Well, we certainly hope that British comedian Ricky Gervais is cleared to host the 2012 Golden Globes yet again but does he really want to go through with it? Last year, it was kind of like watching an episode of the Simpsons or South Park, where at one point or another someone got slammed. After all the criticism could Hollywood handle another dose of the Gervais factor….
No doubt, no one likes to be singled out but one has to wonder what exactly the show’s creators expected from Gervais who is responsible for creating shows like The Office and Extras. Who got hit last year? Who didn’t is more of the question with Charlie Sheen being on the hot seat with the following joke:
“Wow, so let’s get this straight, so what he did was, he picked up a porn star, paid her to have dinner with him, introduced her to his ex-wife-as you do- went to a hotel, got drunk, got naked, trashed the place while she was locked in a cupboard, and that was a Monday. What does he do New Year’s Eve?”
While that statement probably summed up Sheen’s year, it actually wasn’t the worst of the bunch. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was shocked by the jokes but surprisingly enough, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that NBC and the HFPA have made an offer to the comedian to come back as a host in 2012.
Not to say that Gervais would accept but if he did, you can guarantee that there’s no way the guy is going to have his jokes edited.
Bet on the latest entertainment props at Bodog Sports anytime you feel the need to dive into the Hollywood scene. Get your celebrity kicks at Bodog Sports today!
Looking to run their consecutive winning seasons streak to 18, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles are second on the board at the Bodog Sportsbook on the NCAA football odds to win the Conference USA title this season.
The Golden Eagles went 8-5 overall and 5-3 in Conference USA action last season to become bowl eligible. They fell 31-28 to Louisville in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field.
They’ll be looking for a better postseason result behind the arm of quarterback Austin Davis, one of eight offensive starters set to return to the team. Davis posted a QB rating of 134.1 last season, throwing for 3,103 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions and also rushing for 10 scores.
Running back Kendrick Hardy is also back in the fold for Southern Miss this season; Hardy ran for 887 yards and seven touchdowns for the team in 2010.
That duo has the Golden Eagles at 3/1 odds at the Bodog Sportsbook to win the Conference USA title this season – putting them behind only the 7/4 favorites from Houston and just ahead of 4/1 Central Florida.
UAB, SMU, and Tulsa are all at 8/1 odds to win the conference this season, with East Carolina at 20/1, Rice at 25/1, Marshall at 28/1, Tulane at 50/1, and Memphis and UTEP each at 66/1.
The Golden Eagles finished tied for second in the East Division of Conference USA with East Carolina at 5-3 last season, with Central Florida going 7-1. This year, though, Southern Miss is the 5/4 favorite on the college football odds to win that division, with Central Florida at 7/4, UAB at 6/1, East Carolina at 7/1, Marshall at 10/1, and Memphis the longshot at 25/1.
The Bodog Sportsbook has all the college football futures as we approach the start of the season in September.
The Golden Nugget will be hosting the upcoming Women in Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony on September 2nd, and Las Vegas casinos are hoping that the event can bring customers into Sin City for the weekend.
The weekend results at Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields were hardly expected by most California horseplayers.
On Saturday, 1-2 favorite COMMA TO THE TOP and TAPIZAR, a prohibitive 3-10 betting favorite failed to finish in the top three two Graded stakes designed to boost their credentials of Kentucky Derby prospects.
At Golden Gate Fields, Comma to the Top finished a weak fourth in the El Camino Real Derby, while at Santa Anita, Tapizar was ranked during the early going and faltered late to finish fifth in the Robert Lewis Stakes as if he might have been injured, or ill. In either case, the weak performances of these two highly ranked 3-year-olds suggest they are unlikely to contend in the $ 2 million Kentucky Derby, May 7.
Later on the Saturday Santa Anita card, a third odds on favorite—ST. TRINIANS— could only manage a third place finish in the Santa Maria stakes for fillies and mares. The very next day, BLIND LUCK, the 2010 Champion 3-year-old filly, could not catch front running ALWAYS A PRINCESS in the La Canada Stakes.
None of that mattered however, to a promising Canadian handicapper, Marike Emery and her husband Tony, who put their heads together while using Marike’s free $ 1,000 betting spree that was part of her $ 7500 winning prize in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Handicapping Contest held on my web site last fall.
Where Tony thought correctly that TAPIZAR was a vulnerable betting favorite in the Robert Lewis, he punished himself for not helping Marike construct a winning Trifecta box with the rest of six horses left in the Grade-2 race.
“I’m mad at myself for missing that big ($ 1266) payoff for a buck,” he said. “I had the right idea and the wrong trifecta layout.”
True enough, but the worthless mutual tickets did not deter Marike from seeing this simple, but reality based fact: “We still have more than $ 400 left on our betting voucher. All we need is one score to give us a good payday.”
So Marike promptly picked and bet $ 50 on 4-1 shot EARNEDNEVERGIVEN, who won the next race, a 6-1/2 furlong affair on the downhill Santa Anita turf course.
