Fan of Baseball

It may be a bit of a stretch to call Satoshi Ishii the Michael Phelps of Japan, but not by much. His victory in the heavyweight judo competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was easily the defining moment of the games for his countrymen and was considered by most media outlets the #1 highlight of the year in all of sports. Though Japan does well at the Olympics for a country of its size and has won gold medals in a number of sports, its important to keep in mind that until the late’70s judo was the country’s most popular sport.

Ishii himself is also a marketing dream. Hes especially big by Japanese standards with 240 pounds packed on his bulky 511 frame. Not surprisingly, hes tough as nails and a terror on the mat but away from the gym he comes off like an awkwardly cheerful overgrown boy. He definitely seems younger than his 22 years, but gives off the vibe of a nice neighbor boy who youd gladly pay to mow your lawn. Unlike his telegenic American gold medalist counterpart Phelps, who acts as if he spent as much time working on media relations as his backstroke heading up to the Olympic games, Ishii’s demeanor is of an athlete who literally spent the bulk of his life in a gym only to emerge and find himself a national hero.

With the ability to offer him the most money and exposure, it seemed almost a fait accompli that Ishii would sign with DREAM and K-1 parent group FEG. Obviously its a good idea to keep your options open in negotiations, so he also reportedly talked to Sengoku parent World Victory Road and Antonio Inoki’s Inoki Genome Federation pro wrestling group. As expected, however, FEG reportedly presented Ishii with the most lucrative offer: 500 million yen (roughly $5.5 million US) to fight on DREAM and K-1 cards, with incentive bonuses based on his drawing power and performance. He would very likely become the highest paid mixed martial artist in the world before he’d even stepped into the ring for the first time. The tentative plan was for Ishii to appear on the year end K-1/DREAM Fields Dynamite! joint show, if not fighting at least in a heavily hyped opportunity for FEG to unveil their investment.

Ishii then shocked the Japanese fight sport world by categorically rejecting FEGs offer, saying that it was his lifelong dream to fight in the UFC. While this rationale might sound plausible to a US based fan, its akin to a top college baseball player from a SEC school turning down a big offer from the Atlanta Braves saying that its his lifelong dream to play for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan Central League. It frequently comes a shock to US MMA fans when immersed in Japans culture for the first time just how low the UFC ranks in the countrys fight sport pantheon. In MMA, their profile is lower than DREAM and Sengoku, but even smaller groups like Shooto and DEEP. Overall, the interest in and prestige of the UFC is well below not only boxing but even Japanese pro wrestling (puroresu).

Ishii then travelled to Las Vegas for UFC 92, with the Japanese media in tow covering his every move. There were countless photo opportunities with Dana White, who spoke of Ishii in glowing terms, along with top UFC stars. Upon his return to Japan, he was repeatedly photographed wearing UFC t-shirts while speaking enthusiastically about Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and everyone else involved with the promotion.

At age 22, Ishiis got plenty of time to develop as a fighter. His biggest downside risk from signing with Zuffa is financial since hed be lucky to get a fraction of what FEG is willing to pay him. The competitive logic of learning his craft slowly notwithstanding, theres a huge risk in automatically assuming that he can fight for the UFC for a few years and then cash a big check when he returns to Japan as the potential of injury and changing market conditions could seriously impact his market value.

Theres another very realistic scenario that it was all a negotiating ploy by Ishii. The UFC was likely willing to play along, figuring that their investment of a few plane tickets and hotel suites would be worth the resulting PR surge in Japan.

With the recent revelation that Ishii has broken off UFC negotiations to entertain offers from other parties thats starting to look like the plausible explanation for the once hot and heavy courtship between Ishii and Zuffa.

As a postscript to the Ishiis relationship with the UFC, it apparently opened the doors for his move to the US where hell be training with the American Top Team in Florida. That alone is a positive for his future development as a fighter, as hell be training with a whos who of professional fighting.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh has long been one of the United States most polarizing media figures. He may soon become one of the National Football Leagues most controversial owners. On Tuesday, Limbaugh announced that he is teaming up with David Checketts–who owns the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League”to make a bid to purchase the struggling NFL team. The Rams are a pitiful 5-31 since 2007 and are currently mired in a league high 14 game losing streak.

Limbaugh issued a statement that was short on details due to various confidentiality agreements:

“Dave Checketts and I have made a bid to buy the Rams and we are continuing the process.”

