Saturday Winner.........

While I usually wait until February to start littering the streets with college basketball winners, I am making an exception. Take out your pen and paper and take notes. Today's release is - Mizzouri -7.5 over Oklahoma State. Mizzouri is an excellent home team : 13-0 on the year and most recently 7-0 against the spread. Throughout recent years the prevailing trend in Big 12 games has been to bet the home team, especially when they are dogs. Although Mizzouri is laying a fat number, I expect them to win this game in convincing fashion.

No More Aloha.....

In an effort to generate more interest in their annual Pro Bowl game, the NFL has decided to play this years contest prior to the Superbowl. Memo to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: this is an assinine idea on many levels. For starters, the NFL's two biggest draws, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are both going to miss the game as a result of playing in the Superbowl the following week. Furthermore, guys like Brett Favre who got the snot kncoked out of him in last weeks' NFC Championship game are also going to be absent from the game. What does this leave us with? Vince Young, David Gerrard, and a slew of other players who have been late additions as a result of the massive defections that have taken place during the past week. Making matters worse, the commissioner has moved the game from Hawaii to Miami. Has this man no respect for tradition?
Without having any feel on who wins this game, I am releasing the Under (57) . While this play may appear to be the mother of all common man plays, sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice.

After perusing the various Superbowl prop bets, I came across one particularly interesting play.
Apparently there is an ad for a gay dating site (for dudes not women), that features two guys reaching for a bowl of chips before immediately breaking out into makeout mode. In full disclosure I have not seen this ad and I am strictly relying on what was reported on ESPN radio. At 5-1 odds against the spot running it might be worth a "shot in the dark" but as one astute reader noted in an email sent to me earlier - "since when has the Superbowl become a widely viewed event within the gay community? Unless I am missing something, is Joe six pack really a closet homosexual? Doubt it. Think this ad would be better served during the Oscars". Since Propick is strictly about gaming, this is not a prop play that will be released. However, I am releasing "Heads" in the annual coin flip (I have correctly predicted the coin flip in eight of the past ten Superbowls, including last year and in 2007 when the Colts last appeared).

Wednesday.........

Tonight in the NHL take the Rangers -140 over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Rangers have lost their last few games but are 4-1 in their last five against Eastern Conference teams. More importantly, Carolina is 5-16-4 on the road this season. Finally, the home team in this series is 16-7-1. Look for the Rangers to win this one going away.

Providence +5/5.5 over UConn. Following UConn-victs impressive victory at home over Texas, the common man will be falling all over himself trying to bet the Huskies. As average as Providence is, they play well at home and after an emotional win sparked by a huge second half run, UConn should play down to their competition. While I expect the Huskies to get their first road win of the season, I will not lay the wood in this one. Take the Friars and the points in this one.

According to Yankee's General Manager Brian Cashman "We cannot afford Johnny Damon". Despite fully appreciating all the posturing between Damon's agent Scott Boras and the Yankees, being told that the Yankees don't have the money is the equivalent of Tiger Woods telling one of his "girls" that he cannot give her $800 for rent.

I Have a Dream!

After a week long hiatus, Dream decided it was time to make a big splash tonight. Upon returning from a week long business trip in Vegas, Dream is feeling the itch in a big way. At 9am this morning the voicemail was loud and clear: "pick up the phone you jackass I have my biggest NHL play of the year so far". Upon returning Dream's call I was berated for my laziness and reminded that "money never sleeps, only losers like myself do".

How and where Dream gets his information is no business of mine. While I have a few hunches, it is not a topic that needs to be raised. What needs to be addressed is his first ever 50 Star NHL lock of the year. Montreal is coming off an impressive win over the Devils and find themselves hosting the Rangers this evening. According to Dream the Canadiens at +105 are a screaming buy. At first glance it looked to good to be true. The fact that Dream is releasing this play with the fervor of an Islamic fundamentalist, speaks volumes. Although the trends do not support either side, the Rangers are 1-4 in their last five games after allowing two or more goals, I am riding the Dream machine in this one. Tonight's Mega Play courtesy of Dream - Montreal Canadiens +105.

Championship Weekend.......

First off in the NBA tonight, I am releasing the Chicago Bulls +6.5 over the Phoenix Suns. The overwhelming concensus is on the Suns who have played well at home all year and face a talented but immature Bulls team. However, the Bulls are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games as an underdog and 4-1 against the spread in their last five road games.