Turf was the key.
By the ninth race on the card, it was abundantly clear that Marike Emery and her partner in life have a good feel for turf races, as they lost all other bets, yet successfully wagered $ 50 more on BONITA STAR, a European 3-year-old filly getting Lasix for the first time in her American debut in a one mile turf race for 3-year-olds.
“Your pedigree expert, Lauren Stich had a very good report about that horse’s turf credentials on your web site,” Marike explained. “Getting Lasix also has been a strong angle for me with European turf horses making their first start in America,” she added.
Tony almost broke the Turf Club dining table in half (and my ear drums along with it) when he pounded it hard rooting for Bonita Star to complete her eye catching rally down the center of the course—at an equally eye catching 23-1!
Nice handicapping Marike and Tony! Fact is, just those pair of $ 50 win bets earned the Toronto-based couple more than $ 1200 in profits for their free betting spree at Santa Anita at GradeOneRacing.com’s expense.
Beyond their personal triumphs, here are the conclusions I drew from the weekend’s stakes results:
* COMMA TO THE TOP is not a bona fide Derby horse, even though he had scored five straight wins at three different California racetracks leading into the race on Saturday. He may have natural speed but seems quite a bit below a Grade-1 type at true route distances.
* SILVER MEDALLION, winner of the Golden Gate race, saved trainer Steve Asmussen’s day, given that heavily favored TAPIZAR was such a disappointment in the Robert Lewis. Silver Medalion made a nice move to contention while wide on the final turn and scored a clear victory to suggest he could be a factor in the $ 750,000 Santa Anita Derby at the same nine furlong distance on April 9. Meanwhile, JAKESAM and POSITIVE RESPONSE, who were second and third, will have to improve several lengths to show they belong on the Triple Crown chase.
The Robert Lewis winner, ANTHONY’S CROSS, had been cross entered in the El Camino Real, but opted to try the race at Santa Anita when trainer Eoin Harty reasoned that he only had one horse to beat on paper, Tapizar.
Harty’s analysis was partly correct. The one horse he had to beat was not Tapizar. It was RIVETING REASON, who rallied right behind Anthony’s Cross and lost a tight photo at the wire. The pair finished almost five lengths in front of 68-1 shot QUAIL HILL.
* ST TRINIANS, in her first start since pushing Zenyatta to the limit in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood last June, finished a modest third, gaining some ground late. Meanwhile, VISION OF GOLD narrowly edged ZARDANA in a hard fought two-horse contest from gate to wire. Frankly, the top three might exchange finishing positions in a rematch.
On Sunday, in the Santa Maria, 11-10 favorite BLIND LUCK was a victim of the easy front running pace set by ALWAYS A PRINCESS, a multiple Graded stakes winner in her own right. Always A Princess had the race won simply by controlling the pace on the newly installed, extremely fast, speed-favoring dirt racing surface.
Meanwhile, at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, there was at least one odds-on favorite who came through with flying colors:
BRETHREN, a half-brother to the 2010 Kentucky Derby winner, Super Saver, scored a four-length victory in the $ 225,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at 9-10 odds, thus giving owner Win Star Farm and trainer Todd Pletcher a chance to replicate their Derby victory at Churchill Downs last year.
The Road to the Triple Crown Begins! Get all your online horse betting at Bodog today.
Something has to give on NBA betting odds Thursday night, as two struggling teams go head-to-head when the Golden State Warriors host the Milwaukee Bucks.
Golden State (20-27, 26-21 ATS) played some pretty competitive basketball through the first half of January, at one point enjoying a 7-2 run against the spread. The Warriors have come back down to earth since then, covering just once in their last four games. Golden State did win and cover 96-81 against Utah on Sunday, though.
As usual, the Warriors continue to rack up a ton of points but allow even more. In a four-game losing streak leading up to the win over the Jazz, Golden State allowed nearly 115 points per game. In fact, Sunday’s win was the first time in 15 games the team held an opponent to less than 100 points. Consider the Jazz game a bit of an aberration, as Deron Williams was out with an injury.
Improved defense is unlikely to happen any time this year, so the Warriors will have to hope they can simply outscore their opponents. That’s not going to happen with Monta Ellis struggling. The explosive guard made just one of his nine field goal attempts on Sunday, finishing with just two points. In fact, in Ellis’ last five games — in which the Warriors are just 1-4—he’s hitting just 33 percent of his shots.
Thursday’s game will wrap up a three-game swing through the West Coast for Milwaukee. Hopefully Brandon Jennings will be up to full speed. The second-year guard missed over a month with a broken foot. He returned in a win over New Jersey last week but has been given limited minutes as the team eases him back into the lineup.
Milwaukee and Golden State don’t play often but, when they do, the Bucks have been better — at least on the court. While the Bucks are 7-3 in their last 10 meetings, the Warriors are 6-4 against the spread, covering six of the past seven. The Bucks won 79-72 when they met in October, but the Warriors covered as 7.5-point underdogs.
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