The statement didnt place a value on the Limbaugh/Checketts bid, nor did it specify any other individuals whod be involved in the bid. He did specify that he and Checketts would be responsible for the operation of the team. Recent estimates have pegged the value of the Rams at $750 million.

The team is currently owned by the estate of Georgia Frontiere, specifically her children Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez who inherited 60% of the team upon her death in 2008. The remaining 40% is owned by Stan Kroenke, a Missouri billionaire.

A statement issued by the Frontiere estate to coincide was the Limbaugh statement revealed very little additional information:

“Our strategic review of our ownership of the Rams continues. We will make an announcement upon the completion of the process.”

The other parties to the negotiations–Checketts and the National Football League–both declined comment.

Limbaugh is a native of Cape Girardeau, Missouri and an avid sports fan. He once worked in a sales capacity for the Kansas City Royals baseball team, and had a short stint as a studio analyst on Monday Night Football.

Despite Limbaugh and Checketts ties to the area, the rumor of the sale has raised concern in St. Louis. The city has already lost one NFL team, when the Cardinals moved to Tempe, Arizona in 1987. The NFL passed over St. Louis for an expansion franchise in 1993, awarding it instead to Jacksonville, Florida. In 1995, Frontiere”a St. Louis native”was persuaded to move the team back to her hometown. There is a clause in the Rams lease that would allow the team to relocate without penalty as soon as 2014 if their current home at the Edward Jones Dome is not deemed to be one of the top 25% of NFL stadiums. Its already one of the oldest facilities in the league, and there are no current plans to replace or renovate the structure.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn is off of the hot seat-at least temporarily. After a recent swoon that saw him stripped of play calling duties for the NFL team, Zorn got a vote of confidence from upper management on Friday. His head isn’t entirely out of the noose, however, as the reprieve will last only to the end of the season unless some marked improvement is seen in the second half. The Redskins’ defense has played well this year but their offense has been marked by a profound lack of productivity.

Executive Vice President of Football Operations Vinny Cerrato had the following statement:

“Jim Zorn is the head coach of the Washington Redskins and will be for the rest of this season, and hopefully into the future.”

“The frustration is very high, everywhere around here. But the relationships internally within this organization, quite frankly, remain the same.”

For his part, Zorn was unimpressed by the vote of ’semi-confidence’:

“I don’t necessarily have a reaction to that because I am the head coach. I want to be here for the next 10 years. That’s my story.”

While he didn’t express much personal relief from the management statement, he said he hoped it would benefit his players:

“If it comforts the players – awesome! But I think our players are focused regardless of what the situation is. Whatever has to be said, I guess it has to be said, but we go on.”

Quarterback Jason Campbell sounded relieved:

“That should relieve a lot of tension and a lot of stress. Guys don’t have to worry about thinking about it or talking about it. We were the soap opera for the NFL the last two weeks so hopefully it’ll calm down a little bit.”

Ceratto also had a different take on the removal of Zorn’s play calling duties:

“Look at all the things that we’ve done to try to help. You could have done other things drastically. No, you have confidence in him, because you want him to do well. Hopefully we can just concentrate and focus on winning football games.

He also expressed confidence in offensive consultant-and new offensive playcaller-Sherm Lewis’ ability to do the job:

“You don’t forget how to ride a bike if you hadn’t rode your bike in four years.”

The Redskins have slumped to a 2-4 record in the early part of the NFL season despite being the first team in league history to play six straight games against winless teams. Washington will host the Philadelphia Eagles this Monday night before a bye week. After the bye, they’ll return to action on the road against the Atlanta Falcons on November 8.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

One of the reasons that the popularity of sports gambling has skyrocketed in recent years is its accessibility. It’s easy to bet on most major sports because everyone understands the basics, which teams are good and why they win. Horse handicapping, on the other hand, is a completely different and somewhat arcane discipline. Where there are some shared concepts, success at sports betting doesn’t guarantee the same playing the ponies. Legendary sports handicapper Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Snyder was famous for killing the books with his sports plays–and giving it all back with his inept horse bets.

The information below is the bare bones basics of what you need to know to enjoy a day at the horse track. If you’re interested in becoming a serious horse handicapper, you’re best advice to start with one of the countless books or DVDs that deal specifically with the discipline.

Reading in Fundamental: The first thing you should do when you arrive at the horse track is to purchase a track program and a copy of the Daily Racing Form. The Daily Racing Form (or DRF for short) is the Wall Street Journal of the horse handicapping set. The track program will offer much of the same information about the specific track, but is frequently in a more user friendly format than the often arcane DRF. The basic stats you’ll find in these publications are the names of the horses, jockeys and trainers, the morning line odds, and the types of bets available for each race. You’ll also have past performance charts, which are the bread and butter of serious horse handicappers. These charts reveal a lot about a horse and what they’ve done on the racetrack, including its record, where it ran, the quality of competition it ran against, and what position the horse was in at various points in the race. Most tracks have customer service types that are helpful in clearing up anything you don’t understand. While asking the personnel in a sports book who they like isn’t a wise idea, its OK at the track for a reason well now discuss”you’re not playing against them.

The House Doesn’t Care Who Wins: One thing that is important for the sports bettor to remember when playing the horses is that its a parimutuel situation. In other words, you’re not playing against the house, you’re playing against the other bettors. The track just facilitates the betting and acts as a middleman, handling the money for a fee (15 to 25 percent of the parimutuel pool). Another difference is that the track odds are determined by how much money is bet on each horse. If everyone bets on one horse”whether it is the best horse, or just has the catchiest name”it will go off as the favorite. Long odds on a horse doesn’t necessarily indicate a bad horse, but just one that the wagering public isn’t investing in. Sometimes this can be one and the same, but not always.

So where do odds in the newspaper or program originate? These are known as the ‘morning odds’ or ‘morning line’ and is basically an educated guess as to where the betting will go. They can be helpful as a handicapping tool, but may or may not reflect what will happen in the actual betting.

Handicapping basics: There are so many different approaches to handicapping horse races that its difficult to even know where to start. Some handicappers emphasize past performance data. Others factor in the results of recent workouts, while others prefer a visual examination of the horses in the paddock.

Once a bettor reaches a conclusion about what he thinks will happen in a given race, it is still subject to the odds that are available when betting. This is similar to sports gambling, where an underdog may be more attractive due to an excessively high payback potential than he would ordinary, or, conversely, a clear favorite becomes an unattractive wagering proposition due to a prohibitively high price. Its all a matter of the math–if I could speak to the teenagers of America, I’d try to impress upon them the importance of doing well in math for no other reason than its importance in all forms of gambling.

Horses and Trainers: Some handicappers place a great deal of importance on the horses breeding lineage”the quality of his parents and grandparents “as an indication to his performance potential. This may be particularly important early in a horses career, but after a half dozen or so races what hes done on the track becomes more important than his pedigree. Trainers, like Bob Baffertt, can also be an important consideration much in the same way that coaching can play an important role in sports wagering.

The horse’s jockey: Jockeys are free agents, meaning that they get paid on their performance. In theory, this means that they’ll do their utmost to win in every given race. While there are a few exceptions, many serious horse handicappers downplay the importance of the jockey. Assuming the horse’s ‘mount’ is competent, there are much more salient factors to consider when handicapping a race than the jockey.

Dedication and Discipline: There’s not a set formula for successful horse handicapping, so try different things and find what works for you. And, as always, don’t go overboard with the money you wager and particularly until you get a feel for what you’re doing. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Daily Racing Form website.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Not too long ago, Mark Coleman headlined UFC 109 facing Randy Couture. Several days later, he’s apparently no longer good enough to remain in the UFC at all. On Wednesday, following a lopsided loss to Couture the UFC released Coleman from his contract and cut the veteran heavyweight. Coleman is now free to sign with any other promotion, but at 46 years of age his most likely-and most advisable-course of action is retirement. Retirement is a tough thing for any pro athlete to swallow, however, and fighters in particular have had difficulty in ending their career gracefully.

Coleman became the first UFC fighter to be cut immediately after headlining a PPV event. Others have left due to drug test failures or for other opportunities, but none have ever been cut from their contract. Sources close to the UFC suggest that it was a decision no one wanted to make, but that all felt was unavoidable due to Coleman’s age and deteriorating skills.

While the fact that Coleman is a shell of the fighter he was at his prime, the UFC’s suggestion that they have his best interest at heart is somewhat duplicitous. He was kept around and booked into last Saturday’s fight–a fight that no one particularly had any interest in seeing in the first place–simply because he was a fighter that Randy Couture could beat. Were the UFC interested in the well being of their aging fighters there’s several others on the roster that should also be cut for the same justification as Coleman. Couture, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell are all well past their prime but they’re still under contract and will all likely fight again. No one wants to *see* an endless parade of old timers into the octagon, but the UFC seems determined to shove their version of the ’senior’s tour’ down the throats of the MMA fanbase.

Coleman’s age has never been a secret and his diminished skill level was evident to anyone who has watched his recent fights. If the UFC was really interested in his physical well being, the main event against Couture should have never taken place. The fight itself wasn’t exactly one that UFC fans had been clamoring for and one that met with derision from the MMA media from the time it was announced. The fact that the PPV buyrate for the event will end up as one of the lowest in recent history pretty much sums up the story.

While retirement would be in Coleman’s best interest, he may attempt to fight in a smaller US promotion or in Japan where he’s well known from his time in PRIDE. He’s already a member of the UFC Hall of Fame with a 26-10 career record and has fought the best in the world including Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Cro Cop.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

An early goal gave the United States soccer team hope, but in the end the result of their World Cup Qualifier against Mexico at Azteca Stadium was a familiar loss. Mexico rallied for a 2-1 triumph in front of their home fans, sending the US to defeat for the 23rd time in 24 games at the venue.

The United States quickly silenced the raucous crowd of 100,000+ with a goal by Charlie Davies just eight minutes into the game. It was the first time in history that the US soccer team led a match at Azteca Stadium.

Mexico would pull even just ten minutes later when Cuauhtemoc Blanco set up Israel Castro, who beat US goaltender Tim Howard with a blistering shot off the crossbar. That set the stage for Miguel Sabah’s goal in the 82nd minute which gave Mexico the come-from-behind victory. Mexico coach Javier Aguirre sounded simultaneously elated and relived with his post match comments:

“Today is a day to celebrate, drink a few tequilas, and then get back to work. Everybody will go to bed tonight a bit more relaxed.”

US Coach Bob Bradley was philosophical about the loss:

“I think it’s a tight game and a fair score. It’s tough loss to have so many guys work so hard and then give up a late goal. The feeling inside is one of great disappointment.”

US forward Landon Donovan spoke of his teams performance and the difficulty in playing at the high altitude:

“We did a good job starting the game well and scoring. They made one play at the end that made the difference. It’s hard to play here, man. It wears you out. It’s just exhausting.”

The Americans play Sept. 9 at Trinidad and Tobago. Theyll finish up qualifying on Oct 10 at Honduras and at home against Costa Rica on Oct. 14. Mexico will play at Costa Rica on Sept. 5 and host Honduras on Sept. 9. Mexico will wrap up qualifying on Oct. 10 at home with El Salvador and at Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 14.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Sports betting futures wagers can be an entertaining and profitable investment, but there are a number of pitfalls. These are some things to avoid:

Don’t bet at the first place you look: In other words, shop around for the best price. This is essential to all aspects of sports betting, but especially important with futures wagers. You’ll find more disparity between prices from book to book on futures than any other betting proposition. From a theoretical standpoint, a little work can yield much better value. From a practical standpoint, that means a higher payout should you win. The reason for this is that individual sportsbooks’ aren’t as worried about what the other guys are doing as they are with most other bets. Once the futures “market” is set books move the lines almost exclusively on their own financial position. The market simply doesn’t respond as quickly to futures wagers as it does to individual game lines so it is essential to do the extra work to get the best price on your proposition.

Don’t fixate on picking the winner from a competitive field: This may sound like strange advice, but from a theoretical standpoint it makes perfect sense. As with every other element of sport wagering its crucial to always focus not on winners and losers, but on the value you’re getting on individual bets. For example, in most years there are several teams with a realistic shot of winning at the start of the NCAA basketball tournament. The problem is that these top teams invariably offer low paybacks that are less than their ‘true odds’ of winning. Every team is subject to the same variables like injuries, slumps, bad matchups but backing teams that are ‘under the radar’ at higher prices offer more compensation for these ‘risks’.

In more theoretical terms, the ‘true odds’ of a Duke or similar top team winning the tournament are almost always higher than the price offered. Think of it this way–say we’re betting Duke to win the national title at 2/1. This means that the Blue Devils would have to win more than 33% of the time to break even. So lets say, for the sake of argument, that we could play the tournament over 100 times. Would Duke come out on top more than 33 of these times? If not, they represent a poor value. Let’s say that they win 30 of 100 times. This means that any price under +333 or thereabouts is a poor wagering value.

Note that the more competitive the market, the more difficult it is to find good value on a favorite. In a smaller field, or in a field with one dominant competitor it can be easier. For example, say the UFC were to have a tournament involving heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and three male figure skaters. Even if Lesnar was slightly injured, or not at the top of his game he’d essentially have a 100% chance of beating the smaller, effeminate men who are untrained to fight. If a book installed Lesnar as a -1000 favorite in this spot, it could still be considered a good value. It’s never easy to risk a lot to win a little, but from strictly a mathematical standpoint it makes sense.

Don’t get seduced by big underdogs: Sports betting is not a place to make the “big killing”. It may happen occasionally, but more often it doesn’t. While a sports book might offer a huge price on a cellar dwelling team to win the World Series, the big payback does not mean its a good value. On a practical level, there’s probably nothing wrong with throwing a few bucks on a wager like this with a huge payback if the impossible occurs. My only problem with this is that making too many bets like this just perpetuates bad sports betting habits. If you’re strictly a recreational player, no big deal. If you aspire to bet professionally, or at least want to pursue it with some degree of seriousness I’ve always maintained that you need to develop discipline that’s not situational. In other words, if you want to be a serious sports bettor you need to approach it with a consistent level of seriousness at all times. If you want to chase a huge, life altering jackpot go to Las Vegas and play the Megabucks slots or buy a Powerball ticket.

On a more theoretical level, a big price alone is no way to justify a wager. The concept of value works the same at the bottom of the barrel as it does at the top: make sure the price you’re getting on an underdog accurately reflects their “true odds” of winning.

Don’t bet one sided props: Sometimes sports books will offer silly bets just to get publicity or in some cases just to be funny. While there may be life on other planets, the ‘true odds’ of a Martian being named to President Obama’s cabinet wouldn’t justify a +5000 line that it would occur.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer specializing in travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had lost a lot of his luster coming into Saturday nights UFC 101 matchup with former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. He was undefeated in his previous nine UFC contests, but his last three victories had been far from impressive. Hed beaten overmatched James Irvin last July in his first effort at 205. That was followed by a TKO win against Patrick Cote when Cote blew out his knee mid fight. In his most recent bout, hed pouted and showboated his way to a unanimous decision victory by default against a thoroughly overwhelmed Thales Leites. On that night in Montreal he’d heard an abundance of boos from the fans who at one point started a GSP chant in reference to his most frequent challenger for pound for pound MMA supremacy. Even Dana White criticized his effort and finally conceded that St. Pierre might, indeed, be the best all around fighter in the game.

There was none of the bad Silva on display at UFC 101. Silva was simply dominant as he overwhelmed the naturally larger Griffin, knocking his opponent down three times before finishing the fight with a spectacular”yet almost effortless”straight right hand. The TKO victory was The Spiders most impressive showing since his submission triumph over Dan Henderson at UFC 82. Ironically, Hendo”off his own devastating KO victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 100″will likely be Silvas next challenger for his middleweight title.

The live crowd in Philadelphia clearly favored the likable Griffin and gave him a huge ovation as he bounced to the ring to his trademark walk-in song Shipping Up To Boston by the Dropkick Murphys. Silva, meanwhile, received a smattering of boos as he confidently strode to the ring to the sound of Aint No Sunshine by rapper DMX. Silva displayed much more humility toward the fans than he has in his recent outings, bowing in all four directions after the entered the cage.

He displayed none of that courtesy toward Griffin once the fight began and was simply the wrecking machine that UFC fans had grown accustomed before his recent run of lackluster performances. Forrest came right at Silva, assuming that his natural size advantage would equate to a strength advantage as well.

The resolute Griffin quickly bounced to his feet, this time flashing a high kick which Silva easily countered for another knockdown. This one clearly hurt Griffin, though he once again made it back to his feet quickly and landed a combination of his own. This was his best”and last”offense of the fight. Silva quickly floored Griffin with a left hand that left little doubt to the eventual outcome of the contest. The double tough Griffin made it to his feet again, and tried to land a leg kick”which Patrick Cote had used with some success in their fight.

Silva, backing up, landed a perfect and almost effortless straight right that sent Griffin down for good. The referee didnt even bother to count as he waved his arms over the prone fighter as Silva celebrated his win. Griffin quickly exited the cage and, reportedly, the arena.

Silva, apparently making an effort to be more fan friendly, did his postfight interview in English with a Portuguese interpreter standing at the ready. His message was simple: I want to fight against the best. Whoever the best is at the time, I want to fight them. Though Silva didnt really affirm that hed be campaigning more at the heavier weight, that was the implicit message of his comment.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer specializing in travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, flower arranging and scuba diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Trades are a fact of life for NFL players. Most players willingly accept their new assignment and try to make the best of it. That’s apparently not the case with the Oakland Raiders newly acquired defensive end Richard Seymour. Seymour was acquired by the Raiders on Sunday and as of yet has not reported to his new team.

The trade surprised NFL observers, with the Patriots sending Seymour to Oakland for a 2011 first round draft pick. There is some speculation that hes doing a de facto hold out in hopes of getting the Raiders to re-work his contract but this hasn’t been confirmed by anyone involved.

For the time being, Raiders coach Tom Cable is being vague about the situation:

I really have nothing to report on that. Nothing has changed at this point.”

He also declined to comment on questions about a potential new contract, which makes it more likely that is the sticking point with Seymour joining the team:

“I don’t want to comment about anything of that until we have something that’s done and concrete.

Seymours former coach in New England, Bill Belichick also gave his version of a no comment:

“Because we don’t have rights to Richard, there really isn’t anything I can say about him or his situation. So I’ll have to pass on those questions at this time. There’s a lot of things that Richard did well but that’s the way it is and we’re moving forward and our team’s moving forward.”

Pats defensive coordinator Dean Pees also refused to comment:

“This is not going to be an interview about Richard. It’s really about Buffalo and whoever we have here to face the Bills.

As did NFL spokesman Greg Aiello:

“Any comment at this time would have to come from the teams.

Most NFL observers think that the Patriots made the move in order to free up money to negotiate with defensive lineman Vince Wilfork. That has raised concern that New Englands defense has quickly become very young and more problematically without a strong leader on that side of the ball. Belichick isnt concerned:

“We have a lot of good leaders on our team and especially on the defensive side of the ball. No doubt about it, it’s different, but I think it’s good.”

The Patriots open their 2009 NFL regular season on Monday night at home against the Buffalo Bills. The Raiders will also kick off their campaign on Monday night as they host their hated rivals the San Diego Chargers. Seymour is very unlikely to play in Oakland’s NFL opener.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, poker and NFL football handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Matthew Stafford has yet to play a regular season NFL game and hes already the Detroit Lions starting quarterback. Detroit coach Jim Schwartz named Stafford as his starter for the teams opening game of the NFL regular season against the New Orleans Saints. Stafford beat out veteran Daunte Culpepper for the spot, though Schwartz went out of his way to stress that the rookie won the job.

In announcing Stafford as the starting QB for the Lions, Schwartz made clear that hes very confident with his personnel at the position including third stringer Drew Stanton:

“I’ve had a lot of very tough decisions in the last few days — guys making the 53-man roster or not making it — but none more difficult than at quarterback. We announced to our team this morning that Matt Stafford is going to be our starting quarterback.”

“I’m very, very comfortable with the quarterback position here, not just one and two, but also three. What made this decision difficult was that I think we can win with Daunte Culpepper, I think we can with Matt Stafford, and I think we can win with Drew Stanton.

Stafford indicated that while hes always been confident that he’d get the nod there was still a lot of uncertainty up to the time Schwartz made the announcement:

“I definitely thought I was going to be the guy, but as competitive as Daunte is, I’m sure he thought he was going to be the guy, too. Coach Schwartz called me in this morning and told me, and I went out and practiced with the first team. That was exciting.”

Stafford stressed that hes not just happy to be in the NFL”he wants to win:

“I’m going to try to win football games. I think, just like everyone else on this team, that we can go out on Sunday and be competitive against the Saints and give ourselves a chance to win the game. That’s our job.”

Schwartz said that he plans to give his quarterback the opportunity to learn to play QB in the NFL on the job:

“This isn’t an internship. This isn’t a trial basis. He’s our starting quarterback. We said that, to win the job, he had to be ready, and he had to be our best quarterback, and that’s what he has shown.”

He went on to praise Culpepper:

“Daunte Culpepper is back — there’s no doubt in my mind and there’s no doubt around this league. He’s going to be back as a starting quarterback in this league, and with a high level of success.”

Culpepper didnt speak to the media, but that wasnt a surprise since he never speaks to the media. Stafford had some props for his backup:

“I’m sure it is tough for him, but Daunte’s been great for me and he will continue to be. I can’t think of a better guy to learn from and to have in my corner.”

The Lions will start the NFL regular season at New Orleans on Sunday. Theyll play the following two games at home, hosting the Minnesota Vikings in week #2 and the Washington Redskins on Sunday, September 27.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer specializing in travel, casino gambling and NFL football handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.