Weekends are supposed to be fun and relaxing, right? Well, not if you’re a demented sports fan like me. The past weekend, in particular, was a real schedule-stuffer.
If it weren’t for the beauty of recording shows, I would’ve probably spent my entire weekend glued to the TV and furiously checking my computer to find the best prices available for potential sports bets.
But thanks to TiVo, I was actually coaxed out of my boxers long enough to go out and enjoy the weekend sun. I still kept tabs on a lot of sporting events that happened, largely because I’m obsessive that way. Check out the highlights of the sporting weekend, captured by three events that decided a lot of futures bets.
Pacquaio wipes out Algieri
Manny Pacquiao beat Chris Algieri, although shut out may be a better phrase to describe the pasting Algieri received at the hands of the suddenly resurgent Filipino superstar. It wasn’t a great fight, by any means, but it was interesting. PacMan floored Algieri six times in the fight even though two of those knockdows were actually slips in the American’s part. Despite being called incorrectly, those two “knockdowns” hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things.
Pacquaio thoroughly dismantled Algieri and won on some the most lopsided scorecards I’ve ever seen. 120-102? Seriously? I didn’t even know a boxer could score less than 100 points in a fight that lasts 12 rounds. But Algieri was three knockdowns away from pulling off that feat. I’ll freely admit that I was rooting for that to happen, if only to see it happen in my lifetime at least once.
Anyway, congrats to those who bet heavy on Pacquaio to win at 1/10 odds. Those who bet $100 have $10 bucks to show for it! Congratulations, fellas!
Lewis Hamilton takes Formula One driver’s championship
Yep. It was a pretty hectic championship weekend for a lot of leagues, tournaments, and what-have-you. In the world of Formula One, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton successfully complete his own season-for-the-ages by winning the driver’s title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Entering the year, Hamilton was second favorite at 7/4 odds behind four-time defending champ Sebastian Vettel. But like every season in Formula One the past few years, it really wasn’t about the drivers but the cars they were driving. As soon as everybody realized that Mercedes had the superior car on the grid, the season eventually became a two-man race between Hamilton and Rosberg (9/1 odds at the start of the season).
Rosberg made a good showing during the season, keeping pace with Hamilton for most of the year before a poor starting position in the season finale doomed his championship bid. This is Hamilton’s second F1 title and his first in the last six years.
If you’ve ever bet on Formula One, you know that researching on who has the best car is arguably the most important information you can have. Red Bull had dominated the last four years but Mercedes turned the tables this year with a superior car.
Odds for next season’s title race are still off the board, but expect the first version to be posted next month when we get a better idea on where some of the drivers are going to be and, more importantly, which team will have the best car next season.
Keep a close eye on Red Bull and Ferrari. That’s the best advice I can give right now.
Switzerland wins Davis Cup for the first time
You might not know this, but I actually watch a little bit of tennis, too. I don’t consume it like diehards and aficionados but I keep tabs on the sport as often as I can, especially when the Grand Slams are being played.
Anyway, the finals of the Davis Cup, considered as the most prestigious international tennis tournament in the world, was also played this weekend. Pre-tournament favorite Switzerland lived up to their billing by taking home the title for the first time in history.
The Swiss team, featuring Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, and a field of other players you wouldn’t have recognized from a police lineup, beat France for the title, justifying the “favorites” tag placed on their shoulders as early as January 2014 when the team was 9/4 odds to win the title.
So does this mean that Switzerland’s gonna roll through next year’s tournament, too? Don’t count on it because right now, the Swiss are tied with Croatia and the Czech Republic as fourth favorites (7/1 odds) behind favorite France (23/10), Serbia (4/1), and Canada (13/2).
Conspicuous by its absence is Spain, arguably one of the most dominant teams of the past decade. Don’t expect to see them next year because the team was relegated out of the global stage after a pedestrian showing this year.
