Orlando Looks to Take 3 to 1 Lead Over Cleveland

This is an easy one in my mind.  Orlando is just better than Cleveland and should be able to pull off a victory tonight to push the Cavs to brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference Finals.

 

In Game 1 of this series, Orlando came back from 15 down to win.  In Game 2, it took a last second shot form LeBron James for the Cavs to secure the victory.  In Game 3, the Magic dominated.  Tonight the Magic, since they are at home, should dominate again with Dwight Howard putting up great numbers and the Magic defense keeping the Cavs at under 30% from behind the arc.  I see a 4 to 6 point victory from the Magic tonight.

 

 

Lakers Look to Even Series Against Nuggets

The Lakers are underdogs for the first time in a long time tonight when they travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets.  L.A. is still a very good team, but most NBA fans have to have seen some serious issues regarding this nuggets team.

 

For one, their front line isn't nearly as good as Denver's.  With Nene, Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets provide a stiff test for anybody.  The test is one that L.A. has yet to pass wtih Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

 

The second issue is that at the point guard position, the Lakers are horribly overmatched.  Derik Fisher and Jordan Farmar have no chance against Chauncey Billups.  The former heart and soul of the Detroit Pistons has taken his calm demeanor to a team with the ability to win a championship.

 

 

Zenyatta Returns - Unbeatable?

Zenyatta returns in the Grade II Milady Handicap today at Hollywood Park.  Is she unbeatable?  In this field, she definitely is.  Will she stay unbeatable?  That remains to be seen.  The fantastic three year old filly, Rachel Alexandra, could give Zenyatta a run for her money...maybe.

 

The truth is that if Rachel owner Jess Jackson wanted to test Alexandra, he'd do it against Zenyatta, not against the three year old colts.  Zenyatta is good enough to beat practially any horse in the world.  Rachel isn't quite there yet.

Terminator Salvation or Night At the Museum II?

I'm debating on whether I should go to see Terminator Salvation or Night at the Museum II this weekend.  The missus wants to see Night at the Museum II and I think I do as well.

 

The trailers for Terminator make it look a bit too heavy handed for me.  You can't go wrong with Ben Stiller, right?

Friday Night's at Hollywood Park

It's another Friday night at Hollywood Park with the featured race, Race 7 looking awfully tough, but I think I'm gong with Noblety.

 

Noblety steaded at the 5/8ths and 3/8ths poles in his last bust still managed to finish 4th by only 4 furlongs.  He gets Zenyatta's jock, Mike Smith, to take the call and if he can stay out of trouble, he should be able to win this as there is a ton of speed to set up his pressing style.

 

 

Churchill Downs Race 10 is Our Dhalia's To Lose

There are only 7 entrants in Race 10 at Churchill Downs on Friday but I really like Our Dhalia.  The morning line chalk should be able to stalk a somewhat fast pace and then take over at the top of the lane.

 

But nothing's ever easy in horse racing.  Three other's in here have a shot to beat Our Dhalia - - Hungry Tigress, who could be close to the pace, Abbott Hall and Complicity.  All three have legitimate shots.

 

That's why I'm setting my wager up like this:

 

Exacta:  Our Dhalia over Hungry Tigress, Abbott Hall and Complicity and reversing for less.

 

 

NASCAR: Jeff Gordon...An Early Retirement?

It would be an absolute shame if Jeff Gordon had to retire from racing becasue of his back problems.  I just saw this story on ESPN.  Gordon is easily one of the greatest drivers to ever step into a racecar.  He also happens to be the Sprint Cup points leader at this juncture in the NASCAR season.  That means he's still on top of his game.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4195694

 

 

Lakers vs. Nuggets? Stats Say Lakers but I like Nuggets

Every stat I've ready after Game 1 says that the Lakers, if anything, beat the Nuggets by more tonight, but I'm nto so sure about that.  The Nuggets have shown resiliency in their games during these playoffs and the type of toughness they bring to the game tonight could be huge.

 

If Kobe doesn't put up 40 again, the Lakers could lose by a few points in this one.  L.A. relies heavily on Bryant mentally, meaning that when their leader and star is off, they are off, and without his excellent play, they tend to give up.

