Found 192 RESULTS by Steve Makinen - StatFox
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1. Top NFL Pre- & Post Bye Week Trends – Part 1 - 10/2/2008
The NFL “open dates” started this past weekend and if you haven’t ever studied the patterns that can perform regarding teams’ performances in and out of the bye week, this article will open your eyes. Hopefully it will expand your bankroll as well, as over the course of the next two weeks, I will unveil 30 different powerful ATS or Over-Under trends that you can apply over the next five weeks of the NFL season. If these distinctive trends hold for yet another season, we’ll all be a lot richer by Thanksgiving.
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2. Talladega a threat to upend Chase standings - 10/2/2008
The Chase for the Sprint Cup 10-race extravaganza makes its only restrictor plate stop this weekend in Alabama. The AMP Energy 500, scheduled for Sunday, showcases NASCAR’s biggest track, Talladega Superspeedway. At 2.66 miles around and banking of 33 degrees, this venue is unparalleled in the racing world. The typically breathtaking action has led for Talladega to be branded the series’ “most competitive track”. However, where fans and media embrace the annual stops at Talladega, drivers, particularly those in title contention, fear what the potential ‘Big One” can do to their title chances. Considering the active drivers for Sunday have combined for DNF’s in 25% of their prior starts here, the apprehensiveness is understandable.
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3. NASCAR Kansas: 3-horse Chase has uninvited guest - 9/25/2008
As predicted, the 2008 Chase for the Sprint has been a “three-horse race”, at least in the early going. The only problem is that the original man-to-beat, Kyle Busch, is nowhere to be found. He has been replaced by Greg Biffle, winner of the first two Chase races, who has joined Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson at the top of the standings. If Busch wants to get back in the hunt despite his “we’re done" comments, he’ll need to get back to Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway this weekend in the Camping World RV 400. The problem for him, as well as almost everyone else, is that Biffle won this race last September.
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4. Special Edition Pennant Race Top Power Trends - 9/25/2008
The final weekend of regular season baseball is upon us, and barring any rainouts or one-game playoff contests on Monday, 22 of the league’s 30 teams will wrap the 2008 campaign on Sunday. However, the other eight will move on to bigger and better things, with the postseason slated to open on Wednesday, October 1st. Before we can set the playoff matchups however, there are a few races left to be decided this weekend, including the N.L. East, the N.L. Wildcard, and the A.L. Central. Here’s a look at the series’ involving those contending teams plus a special edition Top Baseball Weekend Power Trends focusing on the action that will decide which teams move on.
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5. NFL: Three weeks in, what to expect from here… - 9/25/2008
Being just a 16-game season, a fast start is often critical to a NFL team’s chances of success the rest of the way. Momentum has a way of snowballing, and teams on the opposite end of it after their first three games typically face vastly different futures. With that in mind, I’m here to reveal some interesting numbers I’ve uncovered relating teams’ starts after three weeks to how they’ll finish.
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6. College Football Outplay Factor Ratings show surprises - 9/24/2008
We are already moving into the fifth full week of the college football season. Enough action has occured on the field for us to get a good gauge on where teams stand as far as strength is concerned. The StatFox Outplay Factor Rating is as good of a barometer as any for measuring teams. I've compiled a list of the 120 college football teams ranked in StatFox OF order, highlighting the Top 25. Use these rankings to compare against the national polls, highlighting the major differences. You'll be able to spot several teams that are either under- or overrated. Take advantage in the coming week's pointspreads.
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7. A first look at NFL Outplay Factor Ratings - 9/23/2008
With three games in the books for most of the 32 NFL teams, it's a perfect chance to take a first look at the StatFox Outplay Factor Ratings for the season. Doing this now can provide us a great indication of which teams may be over- or undervalued by oddsmakers, so take these rankings and compare them to the power ratings of the major sports media sites. You'll find quite a few surprises.
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8. Baseball Weekend Top StatFox Power Trends - 9/18/2008
With the Major League Baseball playoffs just under two weeks from starting, the contenders will continue to sort out the pennant races this weekend. Most teams have less than 10 games left to state their cases for a postseason berth. The tightest races right now are in the American League East & Central Divisions, as well as the National League East & Wildcard standings. Most of the teams battling for those spots will be taking on non-contending opponents looking to play the role of spoiler over the next three days. Here is a quick look at the action along with our weekly feature highlighting some of the top StatFox Power Trends for each series.
