NFL HALF TIME RANT In the NFL, there are exactly 13 minutes from the time the teams start to walk off the field to the time they kick the ball for the second half. I suspect the timing of the break at the half is regulated by the NFL since every game, except the Super Bowl, is exactly the same 13 minutes almost to the second. A mere 13-minute break makes no practical sense whatever. Given that it takes the teams... Read more

Information about team and coach intentions, rotations, and readiness is the only thing the handicapper has to work with in the Preseason. This year, a new dimension has been added in the early games that has made obtaining information even more important than normal. Due to the lockout, the teams have barely had enough time to get their starters in shape to play. That has created a situation in which there has been less... Read more

Normal 0 THERE'S MORE TO BASEBALL THAN PITCHING AND STREAKS Normal 0 © Robert Crowne & Assoc., July 9, 2011 I am forever amazed at how many baseball bettors rely solely on pitching statistics to make their selections. Then, when the better pitcher loses, those same bettors wonder why. Like every other sport, baseball has an offense as well as a defense, and a team behind the... Read more

As with all meaningless games, no edge can be gained by attempting to handicap the winning side in the Pro Bowl using fundamental statistics. The use of won-lost trends between the AFC and NFC to predict results is also precluded due to the NFL's maintenance of equality between the Conferences. The Pro Bowl rules provide little room for an advantage based on coaching. Finally, the length of time that any player will be... Read more

LEON LETT LIVES – A Rob Crowne Rant (c) Rob Crowne & Assoc., January 7, 2011 It’s 1993. Super Bowl XXV!!. Leon Lett recovers a fumble and lumbers toward the end zone. Then, about 5 yards before the goal line, Lett, no speed demon in the first place, slows down to a trot and holds the ball precariously out to the side, in a move aimed at mocking the other team. Don Beebe (no relation to Dan Bebe) catches up to Lett... Read more

Normal 0 HILTON NFL CONTEST - A BAD BET © Robert Crowne & Assoc., Sept. 10, 2010 Note: The Las Vegas Hilton Supercontest is a trademark of the Las Vegas Hilton. The Hilton Supercontest has been peopled, in the main, by existing sports services trying to make a reputation for themselves, entrants seeking to launch a sports service career based on the publicity... Read more

Preseason football is one of the only places in which trends across several seasons can be meaningfully used. The reason is that the winner of any game in the NFL Preseason is controlled almost entirely by which team is playing to win. Which team wants to depends on just three things: 1. The desire of the coach. 2. The desire of the owner. 3. The desire of the players when there is a battle for the starting or second... Read more

What follows has nothing to do with sports, but, there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are contained in the nightly scoreboard, and it is the 4th of July afterall. I was recently reminded of the song made famous by Frank Sinatra and Neal Diamond, among others, called “The House I Live In.” It is sometimes known by its refrain, “That’s America to Me.” The particular stanza I thought of was: The "howdy... Read more

Tonight, the NFL Preseason starts with the Hall of Fame Game between the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills. I got my start in the sports advisory business as the organizer of an information network. At no time, in any sport, is informaiton more important to winning than in the NFL Preseason. Here is all the important information you will need make a winning selection in the Hall of Fame Game. Buffalo coach Dick Jauron... Read more

When you bet $100 flat on a single game you get back $91. When you bet $100 flat on a 2-team parlay, you get back $260. Do you know which has the higher return on investment (ROI)? The answer is not as easy as it looks. ROI is calculated by dividing your total win by your total amount invested. The total amount invested is another way of saying "the total amount you put at risk." ROI for Straight Bets... Read more