Saints -3.5 over the Vikings. On paper this game is a toss up. While my proprietary model shows the Vikings having an edge in many of the key categories, the biggest intangible is home field advantage and that belongs to the Saints. Both teams struggled down the stretch and while no team has ever gone to the Superbowl after losing their last three regular season games, I think the Saints will break that trend. Furthermore, Favre is long overdue for another multi interception playoff outing. Following a flawless home performance against the Cowboys in last weekend's Divisional playoff game, I expect the Vikings to struggle stopping the big play ability of the Saints. While I prefer not to lay the hook (3.5), especially with an average Saints defense, I expect the Saints offense to take the pressure off their defense and allow them to play with a lead.

Jets+8 over the Colts. I have been torched betting against the Jets these past two weeks and refuse to fall victim a third time. I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid! The Colts have the best quarterback on the planet and have been the best team in the AFC all season long. That being said, the Colts have rarely blown teams out throughout their impressive 14 win season. Furthermore, the physical Jets have absolutely no pressure on them and are sporting the league's best defensive unit, along with an air of confidence. Although I fear rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez making a key mistake at some point during this game, the eight points is too much to lay against a hot team with a great defense. Furthermore, the Colts have traditionally felt the pressure in big playoff games where they have been heavy favorites. Sorry Jets fans but I'm putting the Propick jinx on the Jets +8.

Simply Amazin.....

In the NHL tonight take the Devils over the Panthers. Despite their recent three game losing streak, the Devils have owned the Panthers in recent years (35-10-3) and should be able to turn their fortunes around starting tonight. Meanwhile the Panthers, who are on a modest three game winning streak, lack the discipline, defense, and goaltending to get the job done against a superior Devils team.

In Big East action tonight the Georgetown Hoyas visit the Pitt Panthers. The discipline throughout the years has been to take the home team in these closely contested rivalry games. However, as we saw recently with Syracuse beating both West Virginia and Notre Dame on the road, there appears to be exceptions to this golden rule. With the road team winning 11 of the last 15 games and the underdog going 6-2 during their recent head to head matchups, I will take Georgetown +2 tonight.

More good news for the Mets. Less than a week after the Carlos Beltran surgery debacle, San Francisco Giants catcher Bengie Molina turned down an offer to play for the Amazin's despite being offered a substantially larger amount of money from the Mets (on a percentage basis). Making matters worse, ESPN's Peter Gammon's reported that the Red Sox were so concerned about Jason Bay's knees that they were afraid to guarantee him anymore than a two year deal. While I do not consider the Red Sox medical staff beyond reproach, I would have to give them a substantial edge over their counterparts from Queens.

Shots for Everyone.....

With a less than memorable wildcard weekend behind us, now is the time for separation. The vision is crystal clear and it involves me on a beach come Superbowl Sunday while my book is wallowing in his self pity. Over the past nine years Propick is an impressive 67 percent at correctly predicting the outcome of the Divisional matchups. The theme of this week involves sticking with the favorites. Without further adieu, here are this Weekend's winners.

Saints -7 over the Cards. Saints fell apart the last few weeks of the season and the Cards are poised to make another impressive run. One problem- this game is in the Superdome. The Saints will throw the kitchen sink at Warner and there will be noise records set as Warner tries to change plays at the line of scrimmage. Expect to see the Saints team from earlier this year as they win convincingly.

Colts -7 over the Ravens. Complete Ravens lovefest following last weeks victory over the Pats. Guess what? Peyton Manning isn't going to spot the Ravens 24 points and if Flacco passes for 34 yards again, this thing will be a rout. On a fast Track, a healthy and rested Colts team wins this thing going away.

Chargers -7 over the Jets. As much as I despise laying a touchdown in all three playoff games, this is the divisional round and the trend supports the favs in a big way. The Jets have had a nice run and can now lay claim to the fact that they own the Cincinnati Bengals. On the surface, having a superior defense and running game appear to favor the Jets. However, the numbers are deceiving. The Chargers present a major matchup problem with tight end Antonio Gates. In addition, the Charger receivers are all over 6"4. Without a dominant pass rush, gang green will be playing catchup for most of the game.

Thursday.....

Tonight's NHL winner, once again courtesy of Dream, is the Flyers -130 over Toronto. There are several significant trends that favor the Flyers in this matchup. For starters, the Flyers have won four in a row and are 7-0 in their last seven games against teams with a losing record. In addition the Flyers are 5-1 in their last six games as a favorite. Despite only being 23-19-3 on the season, the Flyers have a winning record on the road this year. Furthermore you have a young Toronto team that is 1-4 in their last five games and have a losing record at home this season.
Another good day for the Mets. It was announced "much to the Mets surprise", that often injured outfielder Carlos Beltran had knee surgery yesterday. As a result Beltran will miss at least the first month of the season. This probably means he will join the team sometime in early July with the Mets twenty games out of first. On a less serious note, Jose Canseco is at odds with Mark McGwire over "allegedly" sticking him in the ass with steriods. McGwire has vehemently denied all claims that Canseco injected him with steriods in the buttocks over a few year period in Oakland. Luckily Canseco has no photographic proof of this practice. My guess is McGwire cried immediately after receiving the aforementioned injections.

