The Matador Archives

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football

Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 4:00 pm  
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For you die hard football fans, tune in tonight (if you can even find it on cable) in the season opener for both British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The Lions travel to Mosaic Stadium to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders (9 p.m. ET). This is a very even match-up but the Roughriders coached by former Argonauts coach Ken Miller, is poised for an opening night victory and are favored by 1. However, The Matador can see in his crystal ball a last second win by BC.

Put your money and faith on BC (+1).

For you baseball fans, The Matador is hearing the Red Sox money line is a smart bet.

The Matador’s bonus Super Bowl Coverage (of eating)

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 10:00 am  
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The 4th of July is just around the corner and what better way than to pay homage to an American institution—Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest. The Matador is stepping outside the realm of the gridiron and entering this mysterious world. Last year, our American hero Joey “Jaws” Chestnut barely beat out Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi to claim top dog in the 2008 Nathan’s Hot Dog eating competition. After time expired, both men tied by devouring 59 hot dogs and water drenched buns. In overtime, Chestnut was able to out chew and swallow Kobayashi for his 2nd consecutive title. Chestnut walked off the stage a champion with $10,000.00 in hand.

This year will prove to be another exciting rematch between Chestnut (-120) and Kobayashi (-110).

Chestnut, 25, hails from Vallejo, California. He boasts the Nathan’s Hot Dog record for consuming 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes, destroying Kobayashi’s old record. But what Chestnut can really be proud of is his love of American fare. He took down 241 chicken wings in 30 minutes at Wing Bowl XVI. In February, he was able to consume 10.5 pounds of macaroni and cheese in 7 minutes during the halftime show at the San Jose Stealth lacrosse game. Chestnut has a competitive advantage as he lives in the US and has access to Nathan’s Hot Dogs everyday all year long. Also, he has a unique training regime marveled by nutritionists that includes fasting and then stretching his stomach with milk, water, and protein supplements. Even so, Chestnut will not win for a third consecutive year. This is Kobayashi’s time to shine and reclaim the title.

Before Kobayashi, competitive food eating was virtually unheard of. His heroics and mass consumption of food have made him a living legend not only in Japan, but around the world. He is well built at 5‘ 8″ weighing anywhere between 128-165 pounds. He has a signature move that’s been coined the “Kobayashi shake” in which he wiggles his body in such a way to allow the food to drain down his esophagus quickly in mass quantities. With this shake, he has amassed several personal records: 97 Krystal hamburgers in 8 minutes; 58 bratwurst sausages in 10 minutes; 17.7 pounds of cow brains in 15 minutes; and 20 pounds of rice balls in 30 minutes. Fans adore Kobayashi and believe in him. This machine is invincible and fears no one. In Man vs. Beast, Kobayashi had the balls to face a 1089-pound Kodiak bear. Though he wasn’t victorious, he still managed to consume 31 bunless hot dogs in 2 minutes and 36 seconds to the bear’s 50.

At this year’s Nathan’s competition, the Kobayashi shake will be in full force and effect. So hurry up, jump on the bandwagon and buy your t-shirts today.

Kobayashi will win!!!!!

The smart money is on Kobayashi at -110.

For you risk takers, put a little $$$ on the field. At +1000, you really don’t have much to lose.

The Matador Picks The SEC

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 5:00 am  
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The SEC is the strongest conference overall winning the last three national championship games with a combined score of 103-52. For those not aware, the SEC is broken up into two divisions, the East and the West. At the end of the regular season, the division champs play in the conference championship game and the winner gets an automatic BCS bid to represent the SEC and it looks like Florida is on the way again.

