I hear you there pal. NBA can be a nightmare. The following underdogs won today...

Atlanta - $5.25
Orlando - $2.60
Philadelphia - $1.90
New Jersey - $2.40
Chicago - $4.40
Portland - $2.15
Charlotte - $6.00
Golden State - $2.25

8/12 games today were upsets. I think I was lucky to forget switching my alarm on. I'm still going to bet on San Antonio tomorrow - at 1.35 I'm guessing.

Yeah I know. I got done by a couple of those except Portland which I tipped to win and the Chicago Vs Detroit game which I had tipped over 168.5 points. and a couple I left out completely.

I will probably be leaving the NBA alone from here on in. Notice I said probably.

Not happy with todays results. I did pick the two local NBL games yesterday. But they where no help once the NBA upsets caught me out this morning.

Houston were the ones that really hurt today. I had them as an anchor leg in all my multis today - so they were all blown out straight off the bat. I still can't figure out how they lost. They looked like they finally figured out how to score and the Bobcats were coming off a tough game the night before - I am miffed.

I also cant figure out Dallas. I know they were backing up, but all their starters only played half the game when they blew out the Knicks amd they played the Hawks only a few days ago and held them to 68 points, today they scored 113 - figure that out.

If Phoenix don't smash the Grizzlies tomorrow I am giving up on the NBA for a while! I cannot wait until the tennis season starts back up again, all my good work on that is slowly getting whittled away by the NBA, NFL and NBL.

sparkus are you backing Federer at the Aus. open?

I'm tempted to. Defending champ in amazing form, offering evens. I just don't like tying up funds. I know the price will shorten but I'm going to back him probably on the 25th of Jan.

All of his losses last year came early in tournaments against unexpected opponents so I am going to wait a couple of rounds first to see how everyone has come back.

If he gets through to the 3rd round unscathed I will back him every match from there on out rolloing my winnings over. I figure you will get a better price that way becuase he should play people like Hewitt, Roddick or Safin in the semis and final and the bookies usually have him around $1.30 when he plays those guys.

If it works out that way you will get odds of around $1.69 for those two matches plus the $1.05 to $1.15 you will get for his 3rd, 4th and QF matches. So if my calculations are correct your price would end up around $1.95 - $2.20.

Here's hoping that's the way it works out anyway!!

Here we go: Rafael Nadal to reach the final (or as far as he can go without playing Federer!)

Other good chances: Robin Soderling, Nickolay Davydenko, Fernando Gonzales and Mardy Fish

Backed Thomas Johannson to win this a few years back before the first round and Marat safin to win the US Open before it started as well! Both of these were around the 50-1 mark. I somehow have a knack of picking tennis outsiders, but i haven't tried my luck at it since, except for Guillermo Coria to win the French Open 2 years ago @ 30-1 (he reached the semis). Although i guess you could also say that no one was dominating world tennis back then like Federer is now!

Interesting to see how these outsiders perform!

Chuck

I think the Aussie Open is probably the hardest of the majors to pick because there is not much exposed form going in. For all we know some fo the top players might have just been relaxing and are not in the best shape, while some of the lower ranked guys might be training the house down.

I will probably have a little bit on Hewitt before the tournament starts if he wins the Adelaide event because that will put him up to number 2 and on the other side of the draw to Federer.

I cant really bring myself to back one of those longshots because invariably they can have a couple of good matches in a row, but they can't sustain it for 2 weeks. If I were to pick one guy though it would be Joachim Johansson. He trains out here alot so he should be in good nick and he has a massive serve and forehand which will get him heaps of free points. Who knows maybe i will chuck a couple of $$ on him at 50/1.

I will be having a little something on L. Hewitt. I hear he has been training the house down since he stopped dating his twin.
Saw him on the news the other night with some little honey. I reckon his mind will be at ease, now that he has sorted out his personal life.
I will wait to see what his form is like leading into the tournament but the $7.50 is tempting at the moment.

I will probably get on him at that price, because once he wins a round or two his price will drop considerably.

Do you know where i could find one of these blackbook services, ive been searching high and low.