Big Monday.........

Villanova +4 over Louisville. This used to be considered heresy betting against Rick Pitino in a home conference game. However, this is the worst Louisville team we have seen in years. They may win a close one but the discipline is to take Villanova and the points.
In the NBA I am liking Oklahoma City -4.5 over the Knicks. All this talk in New York about the Knicks making the playoffs and Danilo Gallinari being the next Larry Bird is starting to make me a little sick. This is the still the Knicks and the only positive is that no one on the team has been brandishing loaded handguns at each other.

Dream Parlay.....

In a continuing effort to line the pockets of sports handicappers everywhere, Dream has decided to throw a longshot out to the fans. With the return of star goalie Rick DiPietro tonight for the New York Islanders, Dream anticipates a spirited effort from the team. In addition, during DiPietro's lackluster minor league start, the comman man is now placing their misguided wagers on the Dallas Stars to win tonights contest in convincing fashion. Not only does Dream like the Islanders at +155, he also likes the under 5.5. With conventional wisdom suggesting the Stars win a 5-2 type of game, Dream recommends taking a flyer on parlaying both the Islanders and the under for a payback of 3.75 to 1 (for all you neophytes thats risking $100 to win $375).

Welcome To The Jungle......

Twenty one years ago the Cincinnati Bengals found themselves on the wrong end of a last minute Joe Montana Superbowl winning drive and have failed to recover ever since. The Bengals had a geri curled rookie sensation named Ickey Woods who did this little diddy known as the "Ickey Shuffle" everytime he scored. Unfortunately for Ickey, the shuffle ended shortly thereafter and he found himself hawking frozen foods door to door, in lieu of scoring touchdowns in the NFL. In honor of Ickey woods Propick is Releasing the Bengals -2.5 over the Jets tomorrow. While the Jets have all the momentum, they are playing a road playoff game in "the house that Ickey built", with a rookie quarterback appearing in his first ever playoff game. Just a heads up, when this play comes in you can use the proceeds to book Ickey Woods for your next corporate party(fees range from $2500-$5000) and he will perform the shuffle for hours on end.

With the playoffs upon us, Propick Sports has decided to release the hounds. Absolutely no stone will be left unturned this playoff season. As a result, I have contacted a well known wiseguy who originally hails from Queens, NY. but has since sold out for the lush ocean lined streets of Long Island. Due to legal reasons I am unable to release the name of this gaming icon but for anyone who lives in an affluent Long Island suburb look around and if you see a guy wearing a black velour track suit who drives a vintage cadillac, you have successfully located the target. Without further ado here are the King of Queens wildcard Weekend Winners...
Eagles +4 over the Cowboys
Packers+1 over the Cards
Patriots -3 over the Ravens
Jets+2.5 over the Bengals (shooting against Propick...proceed with caution)

A Fitting End.....

While I have long maintained that the NBA is a step above professional wrestling, in terms of predictable outcomes, there is a new conspiracy theory of mine that needs to be examined. The 2010 BCS Championship Game presented by Citi (yes that $3 stock that the US Government owns...what next the AIG Bowl?), exhibited as much manufactured drama as a Brent Musburger monologue. Maybe I am a little bitter about losing a college tuition on a game that was finished after the second series. Despite an early 6-0 lead over Alabama, the Texas Longhorns were toast once quarterback Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game. Although the hit that retired McCoy looked somewhat innocuous, McCoy lost all feeling in his arm. As a result Texas was shell shocked and Alabama rattled off 24 straight points to take a commanding lead into halftime.

What transpired in the second half truly was a thing of beauty and gaming betrayal. Sensing that television sets were turned off across the country, the Longhorns "fought" valiantly and with six minutes left, miraculously cut the Alabama lead to 24-21. If not for the fact that my online blackjack streak came to an abrupt end, I would have missed this incredible comeback. Somewhere television network executives and the BCS committee members were high fiving each other as this putrid game suddenly became exciting. In my feeble mind there was absolutely no way Alabama was going to blow this lead, after all the objective is to "put some lipstick" on the pig without having the pig win. Unfortunately for me, I was betting "the pig" and the only thing worse than being drawn back into the downward spiral, was seeing colt McCoy jumping up and down on the sidelines and encouraging his teammates. My first thought was- Colt, get your ass back out on the field. Then after a brief pause I had an epiphany. This was the equivalent of an NBA team down 20 points, who in turn goes on a big run to cut the lead down to 4, only to get blown out at the very end of the game. I knew "the die had already been cast" but in a moment of delusion/weakness, I suspended reality.