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9. NASCAR Dover: Chasers take on the Monster - 9/17/2008
The “Monster Mile” hosts the second race in this year’s “Chase for the Sprint Cup”, the Camping World 400. In past Chase years, Dover has had a noticeable impact on the standings. In fact, no Chase leader going into this race has left with that lead still intact. Strangely, no eventual champion has won here either, so clearly there is a ton of racing yet to be had. Still, with each of the 10 Chase events counting the same, Sunday’s event will be as important as any for drivers gunning for the title. For the second straight year, there is a tie at the top of the standings between two drivers, with Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson each having 5220 points. Those two are listed at 5-1 to win this week, just behind former series leader Kyle Busch, who is 9-2.
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10. NFL Week 3: Prognosis for the 2-0 teams - 9/18/2008
One of the most popular practices of NFL pundits after the second full week of the season is to declare the dead teams based upon their 0-2 stats. In fact, it’s said that teams which start out by losing their first two games of the season have just about a 13% chance of making the playoffs. On the other hand, these same experts rave about the chances of the 2-0 teams. Frankly, for us bettors, any of that fodder stays at the water cooler. We are more interested in what the start might mean to a team’s ATS chances for the coming week. I’m here now to dissect that angle for the unbeaten teams.
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11. CPFN Weekly FoxSheets System Report - 9/16/2008
As part of the StatFox contribution to the Sportsform Football and College & Pro Football Newsweekly publications, Steve Makinen offers a weekly look at some of the top FoxSheets' Super Situations available. Here is the piece you can currently find in the pubs on a store shelf near you. If you're interested in a subscription to either of these fine long-running publications, simply call 1-877-514-4220.
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12. Top Baseball Weekend Power Trends - 9/11/2008
With the Angels having clinched a trip to the postseason already, the rest of the eight playoff spots remain to be filled. A couple of the pennant races are really tightening up, and this weekend’s games figure to have a big impact, especially in the N.L. Wildcard, where Milwaukee and Philadelphia are continuing a 4-game set in the City of Brotherly Love. Just two weeks remain in the season after Sunday’s games. Here’s a closer look at the upcoming action and a Top StatFox Power Trend from each of baseball’s 15 series’ this weekend.
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13. New Hampshire starts Chase extravaganza - 9/14/2008
The fifth annual Chase, NASCAR’s postseason, begins on Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway with the running of the Sylvania 300. The 12 Chase qualifying drivers’ slates will be nearly wiped clean in terms of points, as only a 10-point increment for each driver’s wins this season will separate him from the rest of the field. Leading the way is Kyle Busch, who has eight wins and a 30-point cushion over Carl Edwards and a 40-point edge over Jimmie Johnson. Busch is the odds on title favorite at 5-2, but Edwards and Johnson, the two-time defending champ are 3-1. No one else is being viewed as a legitimate threat.
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14. Statistically handicapping the '08 Chase - 9/10/2008
NASCAR’s 10-race playoff season starts on Sunday at New Hampshire with 12 drivers vying for the 2008 Sprint Cup Championship. Kyle Busch goes into the action as the favorite at 2-1 after a regular season in which he won eight races. He will be seeking his first ever Cup Series title, but most experts figure he will be challenged heavily by Carl Edwards (5 wins in ’08) and Jimmie Johnson (4 wins). Johnson of course, is the two-time defending champ and also comes in with a 2-race winning streak. Here is a look at each of the 12 Chase contenders along with their odds to win the title, their projected points, and my own outlook for their chances.
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15. Carrying Over Week 1 NFL Results to Week 2 - 9/11/2008
How a team does in Week 1 of any NFL season can have lasting repercussions on the way that the public, media, and oddsmakers judge that team for the immediate future. It is a “what have you done for me lately” world, and in many cases, the smart bettor can capitalize on the results of Week 1 by employing some profitable carryover systems into Week 2. This article will reveal 16 great Week 2 angles to utilize for the upcoming slate of games on Sunday & Monday.
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16. MLB Top Weekend Power Trends - 9/5-9/7 - 9/4/2008
After the conclusion of this weekend’s baseball action, there will be just three full weeks left in the regular season. At this point though, only the Angels are in a position comfortable enough to start thinking about the playoffs. The rest of the contenders have to focus on the task at hand, and that starts with this weekend’s matchups. The slate is loaded with key series’, highlighted by the showdowns between divisional frontrunners in both the N.L.’s East & West Divisions. The junior circuit also has some big games this weekend. Here’s a closer look at the action, along with a Top StatFox Power Trend that might affect the results of each series.
