Here's hoping a sad end doesn't turn tragic

Basketball Betting Lines

03/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Age guarantees a lot of things.

It's almost a give-and-take process. A lot of physical attributes like speed, strength and reaction time slow at the same time one's knowledge and wisdom are expanding.

It's almost a cruel joke, one that Allen Iverson is going through right now.

What "Father Time" doesn't guarantee is maturity, a learned rather than instinctual behavior that is never determined by one's age.

Iverson was an immature 17-year-old teenager in 1993 when he was convicted for his part in a Hampton, Virginia bowling alley brawl that left him incarcerated for four months. The case became a bit of a cause-celebre after he was convicted as an adult of the felony charge of maiming by mob, a rarely used Virginia statute that was originally designed to combat lynching.

After Iverson spent four months at a correctional facility in Newport News, Va., he was granted clemency by then Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder, and the Virginia Court of Appeals eventually overturned the conviction in 1995 for insufficient evidence. By most accounts, Iverson was railroaded, likely because of the color of his skin.

Nearly 20 years later, Iverson might as well be that same teenager. People close to the mercurial guard have pointed to his ordeal in Virginia as the one that shaped adult years that have been dotted with the same signs of immaturity.

It didn't have to be like that. Unlike a lot of young African-Americans, Iverson got a second chance. In fact, calling his career a second chance is a bit of an understatement considering Iverson has been paid over $153 million dollars to play basketball over the last 15 years.

Evidently, you can't buy maturity.

In 1997, A.I. Was a 22-year-old when he was pinched on misdemeanor charges of marijuana and gun-possession, resulting in a plea bargain that carried three- years probation.

At 25, his immaturity resurfaced when he recorded a rap CD with lyrics that mocked homosexuals and embarrassed his employer.

In 2002, when Iverson was 27, he allegedly broke into a West Philadelphia apartment and threatened two men with a gun while looking for his estranged wife Tawanna, resulting in terroristic threats charges.

A year later a member of Cru-Thick, Iverson's posse, was shot in the leg in the Old City section of Philly and police believed Iverson may have also been targeted.

In 2005, Iverson was served with a civil lawsuit when two men claimed his bodyguard beat them in a Washington D.C. nightclub and one of the men was awarded over a quarter of a million dollars.

Last week, just months after reuniting with his old team, Iverson was sent home by the Philadelphia 76ers. The cover story this time was Iverson's 4- year-old daughter, Messiah, who is suffering from a still undisclosed illness,

In his last absence from the team before the release, Iverson was spotted at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament in Charlotte, N.C., reportedly for a fund-raising commitment that included partying with hip-hop star Jermaine Dupri, far away from his daughter in Atlanta.

The latest blow to A.I. came on Tuesday when Tawanna Iverson filed for divorce in Fulton County, Ga. Superior Court.

The newspaper also reported that several NBA sources have confirmed Iverson has been troubled by excessive drinking and has a number of outstanding civil lawsuits filed against him.

For once I'm not worried about Iverson's legendary selfishness, his stunning lack of maturity and a reputation as a coach-killer.

His personal life is starting to resemble a runaway train, and I'm hoping a sad end on the basketball floor doesn't turn into a tragic one off it.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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