However, after an Alabama drive stalled and Texas got the ball back with just over three minutes left, I reverted to my old habits and started to think this game might end up 24-21 and provide me with the greatest cover of all time. This is when the wheels really fell off the wagon. Text messages lighting up my phone line an emergency room "Hey bro your getting 4.5 right?" or my favorite "Dude this is awesome I think Texas wins outright...wish I had the moneyline on the game". Note to anyone without a cursory knowledge of gaming etiquette- the aforementioned messages are a violation of gaming 101. This type of behavior is as well received as yelling "this marriage is a sham" at a wedding.

Within seconds of my congratulatory text messages, a Texas fumble on a sack led to an immediate Alabama touchdown. Before I could yell %^&*, the Texas quarterback threw his fourth interception of the game and worst of all, ruined any chance I had for a backdoor cover. Alabama then punched another touchdown in for good measure and in the process kicked me in the balls.

Back with NFL Wildcard Winners shortly......

No Threat To The Stilt.....

After another victory in the pucks, NHL guru Dream has stretched his record to an unfathomable 10-1. As he reminded me over a lunch call this afternoon, "this stuff just comes naturally to me. Some people have a gift for picking stocks, getting tail, etc. I just pick winners and do it better than any person alive".
As for tonight, I am releasing the Iowa Hawkeyes +5 over Georgia Tech. While I do not love this play, of the 20 people I spoke with regarding the game, 18 like Tech and 16 of those people think they win big. Here is something to ponder: what are the odds of 18 people I know all winning money tonight?
A soon to be released biography on actor Warren Beatty claims that the aging movie star has bedded 12,775 different women. As a caveat the author notes that "none of these include: daytime quickies, groping sessions, or drive-bys". Thanks for clarify that, it really would have put a damper on his tally. While Propick has been unable to reach any members of the Chamberlain family, one can only guess that they would be unimpressed with Beatty's statistics. Using back of the envelope math, Wilt accomplished the 12,775 mark sometime in his twenties or early thirties. One can only imagine the stratospheric numbers Wilt would have amassed had he not suffered an untimely death. Much like DiMaggio's consecutive game hitting streak, Wilt's record appears to be safe.

Victory Hangover.....

After kicking my book in the teeth yesterday (5 of 6 in NFL), I decided to yield the podium to gaming icon "Dream" for tonights NHL winner. After an overtime victory over the Flyers on New Years Day, the Bruins are coming to the Garden tonight to play the Rangers. Dream's proprietary gaming model has this as a draw but he thinks the Bruins have a little New Years Hangover still lingering. The play is the Rangers even money over the Bruins. For those of you keeping score, Dream is 9-1 since joining Propick.

Week 17.........

Most handicappers steer clear of week 17 games because of all the uncertainty that surrounds them. The biggest concern is over which teams choose to play their starters and for how long. After all why would a team with a guaranteed first round bye risk injury to one of their star players? The analogy to preseason games is a common man favorite. Remember this, true gamers can make money in any environment. Show me the Joe nobody who takes a weekend off from gaming and I will show you a quitter! Anyone who calls themself a gamer is by definition obliged to participate in the last week of the season. In fact, the gamer who takes a week off is no different from a team who benches their starters and plays it safe. If anyone reading this blog is "holding off" until the playoffs- do me a favor and get off this site immediately.

Week 17 picks. Atlanta -1.5 over Tampa Bay. Granted this is a game of absolutely no significance with both teams out of the playoff race. However, Atlanta coaches and players realize that this franchise has never had back to back winning seasons in the teams' history. Given that the Bucs are terrible (despite their recent winning streak) and the quarterback matchup is a laugher, I absolutely love the Falcons in this game.
Redskins +4 over the Chargers. This game is an absolute crackhead special. There is absolutely no logical reason to take a Redskins team that has mailed it in during the past two weeks. That being said, the Chargers have absolutely nothing to play for. Furthermore, even Norv Turner realizes the Chargers cannot afford to suffer serious injuries when they have the #2 seed locked up. At +4 I am hoping the Redskins starters keep this game close against the Chargers backups.