Sportsbooks have Chicago the prohibitive favorite to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Ranked BYU meets Utah State, the NHL stages games in Europe, and two pitchers take the hill in search of 20^th victories.

Barack Obama’s Chicago Olympics bid…

Late this morning the world finds out of charismatic US President Barack Obama was able to charm the International Olympic Committee. Obama and First Lady Michelle gave last minute pleas on behalf of the Windy City to the IOC. Chicago is a prohibitive favorite of 10/11 to win the bid.

Rick Pitino should have warned David Letterman…

In entertainment and political betting odds late night talk show host David Letterman admitted to having affairs with several staff members in response to a $2 million extortion attempt. He recently married his long-time girlfriend Regina Lasko, with whom he had a bastard child with. 48 Hours” producer Robert “Joe” Halderman and his bimbo girlfriend Stephanie Birkitt are at the center of the extortion attempt.

A cool 70-41 against the NFL point spread and college football odds this year, the MasterLockLine has the top side and total on both of tonight’s college football games.

There are two college football games on tap for Friday, with Pittsburgh at Louisville and Utah State at No. 20 BYU. The oddsmakers like the Panthers on the road in that first matchup, pegging them as 6.5-point favorites (with a total of 53.5 points). Meanwhile, the ranked Cougars are big 24-point home favorites against the visiting Aggies on Friday. BYU had no trouble pounding Colorado State in their last contest, getting three TDs from Harvey Unga in a 42-23 victory.

From the MasterLockLine: Service out of Chicago is No. 1 since 1992 in all sports combined. They are No. 1 in MLB all-time. Their highest rated plays are Prime Plays. A sweep last night in Prime Plays with UAB and the St. Louis Cardinals. Utah State/BYU side. Click now to purchase sports betting picks from the top sports services or you can get more information and a free sports pick  

As well, there are two Canadian Football League games on the Friday schedule. First up is Edmonton at Winnipeg, with the Eskimos sitting as 4-point road favorites (and the total at 51 points). The late game is then Saskatchewan at British Columbia, with the Lions a slim 1-point home favorite (and the total at 54 points). The Lions currently sit in the cellar of the West division standings, but with a mark of 5-7 they’re just a couple games back of the first-place Roughriders.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

Adam Wainwright (19-8, 2.58 ERA) will try to pick up his 20^th win of the season on Friday night when his Cardinals host the Brewers. Righthander Wainwright got win No. 19 last time out, holding the Rockies to two earned runs over his eight innings of work while fanning 11 batters. St. Louis has won eight of Wainwright’s last 10 outings. Braden Looper (13-7, 5.10 ERA) is slated to start for the Brewers; Looper has surrendered 15 earned runs over his last 15 innings.

Also on the NL schedule for Friday: Arizona at the Cubs, Florida at Philadelphia, Houston at the Mets, Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, Washington at Atlanta, San Francisco at San Diego, and Colorado at the Dodgers. Ubaldo Jimenez (14-12, 3.52 ERA) is slated to take on Randy Wolf (11-6, 3.22 ERA) in that last matchup.

CC Sabathia (19-7, 3.21 ERA) also goes for win No. 20 on Friday night, as the Yankees play on the road against the Rays. Lefthander Sabathia blanked the Red Sox over seven innings in his most recent start, giving up just one hit while fanning eight batters. Sabathia is 8-0 with two no-decisions over his last 10 starts. David Price (9-7, 4.60 ERA) gets the ball for Tampa Bay on Friday; lefthander Price gave up five runs over five innings vs. the Rangers last time out.

Rounding out the American League slate for Friday night: Toronto at Baltimore, Cleveland at Boston, Kansas City at Minnesota, the Angels at Oakland, Texas at Seattle, and the White Sox at Detroit. It’ll be Jake Peavy (2-0, 2.25 ERA in the AL) vs. Edwin Jackson (13-8, 3.36 ERA) in that Chicago/Detroit contest on Friday.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

The second day of the National Hockey League’s regular-season schedule features four more matchups, including two over in Europe. Florida and Chicago get things going at 12:00pm ET with a game at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, while Detroit and St. Louis will drop the puck at 3:00pm ET at Globe Arena in Stockholm. The stateside contests on Friday night then have Philadelphia at Carolina and the Rangers at Pittsburgh, with the Pens starting their Cup defense.

OffshoreInsiders.com say that one of the top European sportsbooks William Hill says that Chicago is the 4/5 favorite to get the 2016 Olympics bid. Rio de Janeiro is next at 13/10 and Madrid a long shot at 10-1.  Former Chicago community organizer, US President Barack Obama gave the Windy City a last minute pitch to the IOC.  

It’s time for a Friday winner from handicapper Matt Rivers. It’s to go with Arizona plus 145 at Chicago at BetUs Sportsbook.

Yes Bill Buckner is not very good at all and the Diamondbacks are a poor ballclub that is finishing up a fairly disastrous season. Arizona is also on the road here at Wrigley Field which is never easy but the way that Lou Pinella’s team has been playing, or not playing I should say, how can you not back any dog on this planet right now against them!?!?!?
 
The Cubs are thee single most pathetic/disgusting team in the world right now. It has been an absolutely disastrous season for a club that was expected to win about 93 games and compete for a World Series. But Alfonso Soriano turned into a joke, Aramis Ramirez had been hurt for awhile and is once again banged up and the supporting cast has done nothing to try and help out Derrek Lee as he did his thing once again. Also factor in how the bullpen has been awful with neither Kevin Gregg not Carlos Marmol being able to truly close out games.
 
Tom Gorzelanny has regained a little of that quality form from the Pirates circa 2006 or whatever. In that one season the lefty was an All-Star calibre pitcher who was no joke. But ever since something happened and he became a joke until being traded a few months ago to the Cubbies. Even with that said he’s still not very good and is not a guy that will go north of five innings or be all that feared.
 
Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds are quality ballplayers that can wreak some havoc. Arizona as a whole is fairly light hitting and not very good but this is a play about going against the dismal Cubs and to get anything back is more than enough.
 
The Cubs are as I like to say in my favorite analogy are a 16 if you are playing blackjack. Sure we may be backing a 6 in the snakes which is terrible, but our hand is irrelevant per say when up against the dealer’s mush 16, aka the Cubs.

For more information: Superstar Matt Rivers has a Friday two-sports three-pack. He has one Wednesday and went 2-1. It includes a college football burial on Louisville and Pittsburgh. Click now to purchase

Betting Bulletin:

Late steam from GodsTips on So. Miss and UAB. Both college football sides are now up from GodsTips for just $17 plus MLB. Click now to purchase at OffshoreInsiders.com

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Twins and Tigers finish their series, the Mountaineers take on the Buffaloes, and the NHL begins its regular-season slate. For Thursday night football picks, here is the rundown of which sports handicappers are hot and who has the big plays.

There are two college football games on tap for Thursday, with Southern Miss at UAB and Colorado at West Virginia. The Mountaineers will be trying to get back into the win column on Thursday after they fell 41-30 to Auburn in their last game; QB Jarrett Brown tossed four interceptions in that loss. The Buffaloes picked up their first win of the season last time out, blanking Wyoming 24-0. BetUs hasWest Virginia as a big 17-point home favorite for this matchup.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

The Twins and Tigers close out their crucial four-game series in Detroit on Thursday afternoon, with Scott Baker (14-9, 4.48 ERA) taking on Nate Robertson (2-2, 5.56 ERA). Righthander Baker beat the Royals in his last trip to the mound, giving up four runs on six hits over his 6 1-3 innings of work. Lefthander Robertson took a no-decision against the White Sox in his most recent outing, surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits over 3 1-3 innings in that contest.

There are just four other games on the American League schedule for Thursday, with Texas at the Angels, Baltimore at Tampa Bay, Oakland at Seattle, and Cleveland at Boston. Jon Lester (14-8, 3.52 ERA) gets the start for the Wild-Card winning BoSox; Lester was knocked around by New York in his most recent start.

Over in the National League on Thursday it’ll be Milwaukee at Colorado, Arizona at San Francisco, Houston at Philadelphia, Washington at Atlanta, Pittsburgh at the Cubs, and St. Louis at Cincinnati. The Central-winning Cardinals will hand the ball to Chris Carpenter (16-4, 2.30 ERA) in that last matchup. Righthander Carpenter is coming off back-to-back no-decisions against the Rockies and Cubs, but he gave up just one earned run on 13 hits in those 15 innings of work.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

The National Hockey League season gets underway on Thursday night with four games hitting the ice: Washington at Boston, Vancouver at Calgary, San Jose at Colorado, and Montreal at Toronto. The Canadiens underwent a massive roster overhaul during the summer, with captain Saku Koivu and hard-hitting d-man Mike Komisarek among the notable departures. The Leafs, Komisarek’s new employer, will be looking to start the season with a big home win over their rival.

Tipping off on the hardwood  . . .

Finally, the WNBA Finals continue on Thursday night with Indiana at Phoenix in Game 2 of the series. The Mercury took the opener 120-116 in overtime at home on Tuesday night, with Cappie Pondexter scoring 23 points and Diana Taurasi chipping in with 22 points and nine rebounds in the victory. Katie Douglas tossed in a game-high 30 points for the Fever, and Ebony Hoffman picked up 27 points.

Sports picks…

GodsTips is the best in the land bar none. Oh the Illy Coffee is brewing and GodsTips has yet another fantastic weekend in store. Get the Colorado-WVU side. As always we have the complete analysis. All handicappers who actually research their picks are happy to post analysis. Rest assured if no rationale is posted, it’s a coin flip. Day MLB Wise Guy and two night Majors are also up Click now to purchase

Handicapper Matt Rivers has a free Thursday night sports pick. It’s to take Pittsburgh +127 at BetUs Sportsbook

How about those scrappy Little Bucos? They were huge $250 plus dogs in each game of the doubleheader on Wednesday and not only won but won going away in both, 4-0 and then 8-2. Don’t tell me that they are the team on the field today who has quit as that honor goes squarely to Lou Pinella’s dreadfully underachieving Cubbies. Also factor in how Aramis Ramirez is banged up and without a healthy Alfonso Soriano Chicago has only Derrek Lee left to fear and for all I know he will even get a day off today in this meaningless spot.
 
Paul Maholm certainly has struggled on the road a bunch this season but Jeff Samardzjia is never going to be what some thought. The righthander does have that fastball but that’s about it and Andrew McCutcheon, Garret Jones and the young Pirates will be all over that. The former Notre Dame football star finally had a decent enough start in Milwaukee about a week ago but that does not convinced me of anything as even that was nothing more than average at best. He even hot a Home Run at Miller Park in that contest but once again so what?
 
It’s pretty crazy to say that after trading away a lot of their team (McLouth, Adam LaRoche, Sanchez and a few others) and being the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates it’s the visitors who really are the better team today with the better pitcher. I’m not saying that will definitely translate into a victory but Pittsburgh is for sure the club that wants to play this game and feels pretty good about itself after Wednesday.
 
Chicago is not good, doesn’t care at all and probably will show it one more time so why not back the Bucs.

For more information: Matt makes your man cry a Rivers again. Louisiana Tech and the Detroit Tigers win as Matt just rolls along. Get the top collegiate football and top pro baseball pick for Thursday. Click now to purchase