 

I think that Billups and 'Melo for the Nuggets make a pretty awesome team.  It's gong to bet tough, but Denver looks tough.  They could steal one in L.A. tonight.

American Idol: Kris Allen's Win Not Surprising

I had been tracking the ratings on MSNBC yesterday and, if I remember correctly, after close to 31,000 ratings, that's when I stopped looking, Kris Allen had garnered a rating of 7.55 for his performance on Tuesday night while Adam Lambert had garnered a rating of 6.83.

 

The percentages pretty much said that Allen was going to win.  What cost Lambert was exactly the reason the judges loved him so much from the beginning - - originality.  Lambert is unique in today's music scene and uiniqueness puts most regular watchers of American Idol off.  They prefer Barry Manilow like simplicity.  If they can't get that, then a soft spoken, handsome, shy, yet gregarious singer will do.

 

Kris is the sort of kid you wouldn't mind your daughter dating.  Adam?  You wouldn't want your daughter or son dating!

 

Hey, it's American Idol's fault.  They decided to dominate the music business.  Well, they have, by funneling boring singer/songwriters our way.

 

 

 

 

American Idol: Adam Lambert Should Win but Kris Allen's Got a Shot

Sure, Adam Lambert should win.  He's the best singer and he definitely got the most applause but I believe it's time for us to be honest with ourselves.

 

Adam doesn't have an army of teeny boppers looking to buy his album.  Kris does.  So, even though I'm not man enough to say that Lambert gets  beat tonight, I am man enough to say that Lambert isn't a lock and that if I had to put money on it, which you can through BetUS, I'd have to wager on Kris.

 

 

Larry King and Horse Racing

This is a great excerpt from King's autobiography.  Only real horseplayers will understand what this must have felt like for King.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/books/05/14/larry.king.track/index.html

Son House - - Where are the guitar tabs?

I can find only one guitar tab for Son House on the internet.  That would be for his song, "Death Letter".

 

I keep wondering why that is?

 

 

Winston Churchill Had it Right When Learning to Bet Horses

I was reading an article regarding Crispin Porter and their Burger King ads on Adweek. http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i9ffdbbfa915bd89c4ff1ce4d0e77d892?pn=2

 

 

In the article is a quote from Winston Churchill - - 'Play for more than you can afford to lose and you'll learn the game"

 

Sounds like Churchill was a horse betting man!  He's right, of course.  When it comes to gambling, especially on horses, you have to learn how to play the game by taking risks.  That means not betting 1 to 5 shots at River Downs in a $5,000 claimer.

 

But it has to be a smart risk.  Which is where handicapping ability comes into play, right?

 

Movies: Star Trek Brilliant...Angels & Demons Left Me Thinking..huh?

I saw Star Trek over the weekend and it was brilliant.  Flat-out brilliant.  Just a terrifically fun, smart, movie.  It's what we've come to expect from J.J. Abrams.

 

Now, Angels and Demons sort of made no sense.  I had a problem with the villian, actually.  I won't get into it, but my issue is that he went through extraordinary lengths to make himself appear to be a hero.  Also, there were a key moments early on in the film where, if the villian had any sort of intelligence at all, he simply wouldn't have made the decisions that he made.

 

If anybody has comments about either film, let me know. 

Preakness Stakes No Surprise But Neither Rachel Alexandra nor Mine That Bird Would Be a Lock in the Belmont

The Preakness wasn't reallya  surprise although I feel that Friesan Fire and Pioneerof the Nile really did a disservice to themselves by not battling for the lead early on in the race.

 

Once Rachel got an easy tracking position on the outside of Big Drama it was just a matter of whether or not Musket Man or Mine That Bird could get to her.  Mine That Bird couldn't, unfortunately.  But the gelded son of Birdstone ran a brilliant race and would easily win the Eclipse Award for three year olds should he win the Belmont.

 

But winning the Belmont won't be easy should horses like Charitable Man and Dunkirk show up.  Those two might be just as good as Rachel and Mine That Bird and they will be fresh.