Age ain’t nothing but a number, and there are a number of guys in various sports that are trying to overcome the betting odds and beat the youngins’.

-Tim Watson (59) falls just short of quite possibly the most insane feat in sports history, losing to Stewart Cink in a playoff at the British Open.

-Jeff George (41) apparently looked real good while throwing to receivers at his alma mater, Illinois, and Illini coach Ron Zook is trying to get him a tryout with an NFL squad.

-Mark Martin (50) leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup series with four wins and is one of the favorites in your offshore sportsbook to win the title.

-Lance Armstrong (37) came in third in his quest for a eighth Tour de France.

-Michael Schumacher (40), a seven-time Formula 1 champion, will take over for the injured Felipe Massa for the rest of the season for Ferrari.

The best chance of this happening in the NBA probably comes from 37-year-old Shaquille O’Neal, who signed with Cleveland, yet still has time to film a television show and Twitter constantly. Shaq is coming off an All-Star year in Phoenix, and the Cavaliers are one of the favorites in your handicapping software to win the title. Outside of Shaq, you have former Phoenix teammate Steve Nash (35) and Dallas’ Jason Kidd (36), who just signed contract extensions with their teams.

All I know is, I’d still put a Michael Jordan-led team in my sports picks.

So, there’s some stuff going on, NBA offseason stuff, affects betting odds, blah, blah, blah….the real news is Stephon Marbury’s five-day bender that he streamed to the world….for what reason, I don’t know. He could even still be doing it, I had to stop after this:

Sucks, because dude used to be one of my favorite ballers, selfishness and all. He tore it up at Georgia Tech, and he has solid career numbers (19.3 points, 7.6 assists in 846 games). Boston thought he was still good enough to help their sports betting chances when they grabbed him late in the season, but outside of one good game (actually, it was more like a quarter), he was little more than a cheerleader. He’s now a sideshow, and I don’t even know what to say about the whole “streaming your life when you’re obviously goin’ through some things” part of this all. All I know is, before Marbury plays in the NBA again, I’d put “Grizzlies to go 82-0″ as one of my sports picks first.

Word is that the Timberwolves’ betting chances are taking a hit with each day Ricky Rubio stays in Spain. Of course, they weren’t that high to begin with, but having Rubio in the fold would help a lot, both on the court and off, where they could raise the price per head of a ticket…just a little, though.

Now Rubio is saying that he wants to leave Spain regardless of whether he can pay the $8.2 million buyout that is in his contract with DKV Joventut or not. The Timberwolves can only contribute $500,000 to that buyout, leaving Rubio between a rock and a hard place. It’s doubtful he can return to Joventut after all that has gone on (think of the Dany Heatley saga currently going on the NHL), and it appears that Real Madrid and Barcelona are ready to step in and offer him a place to play if he doesn’t make it to the NBA.

(Side note: it’s funny to see Madrid and Barca’s names being mentioned with basketball instead of soccer, but we know Madrid has the money after they bought Cristiano Ronaldo for the price of a good-sized country)

So, will the kid really have an impact in your offshore sportsbook? Well, you can judge for yourself in the following video. I do know that I was impressed by what I saw of him in Beijing, and the Americans were very complimentary towards him. At least if he’s with Minnesota, I wouldn’t take watching paint dry over watching the Timberwolves. Still not making them one of my sports picks, though.

Probably not anytime soon, as betting on the Clippers’ odds is something like putting your football betting money behind the Lions. But they seem to have finally picked a winner in Blake Griffin, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Las Vegas Summer League, and absolutely looked like the player we all thought he’d be. Griffin had 27 points and 12 boards in his first game and never let up, and the reason why Clippers fans should be excited is that, not only is Griffin the most talented player in the draft, but he’s easily one of the hardest-working, which is why he’s a surefire Rookie of the Year choice when making your sports picks.

So what to make of Griffiin? He’ll at least make a Clippers ticket worth the price per head with his explosiveness and ability to learn on the fly. He’ll have to learn to not worry about a lack of shots with Baron Davis, Ricky Davis, Eric Gordon and possibly Allen Iverson in the backcourt. All he can do is work hard, and if worst comes to worst, he only has three years and he’ll be the most prized free agent of the 2012 class. If anything, he’ll at least be the runaway Rookie of the Year favorite in your offshore sportsbook.

If you bet horses, you know that the Lakers are a thoroughbred that will be near the top of the sportsbook betting list at the beginning of the season, with or without Lamar Odom. That said, things would be a lot easier with him in the fold.

The Lakers apparently pulled their three-year, $27 million offer off the table, and it seems that Odom wants a longer contract, as he knows this is his last chance at a big contract. Odom’s skillset makes him crucial to the Lakers’ chances, as he’s a 6′10″ forward who can score inside and out, can dribble and pass like a guard, and when he wants to, he can take over games. He even accepted his bench role and ran with it, becoming a major player in the Lakers’ title run. Also, with Ron Artest on the team, the Lakers would love to keep Odom around as he’s good friends with Artest (both are from New York), and he could step in if/when things get out of hand between Artest and Kobe Bryant (it’ll happen, go to your handicapping software and book it). Honestly, the Lakers might as well just give it to him, it’s not like he’s asking to get paid more that Mehmet Okur, who got over $10 million from Utah.

Seriously though, Lakers, do it. If you do, I’ll make the Nationals one of my baseball picks next year.

Word is trickling down that the Clippers, quite possibly the sorriest franchise in any sport in America or internationally, is trying to acquire Allen Iverson, who is a free agent after his terrible experience in Detroit. I don’t know how this will affect the Clippers’ online sports betting odds.

