Oklahoma City’s NBA odds are awful in the first place, but then, Henry Abbott came out with an column on ESPN that said Kevin Durant is hurting his team. Okay, here goes:

I’m not going to look at the numbers, because I’m sure they’re all very pretty and Abbott probably did a lot of research, but really? Kevin Durant hurting the Thunder? The kid averaged 25.3 points and 6.5 boards last year, and I’m pretty sure there is no way to quantify the load that Durant had to carry last year. You know: pretty much an entire franchise on the back of a 21-year-old (then 20). Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook are great wingmen, but they couldn’t carry the team like Durant, who is moving up the sportsbook ranks as an MVP candidate.

Let’s not even mention that he makes going to a Thunder game worth the price per head (most of the time, anyway). Durant does more for that franchise than what is shown in the box scores and stats (and he fills those, too). So if you see Henry Abbott out and about, don’t let him make any of your sports picks for you.

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 I know it’s not as exciting as the UFC 101 fight card coming this week (picks coming later in the week), the NBA has released its schedule for the year. Things to watch out for:

October 27 - Shaq makes his Cleveland debut when the Cavaliers host Boston. Some LeBron James guy may show up, and the Celtics will be out to prove they’re not that old yet.

November 11 - Remembrance Day will be easy to remember for NBA fans: Shaq and Cleveland hit Orlando, and it’ll be interesting to see if he has anything to say about Dwight Howard or the “Master of Panic”, Stan Van Gundy, who was busy coaching the Finals while Shaq was off doing something non-basketball related.

December 25 - Five games, but all eyes will be Los Angeles when the Cavs meet the Lakers in a possible betting preview of the NBA Finals. If anyone can remember the last time that a Christmas Day game that didn’t feature either Kobe or Shaq, that would be awesome.

February 18 - Celtics/Lakers…do I even need to talk this up?

March 7 - Lakers/Magic….second meeting of the season between last year’s Finalists, and sportsbook software puts the over/under for amount of “Kobe reflects on the Finals win” segments at five, down from 37 in the first meeting of the year.

April 11 - Magic/Cavs, Trailblazers/Lakers…..good luck making sports picks on this day.

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.

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.

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.