Lakers vs. Warriors Preview | Take the odds

Mt fellow Laker fans, don't worry! Yes I said it...don't worry. Our defensive stopper in Ron Artest should be back in the lineup. Even if he isn't the Lakers will try to forget a couple of shaky starts in the past three games. The Lakers have given up 15 points in both of the loses.

A night at home against the Golden state Warriors (9-21) should do the trick. The Los Angeles Lakers (24-6) will look to avoid back to back losses for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

This will be the Lakers first game since their embarrassing defeat by the hands of LeBron James and the surging Cleveland Cavaliers. Fans threw foam hands onto the court after several questionable calls and an ejection.

While Golden State is coming off impressive wins against Boston and Phoenix they haven't had a three game winning streak since April 1-5.

The odds say the Lakers by 11.5...take the Lakers. Lakers win by 17 tonight.

Jim Caldwell's Decision To Pull His Starters...

Jim Caldwell's decision to pull his starters might have been the end of the discussion of Jim Caldwell for NFL Coach of the Year.



Competitive sports is meant to have winners and losers, that's why we compete. For Caldwell to pull Peyton Manning and the other starters is a slap in the face of the 72' undefeated Dolphins and 07' undefeated Patriots. It's like saying that going undefeated doesn't matter, when it should. It's also a slap in the face of the organization and the fans. These people pay their hard earned money to watch a second string team play. They could go to the Colts practice to see that.



You are telling your players to shut it down and then turn it back on. It doesn't work that way and Jim Caldwell should know that. Resting players is for the off-season, that's why there is an off-season. While we are talking about his chances to win Coach of the Year, the bigger question is will he rest his players again this week and run the risk of failing in the playoffs?



The hottest teams going into the playoffs have the best chance of winning. If you don't turn the ball over, your chances of winning the game are incredibly high. Rested played are rusty and turn the ball over. Peyton is a different character, yes I know and we've reported on that, but he also plays with 51 other people not including a coaching staff which needs to be sharp.

Tracy McGrady says bye-bye Houston

Tracy McGrady and Houston Rockets have agreed to part ways by letting the oft-injured versatile guard/forward go back to Chicago and train while the Rockets look for a sucker!

"Screw you guys, I'm going home"



Someone call the WAAAAMBULANCE!

Monday Night NFL Stone-Cold Lock 12/28/09

By DARREN BONTRAGER, FreshSportsDaily.com Betting Guru



OddsMaker.com Line - Vikings -7½ @ Bears

Monday night's NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears is the last football game of this decade and possibly the last game I will handicap for FSD.com, especially if tonight's pick doesn't come through. Big smiles! On to the analysis:

• The Vikings may be in the midst of the late-season Favre-ian tailspin that we have come so accustomed to seeing in the past few years. Favre led the Vikings to a 10-1 start by throwing 24 touchdowns and three interceptions, but the 40-year-old has had three TDs and four interceptions in the three games since.


• Both of the Vikings’ recent losses have come away from the Metrodome, and they’re 1-7 at Soldier Field since 2001, including last season’s 48-41 defeat. Favre is 13-3 all-time in Chicago, but has lost in two of his last three trips there.


• Chicago gave up four touchdowns through the air in last week’s 31-7 loss in Baltimore, its eighth defeat in 10 games.


• If Vikings' receiver Percy Harvin has recovered from migraine headaches, Favre will have back his best big-play threat, with all apologies to Adrian Peterson. Harvin had a career-best 101 yards and a touchdown in last month’s 36-10 win over the Bears.

My recommendation is to take Minnesota and lay the 7½ points. Chicago is a team is disarray and the players have given up on trying to save Lovie Smith's job. The Vikings have had their problems of late as well, but are clearly the superior team and should handle the Bears rather easily, outdoors or not, on the road or not.



