Online sports betting players are just dying to see how Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest interact as teammates after so many battles in opposite uniforms, but Artest is trying to take some of the attention off the Lakers’ superstar with some recent words. However, it may not have been the best choice of words.

Artest came out and told the media that he wanted the blame if the Lakers don’t repeat as NBA champions. Now, that’s a bold statement. Granted, the Lakers are sure to be at the top, or at least near the top, of the list of favorites in your offshore sportsbook, but that’s a huge burden to have on you. Shoot, ask Tracy McGrady:

Because the pressure can make you go:

Now granted, Artest is much tougher than McGrady, his former Houston teammate, but maybe he should just get used to running the triangle before he goes making statements like this. Then again, that’s why we love Ron Ron, isn’t it?

Crazy Ron Artest or not, still, the Lakers will be one of the most popular sports picks of the fall.

While going over my NFL Week 2 betting odds, I ran across a report that said Golden State coach Don Nelson is keeping Stephen Jackson as captain of the Warriors, despite Jackson’s request to be traded to a contender.

Now, I love Stephen Jackson. I think he’s a great pickup for a team than needs a veteran presence already intact. He’s won a championship with San Antonio, and he’s proven that he’s still productive. But this is one year after he signed a contract extension for three years, worth $28 million. What’s the market like for a 31-year-old (who will be 32 in April) who is earning $7.7 million, and his salary goes up each year? Probably not that good considering that most teams are waiting to next summer’s free-agent blowout. Teams feel if they’re planning to spend that kind of money, they’ll do it on a younger player, which in all likelihood raises their online betting chances (unless you’re Boston).

I hope the Warriors do something to improve, because I think Jackson and the Warriors deserve each other. They should have never let go of Baron Davis, but that’s neither here nor there. Those two made paying and watching Golden State games worth the price per head, and I think he just misses having Davis there to share the leadership role. I didn’t plan on it in the first place, but when stuff like this comes up, it’s best to avoid putting these kind of teams in your sports picks.

Real online betting players know just how important Bruce Bowen was to San Antonio’s chances each and every year, until recently when coach Gregg Popovich said that Kobe Bryant was basically unguardable, and sent Bowen to Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson.

Brown came into the NBA in 1997 after playing in Europe, but settled in with San Antonio in 2001 and turned out to be one of the biggest pests in the league, ending up with three NBA titles, eight All-Defensive team honors, and a boatload of enemies. See, Bowen was a borderline dirty player, and he can deny it all he wants, but too many players have landed on his foot for it to be solely coincidental. He’s been accused by everyone from Vince Carter to Steve Nash of foul play, and they’re not really wrong. But the thing is, they were thinking about Bowen, and not on the game, which gave San Antonio the edge in your offshore sportsbook.

So, love him or hate him, we’re betting management all across the league is happy to see him finally bow out at age 38. So here’s to you, Bruce Bowen. I don’t like you one little bit, but you get respect from this sports betting blog.

Not like they’ll have great online betting odds anyway, but Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio saga is over (we think), and much like the last couple of years, it didn’t work out in their favor.

Rubio decided to sign with FC Barcelona (yes, they have a basketball program to go with their Champions League-winning soccer team), and won’t be over in the United States for at least two years, when he can buy out of his contract for a much-smaller fee than the one he had with his old club, DKV Joventut. He says that he didn’t wawnt to complicate his life, and the 19-year-old may have a point. Would YOU want to leave Spain for Minnesota? Shoot, I’d love to be in his position for soccer tickets alone, much less the weather. He still has to fill out a bit, and remember, when he gets over here, he’ll be at the ripe old age of 21.

Now, the flip side is, we’re betting management of the Timberwolves aren’t holding the point-guard spot open for Rubio, and they proved that by drafting Jonny Flynn with the very next pick in the draft. He could become a valuable trading chip for the Timberwolves. Also, the hype for Rubio was over-the-top before the draft. Now that all of this has gone down, if he’s not the second coming of Magic Johnson and Pistol Pete Maravich, there’s gonna be a lot of “I told you so” from his critics. Still, all signs point to him being improved in two years, and it should be a much-needed shot to some team’s offshore sportsbook odds.

Since all is quiet on the online betting front in terms of basketball, let’s turn to the baseball diamond, where the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will meet once again in another edition of baseball’s best rivalry.

I expect the Yankees to continue their solid play by taking two of three at Fenway Park, where they were swept earlier this year. The Yankees lost their first eight meetings of the season against the Red Sox, but gained some revenge with a sweep at Yankees Stadium at the beginning of August. Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett should be your MLB picks on Friday and Saturday, but the best matchup of the weekend comes on Sunday, when 14-game winners C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett square off. Beckett is coming off a rough outing in Toronto, while Sabathia has given up only three runs in his last 23.2 innings of work. But Beckett gets up for the Yankees every time, going 2-0 in four outings against them in 2009, and there is no way he’ll let the Red Sox get swept at home, especially by their bitter rivals. He’ll save them from an offshore sportsbook sweep.

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.

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.

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.