By Brian Hoffman – Sports Editor
Today is day 84 AG, or 84 days since Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19 and all sports as we know it came to a grinding halt.
For those of you who like to put down a wager on sports, it’s been a tough couple months. Normally at this time of the year you’d have NBA and NHL playoffs. The Stanley Cup Finals would be going on right now and the NBA finals were originally scheduled to begin on Thursday of this week. And, there would be baseball games every night to bet on.
For the gamblers, that’s a great chance to make a bunch of money. Then again, if you’re like most bettors it’s also a great chance to lose a lot of money, but you can’t win if you don’t play.
I receive periodic e-mails from a service named SportsBetting.ag. You can bet on all kinds of stuff on your phone, from Esports to horse racing to on line casino betting. I don’t participate, but somehow they got my e-mail and they send me odds on all kinds of things, and some are pretty interesting.
For example, I’m sure many of you watched the golf match where Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning played against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady. It turned out to be very popular, as you would expect with very little live sports on TV. Well, SportsBetting.ag sent me the odds on the next celebrities to team up with Tiger and Lefty, and the list is very interesting.
The favorites to compete in the next match are Michael Jordan and Stephen Curry. Jordan is -150 to play with Woods and Curry is -150 to team up with Mickelson. In that scenario you would risk $150 to win $100 if you put a wager on either Jordan or Curry to compete in the match.
That would be a match to watch. Most fans know about Jordan’s affinity to golf and I’ve heard Curry is also very good on the links. As competitive as Jordan is(did you watch The Last Dance?), it would be fun to watch him go against Curry, teamed with the two pros.
Another interesting name is Tony Romo, who is +275 to team with Woods. In that case you would win $275 if you risk $100 and Romo is selected to play with Woods. Jerry Rice is +850, Charles Barkley is +1,200(that would be fun) and Larry Fitzgerald is +2,500.
If you want to bet on who will play with Mickelson you would get $400 back on a $100 bet on Steve Young. Aaron Rodgers is +500, Drew Brees is +700 and Aaron Judge is +800. I’ll bet Judge could drive one a long way.
The last two entries on the list are the most intriguing. Former President Barack Obama is listed at +8,000 to play with Mickelson and current President Donald Trump is +25,000 to play with Woods. So, if you take Trump to play in the next match with Woods you’re risking $100 with a chance to win $25,000. Of course, you’d think Trump would be too busy at this crazy time in the country to go out and play a round of golf, wouldn’t you?
What kind of TV audience would you get for a match with Woods and Trump playing against Mickelson and Obama? It would likely be the most watched golf event ever, and a great chance to raise some money for charity like the recent match with Manning and Brady.
I bet you’d get some good trash talking as Trump loves to hate on Obama, although he usually does it on Twitter. Maybe they can hold the match in Honolulu, and they can visit the hospital where Obama was born to get confirmation that Hawaii was in the United States in 1961.
You can also bet on Tiger or Phil no matter who their partner is. As of today Tiger is the favorite at -150 with Mickelson coming in at +110. You can even bet on the number of viewers, over or under five million. If it’s Trump and Obama and that goes “over” for sure. Probably the same for Jordan and Curry.
Another e-mail I received has the odds of who will be the next coach of the New York Knicks. David Fizdale started this season as Knicks coach but was fired after 22 games and replaced by Mike Miller, whose odds are +500 of being retained. He’s third among a list of possible coaches.
Tom Thibodeau is the favorite at -250, so you’d be risking $250 to win $100 if you put your money on “Tibs.” Mark Jackson is next at +250, then comes Miller, Jeff Van Gundy at +1,000 and Mike Woodson at +1,200.
One interesting name is Phil Jackson, who coached the Bulls and Lakers to 11 championships. Phil played for the Knicks and was also team President from 2014 to 2017. His odds of being the next Knicks coach are +15,000, meaning you’d win $15,000 on a $100 bet if Phil returns to New York as coach.
Of course, there’s a reason those odds are so high. While Phil was a great coach, he always had great players(Jordan, Pippen, Shaq, Kobe) and there are no great players on the Knicks(Frank Ntilikina, Bobby Portis). Also, Phil will be 75 years old in September and who wants that kind of trouble at that age? Don’t say Joe Biden.
Finally, I got an e-mail for the odds on who will be the NFL Coach of the Year this season. They probably have odds on if the season is even going to be played, but that wasn’t included.
The favorites are interesting. Both are 12 to 1, so if you bet $10 and get it right you would win $120.
The two favorites, both at 12 to 1, are Bill Belichick and Bruce Arians. In other words, the service thinks either Belichick is going to do a great job of coaching WITHOUT Tom Brady, or Arians is going to have a great season with the Buccaneers WITH Tom Brady. Personally I’d love to see Arians do well, as he’s a former Hokie and a colorful guy.
Mike McCarthy, the new coach of the Cowboys, is next at 14-1. Andy Reid, who is coming off a Super Bowl season, is fifth ranked at 18-1, tied with Kevin Stefanski of the Browns, Kliff Kingsbury of the Cardinals and Sean McDermott of the Bills. Of course those odds are for “Coach of the Year,” not Super Bowl champ. However, if Stefanski wins the Super Bowl with the Browns he’s going to get Coach of the Year, that’s a lock.
I have some bad news for you Redskins fans. New coach Ron Rivera is tied for 27th among the 32 NFL coaches at 40 to 1. That might not be a bad bet. I think Rivera is a good coach and I like some of the moves the Redskins have made in the off-season. To risk $10 on Rivera now with a chance to win $400 might be a good gamble.
The Lions Matt Patricia is 24th on the Coach of the Year odds at 33 to 1. However, he’s at the top of another list. He has the best odds, at 30 to 1, to be the first coach fired.
RUNNING ON EMPTY
For the first time in 124 years the Boston Marathon has been cancelled. The race was originally scheduled for April 20, then postponed until September 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last week it was officially cancelled and will be held as a virtual event.
Instead of the traditional race, runners can complete the 26.2 miles any time between September 7 and 14 and send in the results. In order to receive t-shirts and medals the runner will have to finish within six hours and verify the result.
In a related story, President Donald J. Trump has announced that he will run the marathon for the first time in September and send in his result, which he assures will be well under the six hour time limit. Attorney General William Barr and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani have agreed to verify the results.