SEC EAST
It seems almost certain the Florida Gators will win the SEC East with their very weak schedule. The only game that may pose a problem is the road game at LSU where they’ve recently struggled. Even if the Gators blow that game, they are still going to win the SEC East. No other team can compete with Florida in the East. The Gators return their entire starting defense and Tebow is back for his final season. For all you Bulldog lovers, without Moreno and Stafford, Georgia will be looking up all season long and their thin secondary is going to be exposed on opening day. They are going to be in the L column quickly as they have to face a very strong Oklahoma State team on the road (OSU may have the strongest offensive trio in Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter). Tennessee has a new coach who just fired up the Gators with his most recent rants over recruiting. The Vols have an untested QB and are weak at the O line. It’s not even worth my breath to talk about South Carolina, Vandy or Kentucky.
SEC WEST
The SEC West is a bit more unpredictable but with The Matador’s crystal ball, the clouds are clearing. You have three teams that can legitimately win the SEC West–LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss. Most are favoring LSU. I’m not sure why. Maybe it is because of their strength at running back, but who knows. LSU will lose key games because they lost key players at the D line and O line positions. Jefferson, their QB, is still suspect at best but he did have a strong Chick-fil-A Bowl, showing signs of potential and stability. Alabama is going to have a sick defense which rivals the Gators. My concern is their offensive production. I don’t see them scoring enough points to keep up with their SEC rivals. We will learn a lot about Bama on September 5th, when they face VaTech in Atlanta. Either way, the team is not strong enough to be on top. In the end, my team out of the West who will be standing strong is Ole Miss. They are bringing back all their play makers on offense including my Heisman hopeful long shot Jevan Snead. This team will score a lot of points with McCluster and Hodge catching the ball and Bolden anchoring the backfield–and most importantly they don’t have to face the revengeful Gators in the regular season. I recognize they don’t have a lot of depth on the O line and their defense needs improvement, but their offense should take them all the way to the promised land.

The SEC champs: Florida Gators win by trouncing Ole Miss.

Most exciting team to watch: Auburn. They have a new coach in Chiznik, a very difficult schedule, questions at QB, untested players, but one heck of a defense. They won’t win the West but they sure will make it entertaining.

Next Up: The Big 10

The Matador’s 2009 Heisman Watch

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 4:09 am  
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Today is your lucky day! The Matador has his Heisman sleeper picks for you so get your money ready.

Now if you don’t recall, last year’s Heisman race was an anomaly in that Tim Tebow actually received the most first place votes, yet finished third in the overall ballot behind McCoy and Bradford respectively. If the voting took place after the BCS Championship game, there is no doubt in my mind Tim Tebow would have won after taking down the mighty Sooners, but unfortunately that’s not how the award is won. So with that in mind, The Matador is ready to unleash his favorites for the 2009 Heisman Trophy.

Below are probably your favorites, but The Matador doesn’t like them and thinks they are bad bets with little to no value:

1) Tim Tebow (QB, Florida) — Tebow is the favorite, but the voters and Archie Griffin don’t want a player to win this award twice. It’s clear that Urban Meyer’s game plan is to make his workhorses drive 80 yards down the field, then run the one yard QB keeper so the maharajah Tebow can get his coveted stats. Percy Harvin’s numbers should have been so much greater last year but the coach drew up all the red zone plays for Tebow. However, in the eyes of the public, Tebow is a saint and therefore he should be favored entering the season.

2) McCoy (QB, Texas) / Bradford (QB, Oklahoma) — These two are toss ups. Both were highly valued during the regular season, but as soon as they played teams with real defenses, their numbers plummeted. The voters will remember this when casting their vote. McCoy did throw for 414 yards in the Fiesta Bowl, but that was off of 58 attempts (abnormally high). With those numbers, he still only managed to throw for 2 TDs and had an INT against a stronger Buckeyes’ defense. In the BCS Championship game, Bradford threw for a paltry 256 yards off of 41 attempts with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. This is not the sign of a Heisman winner. If anything, Florida’s defense, who all return, should have collectively won the Heisman for shutting down the Big 12′s so-called elite offense and the SEC all season long. The Sooners scored an average of 55.8 points against Big 12 teams throughout the 2008 regular season, but only 14 against Florida’s dominating defense.

