and Phil Mickelson has
never performed very well at the British Open, so that leaves South Africa’s
Ernie Els as the big Vegas favorite to win the major.
British Open odds.

Els went into The Open Championship at just 8/1 odds to grab
the trophy, which is something he did at this tournament back in 2002. Els has also had a lot of close calls at the event, with
three second-place results (1996, 2000, and 2004), two third-place finishes
(2001 and 2006), and a fourth-place finish at last year’s tourney at Carnoustie.

Mickelson falls in behind Els
on the odds list at 10/1, with Sergio Garcia at 12/1, and both Justin Rose and
defending champion Padraig Harrington at 15/1. Lee
Westwood, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, Retief
Goosen, and Vijay Singh were all pegged at 20/1 odds
to get the win by Vegas, with Geoff Ogilvy and Luke Donald just a little
farther back at 25/1.

Other notables and their British Open odds this
week include Stuart Appleby (30/1), Stewart Cink
(35/1), Justin Leonard (35/1), K.J. Choi (35/1), Stephen Ames (40/1), and Mike Weir (40/1).
Miguel Angel Jimenez is a longshot at just 60/1 odds
to get the victory.

The start of the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale dominates the sports news on Thursday, but Major
League Baseball also swings back into action. There are four games on the
diamond Thursday, with the Mets at Cincinnati, San
Diego at St. Louis, and Pittsburgh at Colorado in the NL, and Detroit at Baltimore in the AL.

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The top pitching matchup will be in St. Louis, where the Padres’ Jake Peavy
(7-5, 2.47 ERA) will take on the Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse
(11-2, 3.39 ERA). Peavy has allowed more than three
earned runs in an outing only twice this year – and it hasn’t happened since he
returned from the DL on June 12. The righthander is
coming off a strong outing against the Braves in which he tossed seven
scoreless innings and fanned seven hitters.

Lohse is 8-0 with two no-decisions over his last 10 starts,
allowing three or fewer earned runs in nine of those outings. The righthander also tossed seven scoreless innings in his last
trip to the mound, striking out three Pirates and giving up six hits in his 11^th
victory.

Johan Santana, well rested since he wasn’t invited
to the All-Star Game, will start for the Mets on Thursday, and he’ll be looking
to help the team run its winning streak to 10 games. The lefthander blanked the
Giants on three hits over five innings in his final start of the first half,
but he’d gone winless over his six starts prior to that despite solid lines.
Santana is scheduled to face the Reds’ Johnny Cueto,
who lost the Cubs last time out.

There are three WNBA
games on the schedule for Thursday, with Minnesota at Houston, Washington at New
York, and Los Angeles at Phoenix. The Sparks got another big game from Candace Parker on Monday night as
they cruised to a 75-62 win over the Silver Stars. Parker tossed in 24 points
and grabbed 10 rebounds on the night.

Finally, there’s on Canadian Football League game on tap for Thursday, with
the Tiger-Cats out in Calgary to
face the Stampeders. Hamilton
is just 1-2 straight up and 1-2 against-the-spread so far this season, but the
one time they did cover was on the road. Calgary
is 2-1 SU and 2-1 ATS, and they managed to cover in their only home contest.

Wise investors are already cashing in on offshore drilling
to beat the struggling economy. Smart Democrats and Republicans agree on how significant
financial windfalls can be drilled offshore. Offshore sportsbooks and OffshoreInsiders.com
that is.

We are not talking about black gold or Texas
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sports market. Cy McCormick of the MasterLockLine, which has outperformed
NASDAQ every year since 1981 says this is a good time
to invest with the elite sports
handicappers.

Referring to the scorephone origins, McCormick stated, “We
pick up the highest number of permanent clients when the economy goes sour”
because the sharpest businessperson liquidates their stocks and invests in the
more predictable sports betting marketplace.

Mike Godsey of GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com,
could not agree more. “Baseball is generally a slow time for sportsbooks. Because of our prowess
with small favorites and underdogs, the low risk, high return commodity is more
precious than ever.”

When asked if he feels sympathy that tough economic times
lead to a boon in business for his sports
service, Godsey wryly responds, “I only feel sorry for those who continue
to lose money gambling on stocks.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be looking to continue to
race up the driver standings on Sunday when he takes to the track at Infineon Raceway for this season’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Check out the NASCAR
betting line.

Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag last week in
the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway,
holding off Kasey Kahne and
Matt Kenseth for the win. Dale Junior last won a Cup
event back in 2006, and he ended a drought spanning 76 races.

Brian Vickers and Tony Stewart rounded out the Top 5 at Michigan,
while Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler, and Jamie
McMurray made up the rest of the day’s Top 10. Kevin Harvick
was 12th on the day, points leader Kyle Busch was
13th, Denny Hamlin was 14th, and Jeff Burton ended up in 15th place at the
finish.

Martin Truex Jr. (17th), Jeff Gordon (18th), and
Greg Biffle (20th) also cracked the Top 20 at Michigan,
while Clint Bowyer ended up in 26th place, and Juan Montoya was 38th.

Earnhardt Jr. still sits
in third place in the driver standings, but he’s now just 84 points behind
first-place Busch. Burton is 32
points back of the leader in second place after 15 events. Edwards, Johnson,
Hamlin, Kahne, Biffle,
Gordon, Harvick, Stewart, and Bowyer also sit in
Top-12 positions in the standings and above the Chase’s cutoff line.

Ragan is only 10 points behind Bowyer for 12th place, while Kenseth moved up one spot into 14th with his result at Michigan
(14 points behind Bowyer). Truex Jr. and Vickers sit
just behind Kenseth, while Ryan Newman dropped three
spots into 17th place after running into engine troubles on the weekend and
finishing well back in 42nd.

Former Formula One driver Montoya picked up the victory at the Infineon road course last year, after starting way back
from the No. 32 spot on the grid. Montoya sits back in 22nd place in the
current standings, and he will be hoping for a solid result this weekend.

Gordon has five career Cup wins on the Sonoma,
California track; he visited victory lane
there in 2006, 2004, 2000, 1999, and 1998. The only other active driver with
multiple Infineon wins is Stewart, who took the
checkered flag there in both 2005 and 2001. Robby Gordon won this event in the
2003 season, and Mark Martin got the win in 1997.

And the Vegas oddsmakers have Jeff Gordon and Stewart pegged as the 5/1
co-favorites to win at Infineon this weekend. Robby
Gordon, Montoya, and Scott Pruett are next at 7/1, with Kyle Busch and Harvick at 8/1, and Boris Said and Ron Fellows at 10/1.

Biffle begins the next tier of contenders at 12/1
odds, with Hamlin at 15/1, Bowyer and McMurray both at 18/1, and each of Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., and
Kurt Busch at 20/1. Burton, Newman,
and Patrick Carpentier are all at 22/1 odds, with
Johnson, Edwards, Kahne, and Dario Franchitti sitting just back of that group on the current
list at 25/1 odds.

Points leader Kyle Busch is still the oddsmakers’
choice to win the Sprint Cup this year – he’s pegged as the 5/2 favorite. Earnhardt Jr. is next at 3/1, with Edwards at 7/2, Johnson
at 5/1, and Hamlin at 7/1. Jeff Gordon is currently listed at 10/1 odds to win
the championship this season, with each of Stewart, Burton,
and Biffle sitting at 12/1 odds.

After racing at Infineon the drivers of the Sprint
Cup Series will move on to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the LENOX
Industrial Tools 301 on June 29. July’s schedule then features the Coke Zero
400 at Daytona International Speedway, the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland, and the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

As always, we will allow others to engage in rampant
speculation about Tim Donaghy’s latest bombshell finger pointing. We will
continue to give our fair
and balanced take.

Mind you, in lieu of a smoking gun, we are all engaging in
conjecture, but unlike others, I only claim to have educated theories, not the
definitive rejoinder.

Let’s rid of one apocryphal contention. I have heard enough of this “we didn’t believe
Jose Conseco either” balderdash. This is not to say I accepted every name and
detail from the get-go. However, the before/after comparisons of sundry players
girth, corroborated by rapidly ascending power statistics, had me long previously
convinced of MLB’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” steroid policy.

Whether or not such circumstantial evidence would hold up
in a court of law is irrelevant. The
visual and statistical evidence that existed long before Conseco’s casebound is infinitely more damning than any so-far undocumented
innuendo Donaghy has thrown against the wall.