Oh wait, yes I do. First of all, anyone who makes the Clippers one of their sports picks, good odds or not, needs their head checked. Second, the Clippers were moving in a decent direction with the picks of Eric Gordon last year, and Blake Griffiin with the No.1 selection last month. They even got rid of one offensive black hole with Zach Randolph. Clipper fans are used to losing, so they were waiting to see if the kids could develop some semblance of chemistry. Now, on a team with Baron Davis, Ricky Davis and maybe Iverson? You think those kids are even gonna sese the ball? And let’s not even get into the off-the-court stuff. I’m betting management of the Clippers may have to factor bail/suspension money into this year’s budget.

Look, Iverson is my favorite player of all time, he’s a little guy that scored in bunches, but someone needs to tell him that he’s not THAT dude anymore. If he would swallow his pride, while taking a cut in playing time and money, he could be on a team like the Lakers, for example, you know….a team with half-decent offshore sportsbook odds.

As I said before, we’re not just a hoops betting blog (during the offseason anyway)…I make all kinds of sports betting picks, within reason (no darts over here, son).  The 138th British Open tees off this week at Turnberry, and here’s a look at who you should take a look at in your offshore sportsbook. Also, if you’re planning on watch, it tees off at 2:30 AM ET. Lots of coffee will be on the menu on Thursday morning.

1) Tiger Woods


Do I even need to explain why he’s the sportsbook favorite at +185? Fine. Three Open championships, two T-6s in both majors this year, two victories, um….and he’s Tiger MF Woods. Really, if I need to explain more, don’t bother betting on this tournament.

2) Steve Stricker

I like Stricker, especially at odds of +3300. He’s one of the best putters in the game, and over the last couple of years, he’s learned how to win golf tournaments. He’s won two of his last four starts, and he has two straight top-10s in the Open. Darkhorse of the tournament.

3) Ian Poulter

The loudmouth Englishman finished second in last year’s Open, and he finished in the top 20 of both majors this year. Plus, he’s British, so you know he’s used to windy links courses like Turnberry, which hasn’t hosted the Open since 1994. If he can keep his sometimes-shaky driver in the fairway, watch out. Still, he’s worth a shot with British Open odds of +2800.

4) Lee Westwood

Another Englishman, but he’s struggled in his last four years at the Open, failing to crack the top 30. He’s been playing well in Europe this year, and he’s being paired with Tiger for the first two rounds, which will give him an idea of where his game is. Westwood has odds of +2800 in your offshore sportsbook.

5) Rory McIlroy

The 20-year-old from Northern Ireland says that he could have some troubles if it’s windy due to a high ball flight. But my thing is, he’s practiced with that flight, I would assume, since he’s been golfing, so he should be used to how to work the ball. He’s coming off a 10th-place result in the US Open, and he finished 20th in The Masters. He has odds of +2200 along with two-time defending champ Padraig Harrington (DO NOT BET on Paddy this weekend), and he’s definitely worth a shot in your betting software.

Let’s take a break from the insanity of the NBA offseason and check out this weekend’s UFC 100 odds, shall we?

Brock Lesnar (3-1) vs Frank Mir (12-3): Heavyweight Unification Bout

Lesnar is a -225 favorite this weekend to avenge his only loss of his career, but Mir shouldn’t be counted out when making your sports picks. He showed his experience as Lesnar bullied him around for for the majority of the first round, before Mir caught him in a kneebar. Lesnar has learned so much more since that fight, as he rolled over Randy Couture, who many consider to be one of the legends of the heavyweight division. Mir won’t end this fight early, so he’ll try to drag it out as long as he can. Still, Lesnar is an absolute monster with revenge on his mind, and Mir won’t be so lucky this time.

Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs Thiago Alves (16-3): Welterweight Championship Bout

According to betting services, GSP is a -300 favorite against Alves, who will be aiming to take the belt away from one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. GSP has improved his striking ability, which goes well with his wicked takedowns. He’s completed 77% of his attempted takedowns this year.  Alves will try to stop this with his fierce array of strikes, which is something that GSP has had problems with in the past. Alves also had some problems making weight in this contest, which could hurt him in the long run as GSP’s conditioning is brilliant. The longer this fight goes, the better chance GSP has, so go with him in your offshore sportsbook.

Word filtered down that Anderson Varejao has signed a six-year deal with Cleveland, reported to be around $42.5 million, with incentives to push it over $50 million. Shoot, I’m in the business of making sports picks, I should probably stretch myself out and grow stupid hair, right?

Now, Sideshow Bob is one of those dudes that you love him if he’s on your team, and hate him when he’s not. But he had amazing career highs of 8.6 points and 7.2 assists last year, and you pay $7 mil a year for that? Everyone says, “oh, he does stuff that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet”, and that’s all fine and good. But it Anderson Varejao really improving Cleveland’s betting odds this year. More importantly, if they had let him walk, how much better would another team be without him?

What he needs to do is take some of that money, and put it on UFC betting underdog Frank Mir on Saturday, spread some of that luck around. It’s either luck, or his agent game is tight.

Well, they did everything but give him a ticker-tape parade, but Rasheed Wallace signed with Boston today, giving the Celtics another piece of the puzzle to try and get their championship back. Had he not signed with the Celtics, it would have been a bigger surprise than if Frank Mir scored an MMA betting upset over Brock Lesnar (which I persoanlly guarantee won’t happen).

Now, the interesting part begins: will ‘Sheed take being a bench player? How does this affect Kendrick Perkins and Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who made a number of clutch shots for the Celtics in these playoffs? I’m betting management figures that Kevin Garnett will be able to talk to Wallace, who was picked one team ahead of Garnett in the 1995 draft. This obviously makes the Celtics one of the top sports picks going into the season, as Wallace brings a big body, great three-point shooting, and championship experience from his win with Detroit in 2004.

Offshore sportsbook odds on ‘Sheed’s technicals next year? They’d be fun to come up with.