Duke is the 2010 NCAA Champions but Butler put up one of the great games in sports history. Boxer Rocky Lockridge gets his one shining moment as the recovering crack addict is featured on A&E, his reputation far from unvarnished.
OffshoreInsiders.com ace handicapper Matt Rivers says to go with the Anaheim Angels at home laying 125 to Minnesota.
Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are both superstars making Minnesota a formidable opponent on any night. Throw in a very solid Nick Blackburn on the bump and the Twins have a shot to win this game and almost any game. But with that said I also really like the Southpaw Joe Saunders and believe that he can neutralize the Twins lefty studs and at home Mike Scioscia's Angels are a tad too cheap here to pass up. Let's also realize that Joe Nathan is not there in the end for the Twinkies and that cannot be overlooked. I'm not saying it's the end all but it is something that is important.
Anaheim did lose a lot of guys in the offseason. Figgins, Vlad and Lackey are all gone and will be missed but Hideki Matsui will give this lineup a tremendous amount of balance and the organization from top to bottom is so solid led by Scioscia that I truly do not believes these guys will lose a beat. Both Kendrick and Morales are guys that are still underated, despite past success, and could be All-Stars this season. Add in an experienced star in Abreu and the Angels are going to give a ton of teams fits.
The Halos are still clearly the best team in the AL West and have great hitters and a lot of team speed. I would categorize both clubs as small ball teams that like to run the bases and go first to third as good as any but out west the edge definitely goes to Anaheim.
Minnesota and Anaheim are fundamentally sound squads that have a shot to go fairly far this season. Neither will confuse you with Boston or the Yankees but both are the next tier down. All in all at home I can't help but prefer the Halos here behind Saunders in a well played ballgame.
The pick: LA Anaheim -125 at BetUs
Courtesy of OddsShark.com:
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Cavaliers play host to the Raptors, the Capitals meet the Penguins, and the Yankees and BoSox battle at Fenway Park.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . . After a one-day break the NBA returns with nine games on Tuesday: Detroit at Philadelphia, Golden State at Washington, Atlanta at Charlotte, Boston at New York, Milwaukee at Chicago, Houston at Memphis, Oklahoma City at Utah, San Antonio at Sacramento, and Toronto at Cleveland. The Raptors (38-38 SU, 36-40 ATS) are still clinging to the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, and they didn't help their cause with a 113-112 loss to Golden State on Sunday. The Cavs (60-17 SU, 35-40-2 ATS) fell 117-113 in Boston in their Sunday outing, but they're 2-1 this season against a Raptors team they might meet in the first round.
Meeting up on the diamond . . . There are just four games on the American League schedule for Tuesday, with Baltimore at Tampa Bay, Minnesota at the Angels, Seattle at Oakland, and the Yankees at Boston. The Red Sox won their season opener against the Yankees on Sunday night, rallying in the final three innings for a 9-7 victory. Boston's Jon Lester will take on New York's A.J. Burnett on Tuesday as the teams get back to business following a day off. Lefthander Lester went 15-8 for the BoSox last season, posting a 3.41 and 225 strikeouts in 203.1 innings. Righthander Burnett was 13-9 last year, compiling a 4.04 ERA and 195 strikeouts over his 207 innings.
Meanwhile, there are just three games on the National League slate for Tuesday, with Colorado at Milwaukee, San Diego at Arizona, and San Francisco at Houston. The Giants will hand the ball to Barry Zito on Tuesday night; lefthander Zito had a 10-13 record for San Francisco last season, with a 4.03 ERA and 154 strikeouts over his 192 innings of work. The Astros will counter Zito with Wandy Rodriguez; lefthander Rodriguez was 14-12 for Houston last year with a 3.02 ERA. Rodriguez also struck out 193 batters over 205.2 innings in the '09 season. Get all the sports picks from the nation's best NBA spread experts and more on the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.
Taking a trip around the rink . . . Finally, the National Hockey League offers up an 11-game slate for Tuesday, including a marquee matchup between the Capitals and Penguins in Pittsburgh. The 45-26-7 Penguins got back into the win column last time out, knocking off Atlanta by a score of 4-3 on Saturday. Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, Tyler Kennedy, and Jordan Leopold (in overtime) scored for Pittsburgh in that comeback win. The Penguins, though, are 0-3 in three games so far this season against a Capitals team that has now wrapped up the Eastern Conference title. Also on the ice on Tuesday: the Rangers at Buffalo, Ottawa at Florida, Philadelphia at Toronto, New Jersey at Atlanta, Montreal at the Islanders, Carolina at Tampa Bay, Chicago at Dallas, Los Angeles at Anaheim, San Jose at Calgary, and Colorado at Vancouver.
The 40-30-9 Flames and 42-29-7 Avalanche continue to battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference; Calgary fell 4-1 in Chicago in their last game on Sunday, while Colorado beat San Jose 5-4 the same day. The Avalanche have a two-point lead on the Flames.