Until Donaghy presents supporting evidence, here is my
learned take. The rogue criminal merely cherry-picked several high profile NBA
officiating controversies and decided to retro fit insinuation with the intent to
intimidate the NBA from aggressively seeking punitive action.

Yet he is fortunate enough to possess likely legitimate,
though irrelevant to his criminal charges, tattletale scuttlebutt that
conspiracy theorists will accept as proof that the more salacious
whistle-blowing (pun unintentional) is valid.

As an example, the jailbird alleges, “Team 3 lost the
first two games in the series and Team 3’s Owner complained to NBA officials.
Team 3’s Owner alleged that referees were letting a Team 4 player get away with
illegal screens. NBA Executive Y told Referee Supervisor Z that the referees
for that game were to enforce the screening rules strictly against that Team 4
player. Referee Supervisor Z informed the referees about his instructions. As
an alternate referee for that game, Tim also received these instructions.”

Coaches and players make game-to-game adjustments. The
fact that officials also view game film in order to correct errors, even on a
night-by-night basis, is every bit as commendable as it is believable. Nice try
convict, but thanks for the big “so what”.

He also alleges that in violation of league policy,
officials at times socialized with team hierarchy or solicited players for
autographs. While it’s quite plausible a referee requested a star player’s John
Hancock for their grandson, this is the equivalent of proving a person
jaywalked as evidence he is guilty of murder.

Okay Tim, we are sure officials didn’t obey the NBA’s
overbearing guidelines infallibly, but even if said squealing proves accurate,
it only demonstrates your fellow zebras human, not illicit. Score another “so
what” for the inmate.

Sadly though, early returns of the court of public opinion
suggest Donaghy’s indoctrination has been met with
initial success. While Donaghy skillfully planted confirmation bias to put the
NBA on the defensive, the burden of proof is on him to substantiate, not the
league to negate.

“Innocent until proven guilty” may not a burden of proof
that applies at the collective water coolers around the country, but the
desperado seems to be given a lot more credibility than he has earned.

In the book, Propaganda and Persuasion, authors Garth
S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell define propaganda as
“the deliberate, systematic attempt
to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a
response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”

In lieu of a
scinitlla of even an air of reality, it appears window dressing is all Donaghy
can deliver.

Joe Duffy is
the top sports handicapper in
America and CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com

It could be a historic day at Belmont
Park on Saturday, as Big Brown
tries to become only the 12^th horse ever and the first in 30
years to win the elusive Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes.

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Either due to his own dominance or to the questionable strength of
the field around him, Big Brown is a huge favorite to win the Belmont
at 2/5. It looked like Big Brown’s run at Affirmed – the last Triple Crown
winner – might be in jeopardy a few weeks ago after a crack was discovered in
his left front foot. However, the crack was found to be very minor and Big
Brown went through his regular training regimen without any problems leading up
to the Belmont. For added safety a
synthetic patch was applied to the hoof on Friday which should all
but erase any doubts regarding Big Brown’s health.

Judging by the rest of the odds for the 140^th running of the Belmont,
the only horse the oddsmakers think has a real chance to upset Big Brown is Casino
Drive, listed at 7/2. In his very short racing
career Casino Drive is undefeated in two races, both of which were impressive
victories. In his maiden, which took place in Japan, Casino Drive utterly
destroyed the rest of the field, winning by 11 ½ lengths. In his first race on American
soil, Casino Drive won the Peter Pan Stakes by 5 ¾ lengths.

Following Big Brown and Casino Drive on the Belmont odds is a former
challenger of Big Brown, Denis of Cork at 12/1. Denis of Cork last raced in the
Kentucky Derby and finished third behind Big Brown and the late Eight
Belles. Also returning from the Derby field to take another shot at Big Brown
is Tale of Ekati at 20/1 and Anak
Nakal at 30/1. Tale of Ekati
finished fourth in the Derby, while Anak Nakal was seventh.

There will also be two horses from the Preakness
Stakes field running in the Belmont. They include Macho Again, a 20/1 Belmont
underdog, and Icabad Crane, also listed at 20/1.
Macho Again finished as runner-up to Big Brown, while Icabad
Crane followed him in third place.