The Pick - Minnesota Vikings 29 Chicago Bears 10

Lakers Win, Kobe Injured Again

BY CLINTON GOLDIE, FreshSportsDaily.com Lakers Beat Writer

The Los Angeles Lakers have been riding the Kobe wave for as long as I can remember. What is the difference between Kobe and the rest of the NBA players? The difference is that Kobe is playing with a fractured finger, no feeling in his shooting arm and hand, and a bad back. Yet Kobe found a way to stop ROY candidate Tyreke Evens from even putting up a shot at the end of regulation. Then Kobe hit two three pointers in 2OT to put the Lakers up by six. Kobe takes a charge at full speed and still has the presence to hold his injured arm up as he is falling. While Tyreke Evens maybe the ROY candidate, he met his match against the 2008 MVP and possibly 2010 MVP in Kobe "The Black Mamba" Bryant.

As this game went into overtime, all I could think about was who is going to take over? Was there another person that was going to step up besides Kobe? As much as you want to see it happen or don't want to see it happen, it's going to happen. Kobe is going to come in and drain 30 foot three pointers in double overtime with no feeling in his hand. It's better described as no feeling in his heart. Kobe lives to crush an opponent on their floor. You're setting up yourself for a heartbreaker if you keep this guy close in the game.



Even when the Lakers were down by 7 with less than two minutes left, Sacramento fans were left uneasy as a young team try to fend for themselves against a much more experienced Lakers team. You could see that as Kings coach Paul Westphal paced up and down the sidelines, while Phil Jackson sat and let Kobe unfold the situation.



How does one gain experience in winning when Kobe's in the league? You get traded to the Lakers like Ron Artest did and say  "I love Kobe." We love you Ron Ron, get better!

NFL Stone-Cold Locks 12/26/09

By DARREN BONTRAGER, FreshSportsDaily.com Betting Guru



Management has informed me in no uncertain terms that my ass is on the line this week after my horrible play of recommending the Tennessee Titans on Christmas Day. Apparently that pick lost some people some cash. While I tried to explain that sports betting is not an exact science and that I cannot possibly go 4-0 every week, it seems not to matter to certain individuals.



On to Sunday's picks (Confidence ranks are out of a possible 4 smiley faces):

• Take Kansas City +13.5 @ Cincinnati ☺☺☺  This one is a gut-pick and Lord knows I got the gut. I'm wondering if the Bengals will have anything left after what happened with Chris Henry and the subsequent tough loss to San Diego. Coming off three straight home losses, Kansas City obviously is not a very good football team. However, I happen to have inside information that one of the Chiefs players banged a slump-buster at the team hotel last night. That just might be what this squad needs to pull one out, no pun intended.
  
  The Pick - Kansas City Chiefs 24 Cincinnati Bengals 22

• Take St. Louis +14.5 @ Arizona ☺☺½  St. Louis gave me love last week and even came close to pulling out a victory, so I'm sticking with them. If you throw out being boat-raced by Tennessee in Week 14, their last 5 games have been decided by an average of only 6.8 points. Arizona is a good home team, but I'm expecting a bit of a Cardinal letdown after last week's clinching of the NFC West.
  
  The Pick - St. Louis Rams 20 Arizona Cardinals 30

Good luck with your bets, and enjoy your NFL Sunday!

*This information is for entertainment purposes only.

Lakers vs. Cavaliers Christmas Day Preview

By CLINTON GOLDIE, FreshSportsDaily.com Lakers Beat Writer

Another match-up for Kobe Bryant and Shaq on Christmas. This time the cameras won't be on Shaq and Kobe as much as they are on LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Kobe and LeBron are the two leading MVP candidates, both are expected to bring nothing less than a jaw-dropping performance on Christmas.

Give us what we want Santa...we've all been good boys and girls, we want 40 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks from each of these once-in-a-lifetime players. We want a last second shot...don't we deserve that NBA Santa? Don't we deserve a game of the year before 2009 runs out on us? This crap-year might produce one of the best games ever...will it? Will we be able to forget all the schemes, scams, and poor decisions from this past year to see a masterpiece painted before our eyes?



Oh Santa Claus, I won't sit on your lap, but I will pawn my child off as your little elf helper if you give us this little gem!