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17. Chase field to be filled after Richmond - 9/5/2008
NASCAR’s 2008 “Chase for the Sprint Cup” starts next week, but there is still one important order of business to attend to at Richmond International Speedway this weekend. Currently, 14 drivers are still in the running for the 12 Chase spots. David Ragan and Kasey Kahne are the closest two drivers on the outside looking in, gunning for Clint Bowyer in the current 12th position. Although those drivers will be the focus for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, four other drivers are the heavy favorites, listed at 6-1 or better: Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Denny Hamlin.
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18. College Football Week 2 Experience Mismatches - 9/3/2008
Hopefully you have already done your homework as far as knowing which starting players are returning for each of the nation’s 120 teams this fall. This research can go a long way in picking apart point spreads early in the season. However, I am always quick to warn readers about the dangers of both overestimating and underestimating how much experience can mean to certain teams. What I’m here to accomplish in this piece is to go through the Week 2 games that have the biggest returning starter mismatches, and look at them closely too see if this experience difference will play a big role in the outcome of the games.
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19. Historical Week 1 NFL Betting Trends - 9/4/2008
The anticipation of NFL kickoff each season just continues to grow bigger and bigger each passing year. Pro football is the only sport in which the opening week betting lines are announced MONTHS in advance. You would think that this would give exuberant bettors enough time to cover all the bases. However, in many cases, these players make the mistake of looking back only at what happened last year instead of looking at the big picture. One part of that big picture is historical data, Week 1 history in particular. Here's a look at some key trends from past NFL opening weeks.
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20. MLB Top StatFox Power Trends - Labor Day Weekend - 8/29/2008
This weekend will wrap up the month of August, and in Major League Baseball, that’s means we’re just one month away from the postseason. There are still a lot of things left to decide however, most notably, which eight teams will make the playoff parade. One is almost a certainty already, the Angels in the American League, while the Cubs are also positioning themselves nicely in the N.L. Central. This weekend’s action will have its normal impact on the pennant chases. Here’s a look at what’s on tap, plus our feature on the Top StatFox Power Trends for ach series.
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21. Final Labor Day race in Fontana - 8/27/2008
NASCAR heads back west this week for the final running of the new traditional Labor Day weekend event at California Speedway. Confused? Well, the Pepsi 500, scheduled for Sunday evening, is in its fifth year of existence since replacing the Southern 500 at Darlington as the popular holiday weekend race following the 2003 season. However, poor attendance here has caused NASCAR to shift the holiday race to Atlanta next season. All of that aside, the real important focus of this week’s event will be the points standings, where 10 drivers between 6th & 15th positions will continue to be narrowed down to seven for the 2008 Chase, which starts in just two short weeks!
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22. MLB Top Weekend StatFox Power Trends - 8/22 - 8/22/2008
We’re not quite to September yet and oddsmakers have already jumped the gun, having introduced pennant race betting lines into the fold early. So far in August, 59 games up through Thursday’s action had shown lines of -200 or higher on favorites. For the entire month of August in ’07, 29 games reached that point. There figures to be a number of more games with heavy chalk lines this weekend, especially in the N.L., where the two teams with the best records face off against a pair of the worst clubs. Here’s a look at those series’, along with the rest of the key action, plus our weekly feature highlighting some of the Top StatFox Power Trends affecting the weekend.
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23. Back to boring Bristol...uhh...say what? - 8/20/2008
The “Bristol Night Race” as it is most often called, is one of the hottest tickets in sports as it puts short track racing on center stage under the lights. Unfortunately, the last two races at this facility have drawn the ire of fans, thanks to two factors, the running of the COT and the resurfacing of the track prior to this race a year ago. Never before have the words boring and Bristol been used in the same sentence, and never before have 42 cars been able to finish a race here like happened in spring. Hopefully Saturday night’s festivities mark a return to normalcy.
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24. Favre debut highlights full Saturday NFL slate - 8/16/2008
The Saturday night NFL Preseason schedule is a full board of 10 games. That means 10 different contests with various wagering opportunities to choose from. Highlighting the action, of course, is Brett Favre’s debut with the New York Jets, as they host the Redskins at 7:00 PM ET. Dallas is also in action, playing its second straight road tilt, this time at Denver. Read on as we break down some of the games on the board and offer up some of the best betting tidbits for you to put to use.
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25. Browns-Giants on MNF preseason football - 8/18/2008
The defending Super Bowl Champion Giants will play in front of their home fans for the first time when they host the Browns on Monday Night Football. Playing as a 3-point favorite, New York will have its work cut out, as Cleveland has been a bankroll-building club under Romeo Crennel as an underdog in the preseason. Bettors have taken notice at Sportsbook.com, with nearly 80% of the early action favoring that side of the spread in this one.
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