Here’s another 25 items of interest to those who don’t mind placing a wager or two on the games they enjoy.

1. First downs aren’t the most valuable stat in football, but they can tell you a lot about a team’s ability to sustain offense. In an average performance an NFL team will get 18 or 19 first downs in a game. A look at some first down numbers show some abominable offensive performances last weekend. Five NFL teams had 11 first downs or less. The Vikings had 11 yet somehow managed to beat the Niners. The Rams, Raiders, and Panthers had 10 each in losing by a combined 94-23. The Chiefs were held to a putrid 7 first downs in their 41-7 shellacking at the hands of the Broncos.
2. So what did these clubs have in common? They were all on the road. But more importantly, their starting quarterbacks were Tarvaris Jackson, Brock Berlin, Josh McCown, Vinny Testaverde, and Brodie Croyle. There is simply a dearth of quality quarterbacks in the NFL.
3. The fact that the pass-first quarterback is not exactly the rage in college football isn’t going to do anything to feed better young quarterbacks into the league.
4. In a not-unrelated note, favorites went 12-4 in the NFL last weekend.
5. For a while it looked like Jack Pardee was going to get hired to replace Art Briles (moved on to Baylor) at Houston. And they were serious. Briles will turn 72 during spring practice.
6. Neither of the two “finalists” in the article on Pardee was hired. Instead the Cougar job goes to Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin, who becomes the eighth minority coach in Division 1-A football.
7. While still calling them Breeders’ Cup races, Friday appears to becoming the Cup’s version of the Busch Series. Was there that big of a need for a race for two-year old turf fillies? A mile-and-a-half dirt marathon? Not that I mind having more races to bet on, but there’s some dilution of the title “Breeders’ Cup Champion”, isn’t there?
8. Clemens? Of course. Tejada? Obviously. But I wouldn’t have taken 200-1 odds that Hal Morris would have been on that list. Hal Morris had 76 home runs in 3,998 career at bats. It would be a challenge to find a first baseman who played 10+ years in the majors with lower power numbers than Hal Morris. I guess there’s juicing and then there’s juicing correctly.
9. Still no test for HGH in MLB.
10. It is easy to forget exactly how quiet “exam week” is in college basketball. Including the “added” board, there are only 18 total bettable games from Monday through Friday in all of college hoops.
11. My Strategic Sports Publishing basketball selection service is off to another great start this season. We’re hitting over 60% in both college (65.7%) and pro (61.5%) hoops. Since the start of last season in the Sports Monitor’s regular season college basketball rankings we’ve notched a 113-64 (64.5%) mark. For information on this service, call 1-770-649-1078 for rates and details.
12. The vast majority of our college hoops plays are sides, but you may have noticed that college totals are going up later and later, at lower and lower limits, and are moving quicker and quicker?
13. The International Olympic Committee considers illegal gambling to be a significant threat and is eager to work with legal wagering firms in an effort to track the action on Olympic sports. The IOC understands that the paper trail that legal, licensed wagering provides is essential.
14. Yet here in the US, street bookies are once again flourishing due to Bill Frist’s ill-conceived legislation from last fall.
15. Of course offshore and online sports books really aren’t doing that badly, and it isn’t nearly as difficult to withdraw and collect as the media suggests.
16. We’ve been telling you for months now how important the Antigua vs. US case is in front of the World Trade Organization. It looks like a decision may be imminent in the online gambling dispute.
17. Southern Miss hired Larry Fedora as their new head coach. A tip of the hat to Fedora, the former Oklahoma State offensive coordinator.
18. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I actually stole that line from Marc Lawrence, who used it while I was guesting on his radio show.
19. The “calling of the hogs” was the most entertaining part of the Bobby Petrino press conference, but the lack of challenging questions from the “reporters” in Arkansas was the most striking. Tony Barnhart has a few that could have been asked had the sports media in Fayeteville not been so compliant.
20. Petrino’s old boss, Tom Jurich, the AD at Louisville, says that his former coach is now “five for five”, actively looking for a new job each of the past five seasons. That’s just one of the nuggets in Pat Forde’s terrific takedown of Petrino.
21. There are some bad actors on the Falcons, but Warrick Dunn and Joey Harrington, good soldiers throughout a difficult year, offer some illuminating examples of Petrino as a guy who was completely overmatched.
22. Petrino overshadowed a couple of other coaching moves in the SEC this week. A couple of years ago Al Borges was the toast of the town in Auburn, Alabama. But the offensive coordinator was let go by Tommy Tuberville this week.
23. After not capturing the Southern Miss job, Tyrone Nix becomes the defensive coordinator at Ole’ Miss for Houston Nutt. It is a lateral move in title, but a $100,000 raise for Nix. Steve Spurrier might not mind Nix’s departure after the injury-fueled late season collapse by his defense.
24. Handicappers Matty Baiungo and Erik Scheponik share a well-done and successful free selection phone. Call this 24-hour voice mail broadcast at 1-404-250-7555 for solid winning information. I’m a contributor on a similar effort at 1-770-618-8700.
25. Back next week with a bowl-heavy effort. Have a great weekend.