Ron Raymond's Random Thoughts and Betting Tips

Here are some random thoughts and some betting tips for Monday, March 02, 2009.

When the movie “Semi-Pro” with Will Ferrell came out last year, do you think this was a seed being planted by the people paying the bills about the future of the current Pro Sports environment, as they will not be able to sustain profitability during the next financial cycle in the years to come? In my view, Soccer and NFL football are maybe the two sports that can jack up their prices and people won’t care, because people will continue to buy tickets and TV packages to watch their Football(s) on Sunday’s!

The fact the Toronto Maple Leafs and MLSE raised their ticket prices last week is more proof on how people in suits are not connected to the ground with the real people who walk the beat! Truth be told, people have more fun attending amateur games like College football and junior hockey then watching TV time out sports!

Picked up a book this weekend called “What would google do?” and I’m half way though it and so far I’ve come to two conclusions;

a) How many sports reporters and newspapers do we need to give us the score and story of an event? Seriously, why does it take 15 reporters to cover a Toronto vs. Montreal game on a Saturday night at the Bell Centre, when people watched the game on television? How many views and angles can you describe a 5-2 win that involved 2 fights, a penalty shot and 20 TV time outs?
b) If you don’t generate your own revenue from your website or product, you’re dead! WEB 2.0 is one of the worst things that ever happened to the internet, as everybody is a blogger now and when you let other readers or users control the content of your website, you’ve got zero leverage on how to control your own site. Plus, not only will bloggers pay to provide content on a popular or big site; but nobody will pay to read their content or blink at the banners you think they are generating for ad clients.

When you look at websites and you see most of them are using news feeds generated by the main source like Yahoo RSS feeds and Google News alerts, all the “wannabee” sites are just sticking a picture on those stories and calling it their own! Think that will last?

There’s a reason why newspapers are going out of business across North America and it’s mostly about losing advertisers who prefer to have their ad money spent on things they can track, like web advertising and getting analytical reports. In fact, now that advertisers are tracking their advertising money on the web, they know which site produces and which site doesn’t.

In my view, only 5% of the “BIG BOYS” can spend money on branding, companies like Coke, Macdonald and Colgate. The other 95% needs to be able to get a return on their investment (ROI), so they can justify the cost of advertising with that group. The days of throwing money to advertise is done, because if you don’t generate your own revenue in business, your toast!

Now for your betting tips; here’s some NBA and NHL SYSTEM picks for Monday, March 02, 2009.

PHILADELPHIA OVER 189.5: When ANY NBA Team played as a pk to -3.0 Home Favorite - Total is between 185 to 190 - Scored 100 or less points FOR in their last game - Coming off a 1 ATS lost - Coming off 1 over; the OVER 16-4-0 for the Home Favorite (PHI) in this situation since 1996.

CLEVELAND PK’em: When ANY NBA Team Played as Road team as a Favorite - playing on Monday - During the month of March - Vs Conference Opponent - Scored 85 or more points FOR in their last; The Road Fave (CLE) is 35-8 SU in this spot since 1996.

NEW ORLEANS +2.5: When ANY NBA Team played as a Road team - playing on Monday - After a non division game - Total is between 185 to 190 - Coming off a Win over Eastern Atlantic opponent; the Road Team (NWO) is 13-3-2 ATS in this role since 1997.

NY ISLANDERS UNDER 5.5: When ANY NHL Team played as a home team - playing on Monday - Coming off 1 under - Coming off a 2 goal win - Coming off a 1 game win 3 OVERS -13 UNDERS -2 PUSH