Instead, here are The Matador’s Top 3 Heisman candidates you may want to invest in:

1. Jahvid Best (RB, Cal) — Best is hands down the best running back in the Pac-10 and maybe in all of college football. He will put up monstrous numbers against some of the terrible Pac-10 defenses. If Cal can win some games and upset USC, this RB will be posing with the Heisman trophy come December.

2. Daryll Clark (QB, Penn State) not Terrelle Pryor (QB, OSU) — Clark will lead the Nittany Lions to its second consecutive Big Ten title. There is so much hype with Pryor and Ohio State winning the Big Ten, but frankly he shouldn’t be on your watch list. Pryor hasn’t individually proven anything and he had terrible games when it counted against Penn State and Texas (in the Fiesta Bowl, Pryor was shut out with no passing TDs and was held to 5 completions for a total of 66 yards). As a true freshman, Pryor played well but not up to the Heisman hype to be on your watch list. Clark, on the other hand, had an amazing debut as PSU’s starting QB, won the Big Ten, and in the Rose Bowl threw for 273 yards, had 2 passing TDs and one rushing TD against what some people said was the best USC defense in school history. I only see improvement with this guy. If he goes 12-0 or 11-1, step aside Tim Tebow so Clark can claim his much deserved trophy.

3. DeMarco Murray (RB, Oklahoma) — Murray is coming off an injury and the Sooners really — let me emphasize this — REALLY missed him in the BCS Championship Game. Murray will be a force to reckon with and will put up another 1000 yards easily this season. If he stays on his feet and out of the hospital, at the end of the season he can rest his sore hamstring on the Heisman trophy.

The dark horses: Jevan Snead (QB, Ole Miss), Zac Robinson (QB, Okla. State), Evan Royster (RB, Penn State), Jonathan Dwyer (RB, Ga. Tech).


If you are wondering why I did not pick any wide receivers, it’s because wide receivers just don’t win the Heisman. The last to do so was Desmond Howard in 1991. Look at the receiving core last year, none of them even came close. Eight out of the last ten Heismans went to QBs and the way the trend is going, that’s not going to change. SO DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. DO NOT PLACE ANY FUTURE ACTION ON ANY WIDE RECEIVER!!!!!

Next Up–The Matador will announce his Conference Championship predictions. First up, the SEC.

The Matador

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 4:15 am  
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I’m Don “The Matador” Everest. You’ve seen me on TV, read my books, and heard about my success on the likes of Oprah. I have won more money betting on sports than Bush has put our country in debt. I did it with smart plays and UPSETS using my superior analysis and studying with the best in the business. Everyone says you cant win at sports betting, WRONG! I’ve been picking 75% spread winners since the age of 12, taking gumballs and baseball cards from my next door neighbors. They don’t call me “The Matador” for nothing–as the word suggests, I’m the bullfighter who will kill the bull.

I certainly may be new to the Deuce, but I’m not new to the world of sports betting. I’ve teamed up with the Deuce to provide readers with my select pick of the week. The sport of choice is……..College Football. You are going to get one game each week. I’ll post hours if not days before kick-off. I will keep detailed records of my picks so you will know how I am doing throughout the season. In the meantime, I’m studying my teams, coaches, weather patterns, and individual players. Shortly, I will release my Heisman prediction, National Champs, and Conference Champs. I just want you to remember, if you put your faith in me, this will be a journey that you will never forget.

Disclaimer:
This is meant for entertainment purposes, everything you just read is not true. Neither The Matador nor anyone associated with the Deuce accepts any responsibility whatsoever for any loss that may be sustained as a result of the use (or misuse) of The Matador’s posts, irrespective of how that loss might be sustained. The Matador or the Deuce does not guarantee winnings and cannot be held liable for losses resulting from the use of information obtained from here.
Warning:
Wagering can be very risky and users should only speculate with money that they can comfortably afford to lose or your significant other doesn’t know about and should ensure that the risks involved are fully understood, seeking advice if necessary. If you have a problem or you know a buddy who has a gambling problem, please seek help and/or call 1-800-GAMBLER.