Odds to win Belmont Stakes

Big Brown 2/5
Casino Drive 7/2
Denis of Cork 12/1
Icabad Crane 20/1
Macho Again 20/1
Tale of Ekati 20/1
Anak Nakal 30/1
Da’ Tara 30/1
Ready’s Echo 30/1
Guadalcanal 50/1

North American gamblers are most concerned about the NBA Finals odds
and the Belmont
Stakes morning line but internationally football punters, also known as
soccer bettors, are abuzz about Euro 2008.

Switzerland
and the Czech Republic
kick things off, with the Swiss a modest -115 favorite. Much like American
sports bettors can wager on the baseball run line, there is a goal line to bet
on with Switzerland
laying -1/2 at +175.

The second contest sees Portugal
and Turkey,
with Portugal
an overwhelming -335 chalk, but also options for adjusted lines at -.5 or a
full goal.

Sunday sees Austria
and Croatia,
with the Croatians laying a half-goal. The next game will be broadcast in ESPN
as Germany is a
goal favorite to Poland.
Do you think the Poles will upset them outright? The money line will pay you
4-1.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals is not until Sunday, but at press
time Boston is a one-point favorite
at NewBodog.

For those who believe Big Brown will win the Triple Crown,
but the odds are too steep, gamblers can bet a parlay and match Big Brown with
the English Derby. The double sees him paired with Casual Conquest at 6/1, New
Approach and Tantan Bearer each at 7/1.

The NBA Finals continue this weekend (NBA line), while
the Belmont Stakes (Belmont Stakes
morning line) gives bettors another option on top of MLB, AFL, WNBA, NASCAR and Formula 1.

The NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics tipped off on Thursday night
with a 98-88 win by the Celts, and after two days off the series resumes in Boston
with Game 2 on Sunday. Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday night back in Los
Angeles. Get the best sports handicappers picks from OffshoreInsiders.com.

The 140th running of the Belmont Stakes goes on Saturday night with Big
Brown looking to snap a 30-year Triple Crown drought. Big Brown is a huge
favorite to make history at 1/3, while Casino Drive
is considered to be his biggest threat at 5/2.

In the Major Leagues this weekend Cleveland
takes on Detroit in what was
supposed to be a matchup of the top contenders in the American League Central.
Other AL divisional matchups include Baltimore
at Toronto, Minnesota
at the White Sox and the Angels at Oakland.
The rest of the AL weekend
schedule sees Seattle at Boston,
Kansas City at the Yankees and Tampa
Bay at Texas.

In the National League this weekend the only divisional matchups
on tap are Philadelphia at Atlanta
and St Louis at Houston.
Some other interesting matchups include Cincinnati
at Florida, Milwaukee
at Colorado and the Cubs at the
Dodgers. Rounding out the rest of the NL series are Arizona
at Pittsburgh, San
Francisco at Washington
and the Mets at San Diego.

On the gridiron this weekend Week 15 in the AFL kicks off on Saturday with a
very busy day that includes six games. Starting things off on Saturday night is
New Orleans at New
York (-1.5), Chicago at Cleveland
(+4.5) Colorado at Grand
Rapids (-6) and Georgia
at Columbus (+4). The rest of the Saturday schedule includes Orlando
at Tampa Bay
(-3.5) and Philadelphia at Dallas
(-1.5).

Sunday’s AFL schedule includes only one contest, as Arizona
takes on Kansas City (-3).

In the WNBA, the weekend gets started on Friday
night with six games. They include Minnesota
at Connecticut, Chicago
at Atlanta, Houston
at New York, Washington
at San Antonio, Detroit
at Sacramento and Phoenix
at Los Angeles.

There are three more games on Saturday, as Houston
battles Indiana, Atlanta
takes on Chicago and Detroit
travels to Seattle. Three more
games finish off the weekend on Sunday, as Washington
faces Connecticut, Sacramento
drops in on New York and San
Antonio clashes with Minnesota.

The drivers of NASCAR return to the track on Sunday at Pocono Raceway in the
Pocono 500. Jeff Gordon won at Pocono last season, but Kyle Busch will be the
favorite heading into the race, as the points leader goes for his fifth win of
the season.

Formula 1 also takes to the track in North America on
Sunday with the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
in Montreal. Lewis Hamilton is the
defending champion of this event and he should be one of the favorites to top
the podium again coming off a win in the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago.