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MLB Playoffs:One and Done

October 3, 2013 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

The Cover 4.com presents you with the MLB Playoffs:One and Done! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @thecover4 or facebook at theCo VerFour

The Wild in the WIldCard

The purpose of the playoffs is to provide a forum to establish the best team of the best teams over a course of a year. As in most sports, there is a regular season to weed out the poor teams and isolate the good teams. In football, they play once a week in a 16 game season. In the NBA, they play three or four times a week in an 82 game season. In baseball, teams play six or seven times a week in a 162 game season. Why do they play that many games? Maybe it is less grueling on the body so they can afford to play almost every day, unlike basketball and especially football. So, if that many games are laid out to determine the best teams over such a large sample size, you would think baseball would have the largest and longest size for their playoffs amongst the main sports. Right? Nope. It’s laughable. And for the Rangers, Reds, and the Indians, they receive the short end of the stick.

With baseball’s new Wild Card format, they have baseball teams competing in a one, yes I repeat, ONE game playoff to determine who moves on and who is gone. After six long moths of regular season games traveling around the country, they the new format dictates that their postseason fate is determined by one game. Last time I checked my math, this ratio of regular season games to playoff games here is preposterous, and it has me burning more than a summer in Death Valley.

Baseball, and Bud Selig especially, thought they would make baseball more meaningful in September by adding an extra playoff spot for a competing team. Instead of three division winners and a wildcard in each league, the new format as of last season includes the three division winners and two wildcard spots. The two wildcard teams however, who have experienced all the twists and turns of a 162 game season, then compete in one solitary game to determine who will play the division winner with the best record in baseball as the true wildcard representative. Give me a break! And I’m not talking about a Kit Kat. How can baseball think this is fair? No wonder Bud Selig recently announced his retirement at the end of next season. No wonder the ratings are down.

In a sport where one pitcher can determine the whole outcome of a game, to have one sudden death game be played is ludicrous. Baseball has the least amount of teams make the playoffs compared to hockey, basketball, and football. How can they truly justify the existence of such a short element in their post-season. A broken clock is right twice a day, but it does not mean that this is the best clock in a clock store. This is the World Series we are talking about, not March Madness, or a clock store.

In basketball, they have 16 teams make the playoffs and every series is best 4 out of 7. Even hockey partakes in this same format. They play half the games baseball does. And in basketball, sure winning game 1 is a good start to winning a series, but not every team that wins game 1 wins the series. This year and last year’s NBA Finals, LeBron James and the Miami Heat lost game 1 both times before moving on to win the series. If it was the baseball wildcard playoff, LeBron would still be known as the “Ringless King.” The reason this does not happen in basketball is because in a competitive sport where parody exists everywhere, the better team is determined over a larger sample sizes. It is not football, and you cannot fairly outline a system where one game determines who wins and goes home after such a long quantitative regular season.

NASCAR races do not determine the winner after 5 laps. Tennis matches do not play best 3 out of 5 games in a set to see who wins the whole match. Majors in Golf are not determined by two round tournaments or 9 hole matches. Soccer matches do not play twenty-minute games in the World Cup. I can go on and one with examples to illustrate my point, but it will not change the format that exists in baseball. Otherwise, this article would have only been one paragraph long.

Going into the final weekend of the regular season, the National League Wildcard matchup was clear-cut and the American League Wildcard reminded me of the BCS System. The Cardinals, Pirates, and Reds had an exciting battle throughout the final months of the season. The Cardinals, class personified, took the NL Central Crown and the Reds and Pirates battled off for the Wild Card Spot. The Pirates with the better record held the home field and predictably defended their turf, winning 6-2 the re-emerging of Francisco Liriano. Pittsburgh postseason baseball has not taken place since 1992, and this victory against the Reds was a fantastic emotional watch. However, if I am a Reds advocate, I played 82 home games during the regular season to prepare me for the playoffs, qualified for the playoffs, and I do not get even one home playoff game? This is blatantly out of bounds, unnecessary, and insulting. Make it two out of three. Do something Bud. Even the WNBA plays two out of three throughout the playoffs. You cannot justify playing that many regular season games to only have one game determine a team’s fate. Not to this baseball fan. Sorry Reds fans, looks like you had to walk the plank.

In the American League, the Wild Card Playoff berths resembled a hybrid of a Presidential Election Race and the BCS Bowl system. Chaotic, confusing, and most importantly, unfair. If two teams are supposed to play in a one-game playoff for the final wildcard spot, what happens when there is a tie for these final two spots? Well, I guess you can say baseball got its wish. The Rangers and the Rays tied for the second Wild Card spot, while the Indians finished first for the top spot. There were ten different cluttered scenarios that could have happened on the final day of the season. Hypothetically if this happens; then this is the result. In the end, there was a one-game playoff for the one-game playoff, furthering the ridiculousness of this new system.

The Tampa Bay Rays threw their ace David Price against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. And the Rangers pitcher was Yu Darvish, their best pitcher, naturally right? No, incorrect. Martin Perez who? Why, because Yu pitched on the final day of the season to secure their playoff “berth.” Baseball features a dynamic where a pitcher can impact a game more than any player on the field. This is why they typically pitch once every five games. The format did not even allow a team to have their best pitcher throw one pitch. How can this format truly determine the best team? It is very unfair and cruel. Sorry Rangers, you just got stung. By the Rays and more importantly, baseball’s misconception of balance. And what the playoffs represent.

The Rays got to throw their ace against the Rangers and they won. Then they advanced to the real wildcard playoff against the Indians, where they showcased Alex Cobb. Their number two starter Matt Moore could not pitch because he pitched on the final day of the regular season, but is scheduled to start Game 1 against the Red Sox on Friday in the ALDS. And the Indians were unable to throw their hottest pitcher in Ubaldo Jimenez. They had to pitch rookie Danny Salazar. He gave up a couple runs, but the story of the game was that the Indians stranded baserunners left and right. The Indians outhit the Rays but lost 4-0. In a long series, they could have won 4-1 and outhit them every game. We will never know. Neither will the Indians nor their fans. Cleveland sports will have to continue to suffer because of this stupid format. One off-night after a ten game winning streak sends a team home with no second, third or fourth chance.

In the end, the best team is determined in the League Championship Series and World Series. Why? Because it is a best-out-of-seven series. All pitchers can be used, and all assets and liabilities can be used and exposed. But in getting to these final four teams, injustice is incurred along the way. Basketball playoffs take almost two months, where baseball’s takes place in one month, and Baseball plays twice as many games in the regular season. Now I’m no math teacher, but something does not add up. Here is a quick solution: Cut out the final month of the regular season and make the playoffs longer. Simple, make it a 130 game season and make more playoff games.

C’mon baseball! Show us you can adapt. Football adopted its new overtime system because its previous format created a scenario where one team potentially did not get a fair chance. They realized a problem existed and rectified it. Baseball is moving slowly with updates in instant replay because baseball is America’s pastime. Change is hard for them, and the changes they do make are also unfair. They have the All-Star Game winner’s league get home-field advantage in the World Series. There are so many elements of this sport that I love that are broken. Baseball needs to strongly look at itself in the mirror, put on the eye black, and re-evaluate its playoff system, especially the Wild Card format. They are not only robbing the teams, but the fans as well. We all want you to succeed baseball, but you are making it very hard on yourself.

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Paul Culley
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Filed Under: Baseball Tagged With: American League, Baseball, BCS, Bud Selig, football, mlb, NBA, playoffs, season, sport, start, thecover4, Wild Card, world series, year

22: The New Face of Baseball – Andrew McCutchen

September 3, 2013 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

In an era in where steroids and PEDs have tarnished the image of baseball and its players, there are very few pure American stars — yet alone any stars — left.

Ryan Braun has suffered a disgraceful fall. Alex Rodriguez is an afterthought. Barry Bonds was forced out of baseball six years ago. If you ask the uninformed fan who the next face of baseball is, I’m sure that there would be a lot of pauses before he answers. Well, I have a simple suggestion for you. You take the best player on one of the the best teams in baseball. How about the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Yes, those Pirates. For Pittsburgh sports fans, many are used to boasting about Ben Roethlisberger or Sidney Crosby, but they have a new superstar to talk about, Andrew McCutchen.

”Cutch” has steadily progressed since making his debut in June 2009. The right-handed hitting center fielder is the total package. He has speed like a gazelle. He shows his power by hitting it to all over the field, including over the fence. He covers ground like a sumo wrestler. Most importantly, he plays the game the right way, free from off-the-field temptations and PED use.

In January, McCutchen was announced as the cover athlete of the baseball video game MLB 2013: The Show, where he beat out CC Sabathia in fan voting. After making the All-Star team for three consecutive years, Cutch is slowly starting to be the face that baseball desperately needs to carry its torch. Just like the Pirates, he is walking the walk with style and class. They don’t the need the media attention that the other teams get to prove their greatness.

Social media is a new tool that players like Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth never experienced. Typically, the media helps create these superstars who play in big markets such as New York or Los Angeles. And given the fact that the Pirates have played in a playoff game since two days before Bryce Harper was born, they have not received much attention from the fans, and especially the people who just tune in to watch during the playoffs. McCutchen is putting Pittsburgh on the map. This Wednesday, ESPN televised the Pirates playing on the road against St. Louis, a game in which the Pirates won easily. It was very symbolic for Cutch and his Buccos.

Given the state of the game rife with scandal and steroids, baseball must utilize their superstars to get fans interested again in watching the game. It starts with finding the right players who epitomize the perfect balance of excellence on and off the field. And Cutch hits a home run in regards to those statistics. He is very proud of who he is, where he came from, and what he is on his way to doing. Young kids learning the game need a role model like this to learn how to play the game the right way, with hard work and dedication. He was drafted out of high school, worked his way up, paid his dues and is now thriving as the cornerstone of the Pirates organization.

Meanwhile, he is leading his team to their best season in ages, and given a terrible collapse, we will be seeing the Pirates playing ball in October for the first time in a long time. Cutch has been there through thick and thin, and did not choose to abandon ship to cash in on a bigger paycheck. He signed a 6-year, $51.5 million extension with the Bucs, showing that he plans to play in Pittsburgh for a very long time. His loyalty to his team and city is commendable and another positive character trait that kids growing up can follow. Very few superstars in any sport these days play with one team their entire career.

McCutchen is a rising star for a rising franchise. He has made Pittsburgh a baseball city again and has the rest of Major League Baseball buzzing as well. Steroids and PED use has given the sport a major black eye, especially with the Braun scandal. Now, Cutch emerges as the new face of a sport that needs a face lift. His skills are elite, his team is playing like it belongs in the World Series and he does this with class personified. He never promotes himself as a superstar, and these days, he does not have to. The Pittsburgh Pirates are back and Cutch is here to stay. Baseball has a new golden boy, and they look to Buc the trend of scandal and negativity into a new era of excellence done in the right way, on and off the diamond.

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Paul Culley
Sports Activist for The Cover 4
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Filed Under: Baseball Tagged With: 22, All Star, andrew mccutchen, Baseball, Bryce Harper, center field, cover 4, cutch, face, Facebook Twitter, James Kaikis, Major League Baseball, media, mlb, paul culley, PED, Pittsburgh, pittsburgh pirates, sport, steroids, superstar, talk, TC4, the cover 4, thecover4, time

The British Ninja

August 14, 2013 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

McCarthy is changing how we look at sport specific training.

What is 5-foot-9, 170 pounds with a British accent and can take down a 280-pound defensive lineman in less than a second? Meet Paul McCarthy. McCarthy, the current instructional program coordinator for UCLA Cultural & Recreational Affairs, coordinates a number of recreational sports, dance, arts and martial arts programs for the students of the university.

In addition to teaching a number of martial art and self defense classes for the university, McCarthy boasts an impressive martial arts resume with nearly 20 years experience; 10 of those years include extensive experiences in Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do, and Filipino Martial Arts. Stir in 15 years of kinesiology experience and add three years of Silat, Savate, & Muay Thai experience. The result? One bad british ninja! Although McCarthy’s vast experiences are impressive, what McCarthy is doing with his martial arts skills is even more spectacular.

Last season, the UCLA football team finished 96th against the run while adding just 14 sacks, 112th in the country; very unspectacular statistics for a competitive program in the Pac-12. In an effort to improve defensive numbers, UCLA coaches sought out McCarthy to bring something new to the table, martial art training to the gridiron.

Why would a football program seek out the guidance of a martial artist? Think about it; martial arts involve precise footwork, quick strikes, power, speed and energy reading. Using these techniques, football players will be able to gain an advantage on their opponents and, in a game of inches, these advantages can be the difference between a win and a loss.

“Martial arts training is can be critical for the team because the types of drills I sometimes see normal teams doing are not always specific in training the specific attributes the players need,” McCarthy told The Cover 4.

Instead of teaching athletes the specific martial arts, McCarthy takes the ideologies of each of the styles and adapts them toward player needs. He teaches them the down and dirty stuff that will give them the competitive edge. While McCarthy incorporates a number of diverse exercises in his training, some of the basics rely on Filipino martial Arts for timing and hand speed drills, Hawaiian Hula for strength and balance and Savate for footwork drills.

“I have seen a phenomenal change in their hand speed and their ability to pick up specific motions or techniques,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy implemented his “new” type of training and transformed the UCLA defense; a unit that finished 54th against the run, with a vastly improved 45 sacks, good for 7th in the country.

“Many martial arts base their techniques on a smaller opponent being able to beat a larger one,” McCarthy said. “By teaching these very large players to be light on their feet and be able to read the ‘energy’ of their opponent without looking, but just by tactile response, they will have a gigantic edge on other players”.

McCarthy’s martial arts and football connection initially started with his instructor Guro Dan Inosanto. Guro Inosanto used martial arts in football with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s and the unit registered a high number of sacks, including three defensive linemen in double digits. Additionally, urban legend states that Deacon Jones may have learned his head-slapping technique from Guro Inosanto.

McCarthy’s new techniques and different approach to archaic methods gives UCLA an edge in an ultra-competitive industry. The interesting training and teaching methods can alter the way coaches and players think about traditional sports.

“This [specialized martial arts] is not a magic button. It takes thousands of repetitions to engrain this type of training into the body,” McCarthy said.

With the growth of fitness components like yoga, ballet and cycling, teams are looking for cutting edge ways to improve their athletic programs. New styles such as Insanity, P90X and CrossFit are helping revolutionize training. There is no reason to believe that martial arts won’t be in the same category.

McCarthy’s progress with the UCLA football team is only the start of a sports phenomenon. While McCarthy worked exclusively with UCLA last season, there is no reason to think that McCarthy won’t be providing training to college and pro sports teams all around the country; rumor has it a summer program may be on the horizon. Only time will tell, but in the end, our money is on McCarthy.

Paul McCarthy Website

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Thank you for reading The Cover 4! Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook & Twitter.

Oh yeah, tell your friends too!

James Kaikis
Chief Sports Activist for The Cover 4
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Filed Under: Football, The Other Sports Tagged With: Cultural Recreational Affairs, Dallas Cowboys, Deacon Jones, Filipino Martial Arts, football, Guro Dan Inosanto, Guro Inosanto, Hawaiian Hula, Jeet Kune, Meet Paul, Muay Thai, sport, time, UCLA

Tainted Love

August 7, 2013 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

Baseball is viewed as our national pastime. But in actuality steroids are making baseball past its time for many other reasons. Recently, Ryan Braun became the newest member of baseball’s CSUC, the Convicted Steroid Users Club. He has now destroyed his image of a hard-working power hitter for a hard-nosed team in a blue-collar city. Once viewed as one of the game’s up-and-coming stars, Braun must now live with this stain for the rest of his life. And baseball now has another huge bruise it must cover up, but I’m afraid this one will require some serious reconstructive surgery.

Braun made a splash in the big leagues as a rookie, swatting home run after home run, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to new winning ways. Before, fans only showed up to MillerPark because it was sponsored by a beer company. Now, along with Prince Fielder, fans had something to gloat about and root for. From the naked eye, he looked like a medium-sized built player who just had an unbelievable swing and eye for the ball. Looking back at it now, it all makes too much sense.

With steroids and PEDs becoming a major issue in the post-Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds era, Braun had been viewed as one of the good guys. A role model for young players, if you will. Hard work and dedication can pay off. The adage, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying,” is a myth. Now the only thing mythical about Braun is Braun himself, and this represents another devastating blow to the game of baseball.

The main crux of the issue lies with the deterrence for using performance enhancing drugs. Even though players know it’s bad for the sport, why do they continue to take banned substances? It’s because they get paid the big bucks to produce. This is why over the years many owners and managers kept their mouths shut and looked the other way. They saw all the butts in the seats for every game. Revenue was up. Home runs were up. Popularity was up. The only thing that was down was the integrity of the game and that didn’t matter one bit to those profiting owners. Teams generated money and players got a piece of the pie. Both parties won.

Money is the key ingredient to this all. Baseball thinks it can suspend players 50 and 100 games, and have that be enough to prevent players using PEDs. I don’t think so. Sure, strides have been made, but going from awful to terrible is still pretty bad. And when a superstar like Braun is a member of the CUSC, the game’s image and integrity plummets. No one cares when the stupid bully cheats on a test, but when the class valedictorian does, it’s a big deal.

Let’s examine how this whole Braun thing has played out. He first was suspected of steroid use, but avoided punishment because of a technicality. The handler of the evidence “handled” it in a way that was against protocol, and Braun’s representation jumped on this mistake. It’s like when a guilty party gets off because he has a really good lawyer. Everyone knows he is guilty but the system does not allow the right justice to be served. Secondly, in this entire process, he maintained his innocence, still holding on to the last ounces of trust we had left in him as fans of the game. With his PED use now confirmed, he not only cheated the game, but all the people associated with it. Players, owners, managers, family, friends and especially us, the fans, the ones who pay his salary. We were duped.

With Braun reaching an agreement with MLB, he is now suspended for the remainder of the season and gets to hide away on vacation and let his negative rep linger in the background. People won’t forget, but they will forgive as soon as he starts hitting home runs next year. Especially with the attention now on Alex Rodriguez, Braun might actually end up as the good guy, relatively.

The bottom line is that players are cheating to produce. Then, they get paid because of their production. And no suspension of games is going to take a significant chunk of change out of their pocket to deter them from cheating until they get caught. Sure it is $3 million, but what is three million compared to the $52 million they are making because of their PED use. It’s almost as if it is a tax that if they are careful enough, they might not have to pay.

With Braun’s guilt, it just adds another big name to the list of stars who cheated, except this guy represented a glimmer of hope in a new of era of trying to rid baseball of steroids. In fact, he now has put baseball and its integrity in an even worse state. He is the bad apple that has spoiled the bunch. It does not matter that many players are playing the game the right way. Braun cheated, he signed his big contract, and now has to face a slap on the wrist for his mistake, while baseball faces the brunt of the punishment. Do you think Braun cares he might be hated every time he plays on the road from now on? Maybe. But he will quickly forget about this problem whenever he checks his bank account.

I propose that baseball needs to enact clauses in all contracts stating that any player guilty of steroid or PED use will have his contract voided at the team’s discretion. It is not about the number of games he misses. It is about the big picture financial impact that getting caught will have on a player. Take away the guaranteed contract. Take away the sponsors. Take away the stability. Then, only then, can you have a deterrent to improve the tainted image on the game. Good luck baseball. This fan is rooting for you.

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Thank you for reading The Cover 4! Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook & Twitter.

Oh yeah, tell your friends too!

Paul Culley
Sports Activist for The Cover 4
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Filed Under: Baseball Tagged With: Alex Rodriguez, back, barry bonds, CUSC, face, Milwaukee Brewers, mlb, PED, Prince Fielder, season, sport, steroids, superstar, time, year

NHL’s Greatest Moments

July 22, 2013 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

With the NHL season now in the distant past (relatively speaking), but next season still months away, as hockey fans we find ourselves mired in the most boring part of the season, the offseason. To help kill time during the offseason, we will bring you some classic NHL moments that we are taking a look back on, just because we are fans of the game. With such a great sport, played by great people over the course of a century, we certainly will not be short of great moments. Let’s get to it.

“Off The Floor, On The Board”

The Set Up:
It was Game 6 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals which pitted the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim against the New Jersey Devils. As the teams took to the ice, the Mighty Ducks were in a must-win situation, as they trailed 3-2 in the series. A concern from Mighty Ducks fans heading into the game was “we need more scoring from Paul Kariya.” The Mighty Ducks captain was struggling to score, but in a pregame interview, noted the fact that he himself would like to see more goals go in. With 13:44 left in the second period, and the Mighty Ducks leading 3-1, Kariya made a pass through the neutral zone, and a second later, was absolutely leveled by Devils captain Scott Stevens. Stevens was an easy selection to the Hall of Fame, and at this point in his career, had made a living DESTROYING those who chose to skate through the open ice with their heads down, and Kariya was no exception. The hit left Kariya unconscious at center ice, and he appeared to not be breathing for a moment. After lying motionless on the ice for a few seconds, it was as if his body snapped back into it and Kariya let out a big exhale which you could see hit his visor. The doctors attended to Kariya and helped him slowly off the ice and into the locker room and presumably to the hospital.

If you have ever watched a hockey game in your life, you know how tough every player is and the warrior mentality that they all possess, but the scene at center seemed to all that Kariya’s season was over. To the surprise of everyone, most notably Stevens, just minutes later Kariya returned from the runway to the locker room and took a quick skate during a stoppage with 9:13 left in the second period. Many a NHL player have played through an excruciating injury in the playoffs or the Final, but minutes after being knocked out cold to the point of not breathing, Kariya returning was a moment in and of itself, until…

The Moment:
After returning to play, with just under three minutes left in that second period, Kariya took a neutral zone pass, skated over the very spot where only a few minutes ago he was lying unconscious, crossed the blue line and wound up for a slap shot. From a good distance away, Kariya absolutely blasted a perfect slap shot and blew it by future first ballot Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur, and the crowd erupted. With one of the best calls of his career, all-time great ESPN commentator Gary Thorne called the play: “SCOREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! OFF THE FLOOR, ON THE BOARD! Paul Kariya!!!”.

The Mighty Ducks went on to force game seven, but ultimately lost in New Jersey in that seventh game. However, to any lifelong hockey fan, this was still one of those moments that epitomizes the sport of hockey and the players that play it.

Filed Under: Hockey Tagged With: back, BOARD, DESTROYING, FLOOR, Gary Thorne, Jersey, Martin Brodeur, mighty ducks, New Jersey, nhl, Paul Kariya, SCOREEEEEEEEEEEE, Scott Stevens, sport, time

The Betting Corner: Baseball Season – Easy $

March 11, 2013 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again. With spring training underway, March Madness right around the corner, and NBA/NHL playoffs in our near future, it’s a great time to be a sports fan.

But with all of this looming, the date I’ve circled on my calendar is April 1. No, not because of April Fools. April 1 marks opening day for the 2013 MLB season (technically Texas plays host to Houston on March 31 but for all intents and purposes, we’re not really counting Houston as a “professional” team this year, but I’ll get to that later).

For the purposes of this blog we’ll be 100 percent focused on baseball games, stats, trends, streaks, match-ups ─ anything and everything related to America’s pastime. Oh yeah, and for all you degenerate gamblers out there, we’ll be doing this from a Vegas perspective. I’ve been able to hold my own in the past few seasons betting MLB sides/totals and I enjoy putting my opinion into words. Put two and two together and that sounds like a solid daily blog to me.

Every pick posted on this blog I will play myself with my own money. I apologize in advance if write-ups or plays are delayed in being posted. I do work full-time as a ﬁnancial advisor and that’s priority number one. But enough behind the scenes details, let’s get into the ﬁrst bets you can make this offseason.

First off, if you’ve got the itch to bet on spring training games, well… don’t. Baseball is different than any other sport when it comes to preseason action. As a general rule (and I realize this doesn’t apply for EVERY player), a large handful of individuals playing after the ﬁfth inning of most games won’t even be on the opening day roster (especially EARLY in spring training). You may as well take your leans to the roulette table for some better odds.

Something a little more reasonable is betting MLB futures and season win totals. I tend to stay away from most futures (i.e. Los Angeles Angels at 7/1 to win the World Series) because trying to single out one team of 30 to hit its year-end goal is difficult. Again, with those odds, I’ll stick to roulette. I do however, see a lot of potential value in season win totals.

Vegas gives us more of a 50-50 split by setting a line for the total wins a team will have at the end of the season.

I’ve been researching the free agent market, trades, acquisitions, manager and division moves for the last few months and I’ve concluded the following ﬁve preseason bets hold the most value.

As a side note, one of the most important keys to sports betting is being able to manage a bankroll. A general rule of thumb is one unit equates to 1% of your bankroll. If you’ve set aside $5,000 for this season, your unit would be $50 (seems like a lot to set aside but you need to be able to survive the bad runs, as they WILL come). For me, one unit is $100. Most all of my plays will be one-unit plays. I will occasionally release a 0.5- unit play (for example if there was heavy movement on my play in the wrong direction, I may still bet it, but at less money. You’ll see an example of this as you keep reading.)

Very rarely will I ever bet a 1.5 or two-unit play. You can think of them as a game of the week and game of the month respectively. In no way however, will I upgrade a play to a 1.5 or two-unit play just because I haven’t had one in awhile. But I digress.

The ﬁrst play I see value in is the Atlanta Braves over 87.5 -110 (Las Vegas Hilton) *1.0 unit*.

I’ll start by saying this: yes, I agree Chipper Jones is a huge loss from a clubhouse leader standpoint. Chipper did hit .287 last year while sporting a .830 OPS (both above league averages). But that’s about all they lost from last year’s 94-68 club.

Acquiring the Upton brothers to go along with Jason Heyward has given them as good an outﬁeld as any. A solid pitching core lies behind veteran Tim Hudson with young guns Kris Medlen and Mike Minor and is anchored by one of the best closers in MLB in Craig Kimbrel. Don’t quite hand the Washington Nationals the NL East title yet, as I see this Braves team a solid World Series contender come October and a shoe-in to win 90-plus games this year.

Second, we’ll be going with the Cleveland Indians over 77 -110 (LV Hilton) *1.5 units*.

Outside of the Detroit Tigers, who represented the American League in the World Series last year, this division is WIDE OPEN. And in my opinion, Cleveland has done the most this offseason. Nick Swisher, Drew Stubbs and Michael Bourn will all contribute greatly to a team that was in the bottom third in the league in runs scored last year (22nd at 667). Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez are key factors to this teams success and I believe they will both have positive years reflective of their career stats. But the big key for me making this a 1.5 unit play is Terry Francona (yes I am, and will remain a Boston Red Sox fan, regardless of the downward spiral they’ve been on). Tito will be able to rally his fresh and talented team around established Cleveland stars such as Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana. Look for them to be a above-.500 team and make a little more noise than expected in this wide-open division.

Third is the AAA-caliber Houston Astros under 59.5 -110 (LV Hilton) *1.0 unit*.

They’ve BEEN bad. They ARE bad. They will CONTINUE TO BE bad and possibly even GET worse. This team’s biggest and only major acquisition during the offseason was the signing of 1B Carlos Pena. Really? That’s your big signing Houston? In 2012,

Pena had 497 ofﬁcial at-bats. He hit .197, had 19 HRs (his lowest total since 2003; with the exception of his shortened ’05 and ’06 seasons) and a staggering 182 strikeouts. Yeah, no typo,182 strikeouts (third-worst in the league). That’s more than a strikeout per three at-bats (36.6% to be exact). And if that’s your best, I’m not going to even get into the worst. Not only that, but trading ace Wandy Rodriguez around last year’s trade deadline didn’t help a whole lot either. A realistic goal for this team would be to win a third of its games (54- 108). Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the biggest key of all. They’re leaving the watered down National League to join the stacked AL West (in my opinion, the most top-heavy division in baseball). The Astros will be etching their names into the record books this year with their third consecutive season with (well) over 100 losses.

These last two piggyback off Houston’s atrociousness. The ﬁrst is the Pittsburgh

Pirates under 77 -110 (LV Hilton) *0.5 Units*.

I lay it at 0.5 units because I liked it at 79, but that line was ﬁrst released by the Atlantis Casino in Reno, Nev., and ain’t nobody got time (or the desire) to travel to Reno, Nev. and since then it’s dropped to 77. But anyways, oh yeah, the Pirates. They’re noHouston by any means, but they will deﬁnitely suffer from not being able to beat up onthe Astros in the NL Central (they went 12-5 against them in 2012). The Pirates haven’t won more than 79 games since they were three outs away from the World Series in 1992 (96 wins). I don’t see that trend changing here. They have a few solid pitchers and it’s hard not to mention MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen, but when you’re only superior within your division to a team who’s underachieved for over a century (yes, I’m talking to you Cubs fans), that’s not much to brag about. Don’t forget they also lost all-star closer Joel Hanrahan (fifth in the NL last year with 36 saves) to Boston and are relying on journeyman Jason Grilli to ﬁll the void. If you can ﬁnd this line at at 79 or more, bump it to a unit. 75.5-78.5 take it at 0.5. Anything less than that and it’s a no bet for me.

Last but not least is the Seattle Mariners over 77 -125 (BookMaker) *1 unit*.

I haven’t bet this one yet as I’m still shopping around. I don’t like the -125 vig at BookMaker but the line was “over 78.5 at the Hilton at -110” so I’m thinking that juice may be worth it for the extra game-and-a-half leeway. In a nutshell, all of the AL West is going to beneﬁt from the laughingstock of the league that is the Houston Astros. I personally don’t believe the Oakland Athletics will have as much success as they did last year.

They’re still a third-place ﬁnish for me behind division juggernauts L.A. and Texas, but not by much. Seattle was still able to win 75 games last year even though they were in a four-team league and those other three teams won 94, 93 and 89 games apiece. Signing King Felix to a 7–year, $175 million extension will likely lock him in Seattle for his career. Other notable acquisitions this offseason include Michael Morse from Washington and Kendrys Morales from the Angels. Even veteran signings of Jason Bay and Raul Ibanez have a low–risk, high-reward potential to them. Behind a solid pitching staff and rising stars such as Jesus Montero, Seattle will surprise a lot of naysayers this year and be a legitimate threat in the coming years to an already stacked division.

Hope that gives you a little insight to what’s gone on this winter and an idea of what you can expect come this summer. Check back for sporadic updates this spring and expect daily posts once April rolls around . Enjoy this year’s MLB season and good luck to you if you take to the books.

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Filed Under: Baseball Tagged With: $, america's pastime, Baseball, bet, dollars, gamble, jeremy murray, major league baseball, mlb, odds, season, sport, sports book, the cover 4, total, Vegas, wins

Inside the Circle: David Levi, Personal Assistant of Floyd “Money” Mayweather

January 25, 2013 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

The Cover 4 was fortunate to catch up to David Levi, UNLV Graduate and Floyd Mayweathers Personal Assistant. We asked David what it is like to be part of the money team! Check out the article below!

Thanks for reading and thank you to David Levi for the interview

State your position with The Money Team?

I am Floyd’s personal assistant. I also take care of various things needed for The Money Team.

What is your boxing background?

I started boxing back in high school. Every Friday my brother and I invited kids over from school and we all boxed each other in the backyard with 16oz gloves and headgears. A short while later a boxing gym opened up new my house and I started training every day. I had my first amateur fight senior year of high school and won by knockout. The following year I attended UNLV just to fight for the boxing team there. After my freshman year boxing, I stopped fighting all together to work at Mayweather Promotions.

Have you ever stepped in the ring with Floyd? Even just messing around?

That’s a funny question because Floyd always asks me if I want to spar a little bit with him. He always tells me he’ll “take it easy on me”. The guy beats the hell out of world class fighters, so I’m not so keen on getting in the ring with him. Maybe if I started training again I would do it for fun. I would like to someday just to say I did.

How did you join the Money Team?

I interned for Mayweather Promotions on and off for about a year and a half. I then was hired as an office assistant for about six months. One day I was over at Floyd’s house which rarely happened and I approached him when he was alone and asked him to give me a shot and I would do whatever he needed to be done. About a week later he called me and said he was going to “test me out” and it’s been two years since!

What is the typical day in the life of David Levi?

I’m on call 24/7. No day is every the same and that is what I like best about my work. Usually if Floyd is out of town my day consists of running a couple errands for him, paying people, and I usually sit in the sports book and bet for Floyd the rest of the day.

During training my schedule is a little different. The day starts at the boxing gym around 2PM. The whole team encourages Floyd while he trains. I usually have to run out of the gym to the sports book to put bets in while he is training. We usually go to dinner after training and head to the fitness gym around 2AM.

What type of role do you take in fight planning/marketing?

Golden Boy Promotions does basically all the planning and marketing for Floyd’s fights. I use my twitter and instagram as a marketing tool by posting photos of Floyd while training. I occasionally do some interviews about Floyd’s training as well. I also seek out sponsorships and endorsements for various Mayweather Promotions fighters and Floyd.

What is the typical day in the life of Floyd Mayweather?

Floyd usually spends a lot of time with his children while he’s not training for a fight. The afternoons always consist of watching football and basketball. Him and I are usually on and off the phone nonstop because I’m placing bets for him while he watches the games at home or wherever he happens to be at the time. He knows more about football and basketball then anyone I’ve ever met. He’s a tremendous athlete, he often plays basketball late at night at the fitness gym in pick-up games.

What’s your favorite part about being part of The Money Team?

There are definitely various perks in Vegas being part of the team. I’d say my favorite part is being able to see Floyd spar every day during training. Most people only get to see him fight once a year, I get to see if every day while he’s training!

What is the coolest experience you have ever had with Floyd?

I’d say my favorite experience this far was the whole fight weekend for the Mayweather-Cotto fight. The fight was so intense and I am a fan of Miguel Cotto’s as well so I was extremely excited. I’ll never forget being in the back area with Floyd before the weigh in and he was jumping around talking shit out loud as Cotto just glared at him nonstop. Definitely the type of stuff I love being a huge boxing fan.

What was it like being interviewed by ESPN for their article?

Today’s social media has really simplified the ways to get into contact with media outlets. Over the last two years on Twitter I’ve created friendships with various writers for ESPN, Yahoo, FightHype, exc. and I get quoted from comments I make on Twitter. I’d say I enjoyed my interview with Yahoo’s Kevin Iole most.

What happened with the 50 cent split?

I think there was some miscommunication between Floyd and Fifty while Floyd was locked up. One thing was said and another came to fruition which Floyd didn’t agree with. I tend not to talk about it because it’s between the two of them.

What should people know about Floyd?

Floyd is one of the most fun people to hang around. He’s always joking around and talking shit. He has great energy and is tremendous person. He does a ton of charity which most people don’t get to see that side of him.

After Pac just got knocked out, will that fight ever happen?

The fight is basically never going to happen at this point. Pacman was knocked out cold and is going to need a couple fights to get back to where he was. I don’t think he will ever be the same after that knockout. The money that was there for the fight is no longer there because of how Pacquiao lost.

When will Floyd step back into the ring?

Floyd will actually be fighting here in Las Vegas on May 4^th. The opponent is yet to be named, but believe me it’s going to be a great match up! He also is scheduled to fight September 14^th.

After Floyd boxing career is finished, how will he be remembered?

I think after Floyd’s next two or three wins and retires undefeated he will go down as the greatest boxer of all time. At the end of the day when it is all said and done, Floyd has fought dozens of world champions and hall of famers. He makes all of them look like amateurs. There is no fighter ever in the history of the sport that has faced the opposition he has and made it look so easy.

What do you have planned in the future?

I’m really enjoying my time with Floyd and The Money Team currently but of course eventually all things come to an end. I would like to get into promotion or work behind the scenes for television involving boxing and entertainment. I really enjoy the entertainment industry and I plan on staying involved with boxing one way or another.

Thanks for the interview Cover 4!

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Filed Under: The Other Sports Tagged With: back, David Levi, ESPN, Every Friday, Floyd Mayweather, football, Kevin Iole, Mayweather Cotto, Mayweather Promotions, Miguel Cotto, Money Team, sport, time, UNLV, year

Mark Sanchez: The NFL’s Most Unfortunate Quarterback.

December 8, 2012 by James Kaikis Leave a Comment

Playing quarterback in the NFL is a lot like being the President of the United States. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, playing quarterback is probably more difficult. All jokes that are only funny because a lot of people think they’re true aside, both jobs come with a distinct view on their output by the American people. When things go accordingly to plan we grant both quarterbacks too large a piece of the pie: Obama doesn’t really hunt terrorist, the well-trained super soldiers of our military do. And, in the most obvious vice-versa known to man, Obama has no real control over the economy, fiscal cliff, or how terrible your job is. Our government was written with a unique set of checks and balances to prevent such things, as is our favorite gladitorial past time. When our favorite NFL teams win, we rush to dole out a vast array of superlatives upon the crown of said team’s quarterback, and with each loss we heap just as much, if not more, vitriol upon their broad shoulders. How many times has Eli Manning gone from a Bum to Elite in the past 4 years? Are we even sure what to call Joe Flacco anymore? As a rookie, Andrew Luck has transformed an egregiously poor Colts team seemingly over night, escorting them single-handedly(if Sportscenter tells it right) from last place to the playoffs. But what about the Brady Quinn’s and Tim Couch’s off the world? Were they any less impressive in college? Did their skills somehow fade? Why is it we call the NFL “the ultimate team sport” and then collectively agree to forget the “team” part when it comes to this one position? More importantly, what does any of this have to do with Mark Sanchez?

Simple, Mark Sanchez is the most under-rated, unfortunate quarterback in the NFL and no one is talking about it.

Team A: 1st in the league in rushing, 1st in the league in points given up, 1st in the league in total defense

Team B: 4th in the league in rushing, 6th in the league in points given up, 4th in the league in total defense

Team C: 22nd in the league in rushing, 20th in the league in points given up, 11th in the league in total defense
Who are these 3 teams you ask? These are the New York Jets from 2009, Mark Sanchez’s rookie year, until 2011. If you noticed one thing it’s that the team that built itself on rushing and defense has, over the course of 3 years, gotten significantly worse in both categories. It is a substantial decline to say the least. You would expect that for a team to slide this progressively over 3 years that they would have to either spend money to improve their deficiency or be inefficient enough to draft high and upgrade at lacking positions. Well, in the Jets case, you’d be wrong…twice. In fact, since 2009, the New York Jets are in the bottom half of league in both “Points Scored” and “Drafted Players Still With Team”. The players drafted by the Jets are either high end busts(Kyle Wilson, Shonn Greene, Muhammad Wilkerson) or low end back ups. In fact, in a great state of irony befitting this team, Greg McElroy, Jeremy Kerley, and Bilal Powell, all drafted in the 4th round or later of the 2011 draft, have been the highlights of this Jets season. So what about upgrading this pedestrian offense through free agency? The Jets idea of improving their offense has been to import every 30 year old skill player past their prime (Ladanian Tomlinson, Plaxico Burress), an oft hurt hothead other championship teams can’t stand (Santonio Holmes), and exporting the figurehead behind their rushing success (Thomas Jones).
You still might be asking yourself “How does all of this make Mark Sanchez both under-rated and unfortunate, he landed on a pretty good team.” Exactly. In the modern NFL, there might not be a greater curse than landing on a “pretty good” team”. Not only is more expected of you, but your team is good enough to make your failures unrewarded. Charles Barkley said it best when talking about the Phoenix Suns, “In this world you either need to be really good or really bad. Being in the middle is for suckers”. The Jets with Mark Sanchez haven’t been good enough to beat the best teams and not bad enough to get high draft picks. If this wasn’t unfortunate enough for Mark Sanchez, he was drafted by a defensive minded head coach who doesn’t believe in throwing the ball downfield, or spending money and draft picks on skill position players. He’s cursed with a General Manager whose overseen an offense that has devolved at every level. Where the Jets offensive line was once the league’s best, it’s now a poultry sum of journeymen surrounding All Pro Nick Mangold. Thomas Jones was replaced. Santonio Holmes has missed more games in 2012 than he’s played and there are only 6 people on Earth who can name the rest of the Jets receivers. As if this wasn’t enough, Darrelle Revis, the core of the entire Jets defense, is out for the year with an ACL tear, exchanging a once feared blitz-heavy defense with a mediocre “bend don’t break” replacement.

Returning to Andrew Luck and our opening salvo as to the credit placed with a winning quarterback, think of what the Indianapolis Colts did to place him in a winning position. They retained a Pro Bowl receiver in Reggie Wayne, spent 5 draft picks on skill players, and catered the offense to his style of play. The Seahawks signed Sidney Rice, drafted Golden Tate, grabbed Marshawn Lynch in free agency, and then drafted their rookie QB Russel Wilson. The Redskins incorporated RGIII’s college offense, drafted a running back, and signed a plethora of receivers .Having great skill position players doesn’t guarantee a great quarterback, as Matt Leinart can attest to, but it certainly increases your chances. Of the past 5 quarterbacks to win NFL MVP, all 5 of them have been accompanied by Pro Bowl receivers. But the Jets have turned a blind eye to the modern game and insisted on an style more befitting the upcoming Alabama/Notre Dame game—-if only said game was being played in 1966. This is the unfortunate circumstance of the modern NFL quarterback. In the ultimate group game, they are asked to put the I in Team. While no sport requires more of a specific player, no player needs so much from not just his fellow players, but his coach, general manager, and owner.

When Braylon Edwards tweeted, “Don’t blame Sanchez. I played there. Blame the idiots calling shots. Mark is a beast and will prove it when given a proper chance.” he could’ve been speaking for a dozen other quarterbacks in NFL history whose teams never gave them a chance to succeed. But right now, in 2012, on the team smack dab in the middle of the ravenous New York Media, and even more carnivorous fans, on a team whose best player is out for the season and whose team has gotten worse with each year, who brought in Tim Tebow for…religious purposes (LOL), Mark Sanchez might just be the most unfortunate quarterback in the history of the NFL.
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Filed Under: Football Tagged With: 2012, Andrew Luck, back, coach, draft, Mark Sanchez, New York, New York Jets, nfl, Pro Bowl, quarterbacks, Santonio Holmes, sport, Thomas Jones, year

America’s Favorite Pastime: Past its Time

November 9, 2012 by James Kaikis 2 Comments

Derek Jeter isn’t the only one upset about the state of the MLB right now.

The Cover 4 will feature a number of writers to cover a variety of topics. This article is by our very own Long Island Sound, Sports Activist.

It can easily be seen throughout sports and pop culture in America that the NFL, NBA, and soccer are on the rise, and the once glorified sport of baseball is on the decline. No one finds this more unfortunate and painful to present than yours truly, but the days of Peter Gammons and Timmy K are now gone.

As a preface, society in general has become faster and faster over the last decade. Information cannot come quicker. First, the email. Next, the text message. Now, the capability to do both on a phone. Need to scan? Oh, there is an app for that. Any project from construction to video game development cannot be produced fast enough because owners want their new toy to sell to consumers. With all of the enhancements and societal shifts, baseball has happened to stand pat with regards to technology while providing a slower product.

Taking the sports on the rise individually, developments can be seen in each aspect that generate its current prominence.

The most watched and followed sport right now is the NFL. Some may ask why? “South Park” portrayed it best by every child in America can be diagnosed with ADD by a doctor, but the fact is we have a very limited attention span as humans. Each NFL team only plays 16 games, ultimately resulting in every game being important. Each Sunday (Thursday and Monday now) there is an underlying story other than winning and division standings. For example, the Colts played the Titans last week. Was that the Game of the Week for CBS? No, but people wanted to watch Andrew Luck develop. Is Chris Johnson done, and is Jake Locker a NFL quarterback? How did that game turn-out? Each and every game on the schedule presents an underlying story that is watchable. Also, the sky rocketing of fantasy football has only driven popularity; making neutral office workers tune in for work place bragging rights. Plus, when was the last time you watched a Marlins vs. Astros game? 2003, when the Killer Bs took on Beckett, Burnett, and Dontrelle? Exactly. ALMOST A DECADE AGO.

Next, the NBA has fallen into its greatest player class since the days of Magic and Bird. Jordan carried the league through all of the 90s to hand it off to Shaq, Kobe, and the Spurs. Beginning with Kobe and now LeBron, the NBA has aligned itself into mega-powers across the corners of the nation. From Miami, LA, NY/Brooklyn, and OKC, the NBA has founded powerhouses throughout the country with competitive markets in-between much like an equally balanced Risk board. Also, the underprivileged, athletic youth in America tend to take on basketball because of the minimal price to play. All you need is a ball and hoop. A great amount of young athletes are now taking to the NFL and NBA, which diminishes the actual athletic talent pool from baseball. It can be argued the MLB actually has Triple A teams in the majors. The Houston Astros are a minor league team with a hill in centerfield.

Lastly, this may come as a surprise to some but soccer is on the rise in the US. The common argument with soccer is that team USA is not globally competitive. While this statement has been true of past teams, USA has arguably become a better team in the recent decade. It may come as a surprise to some but a large portion of the recent successes of Soccer in America can be attributed to the EA Sports FIFA video game series. The FIFA series has gained steam in the past five to six years; gaining a large followership across the country. Concurrently, playing the game increases fans knowledge of the game and players, while conveying the intricate skill of the sport.

Soccer is 90 minutes (+/- 5) with a 20 minute half. One can leave their house in 110 minutes guaranteed (not a cup game in this situation). We all know the common exchange, “When are you heading over?” Typical reply, “After the game!” If that game is Red Sox vs Yankees, that could be 2.5 hours if ’07 Beckett shows up or 4.5 hours is Dice-K and Phil Hughes get after it; that just does not work for us anymore. Today, everything we download has a defined “time remaining”. Twitter has 140 characters; short and sweet. We are a right now culture that is phasing out the leisurely “watch a ball game” because we have things to do with limited time. Additionally, the advancement of technology has made information and knowledge transfer faster, but the amount of information demanded has increased with it and those expectations are burdensome.

Overall, it hurts to admit, but baseball is behind the times of right now. Growing up playing and loving baseball, the product that is presented on a day-to-day basis does not suffice with 162 games defining a regular season. To quote Colin Cowherd, “Baseball is like the stubborn Grandfather who still doesn’t have internet, it’s not cute anymore; just old.”

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Filed Under: Baseball Tagged With: ADD, AGO, ALMOST, CBS, Chris Johnson, decade, Derek Jeter, EA, FIFA, Houston Astros, Killer Bs, Kobe, mlb, NBA, nfl, NY, Red Sox, sport, time, usa

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