2010 World Cup: The Next Champion Will Be...

It's time for our 2010 World Cup champion pick. Who will it be?

At 4/1 odds, Spain and Brazil are the front runners, but cross them off the list. How about Italy, last year's champion, at 14/1 for the repeat? No thanks. 2006 Runner-up France at 20/1 won't be sniffing the Cup championship this year either.

We could go with a homer pick, the United States at 50/1, but while we picked the Americans to win Group C, we aren't that big of homers. Their Group C rival, England, is sitting on 8/1 odds, but we predict more struggles for the English when it comes to dealing with the expectations. All you can expect is an upset from them in the round of 16.

In our view, it's down to Netherlands (9/1) and Argentina (6/1), and we're going with the Argentines. Injury concerns have us frightened on the Dutch front, though you can expect them to be one of the final four teams remaining.

So there you have it. Your 2010 World Cup champion, according to the new and improved Stock Lemon gurus, will be Argentina.

But hey, there's only one way to find out--playing the games! Kick-off of the 2010 World Cup is tomorrow in South Africa, and you can bet that we will have plenty of coverage throughout!

2010 World Cup: Group F Betting

We are less than a week away from the 2010 World Cup, which means we better continue to pump out the rest of our group analysis. Group F, you're next. Here are your odds to win the group:

Italy... -225
Paraguay... +300
Slovakia... +700
New Zealand... +4000

The 2006 World Cup champs figure to have one of the easiest roads to a group win. We like the Italians to win all three of their matchups in Group F play, with or without key Italian stars Mario and Luigi.

As for the rest of the group, we think it's pretty much a crap shoot, possibly without the "shoot." Paraguay will probably rebound from their last World Cup performance and advance by default, because Slovakia and New Zealand don't pose much of a threat.

Our final standings:

1. Italy

2. Paraguay

3. Slovakia

4. New Zealand

Once again, not much on the upset front, as we have these teams finishing in order of their odds to win the group. Either way, feel good about betting Italy--hard--to win this group.

2009 NBA Mock Draft: Picks 13-14

This is it, folks. Our final installment of the first annual 2009 NBA Mock Draft here at Stock Lemon is here. We've gone through the first twelve picks in the lottery in the last few days, and you can see all of those picks in the upper right hand corner of this site.

Now, it's time to finish mocking the lottery.

13. Pacers: Brandon Jennings, PG, Pallacanestro Virtus Roma

These may be the last two picks in our mock draft, but they could end up being two of the best. Brandon Jennings might be gobbled up as early as nine picks before the Pacers, but then again, he might not be. If he is available at 13, this is a best case scenario for Indiana. Jennings has loads of potential and could be one of the most dynamic point guards for in the game for years to come. First, though, he must develop a consistent jumper and show that he can lead a team and buy in to what works in the NBA. The point guard who left to play in Italy after high school will have to prove that he is mature enough to play in the league. For some, he might be too risky, but for the Pacers at 13, he would be an enormous steal.

14. Suns: Ty Lawson, PG, North Carolina

The Pacers took the flashy point guard, but the Suns will happily grab the safe point guard. Lawson plays excellent defense and is one of the quicker guards in the draft, so even if it's just off the bench for a while, the Suns will be glad to have him. Phoenix will eventually look for Lawson, who took North Carolina all the way, to bring that winning way to the desert and lead the Suns back into the playoffs and out of our lottery mock drafts.

That concludes our 2009 NBA Mock Draft. Again, the rest of the lottery can be found in the upper right hand corner here at Stock Lemon. Be sure to return for more coverage of the 2009 NBA Draft, as we'll likely take a look at some prop bets and have some more information for you on Thursday.

Lemmy Awards: Top Sports Wagering Sites

Yes, folks, it's time for another presentation of our Lemmy Awards, which recognize excellence in sports related websites.

We've given out a few Lemmy Awards in the past, once for the Top Five Sports Betting and Stock Websites and once for the Top Five Rivals Sports Message Boards.

As our focus shifts more in the direction of sports wagering than stock picking (though we're not done flirting with the stock market just yet), we thought it would be a good idea to narrow some Lemmy Awards to the Top Sports Wagering Sites, eliminating stocks from the award.

We should note that these awards are only for American-based sports betting sites, though we know of many great European sports wagering blogs, which may call for another Lemmy Awards presentation on a later date. For now, check out Green-All-Over for sports investing or Ed's Betting Blog for some picks or Italian Easy Bet (Scommesse Facili) if you're fluent in Italian, all of which can be found permanently on the Lemmy's Friends blogroll. We should also mention Picks That Cover, which isn't foreign but they have only been around since October, so we'll let them grow before throwing the high expectations that a Lemmy Award brings at them.

Since we've been around a lot longer than we were when we rolled out our first awards, there are many blogs that we only recently found out about and there surely are many more we haven't yet discovered, so don't feel bad if your blog is not included in this edition. If you have a blog you feel is worthy, go ahead and shoot us an e-mail so we can check it out.

For the occassion, we have updated our Lemmy Award, giving Lemmy a nice little spot on the trophy rather than floating somehow above it. Even at the risk of losing some traffic to one of these sites that you might like better, we feel obligated to provide you with the best resources possible to make smart wagers--but try to check in with us even if these guys are making you more money (please?). That said, let's move to those brand-new Lemmy Awards.

• The Online Sports Bettor

First off, we're giving The Online Sports Better a second Lemmy Award, after handing one out in our inaugural "ceremony." This makes The Online Sports Bettor the only two-time Lemmy Award winner, something they are likely bragging about at every moment possible.

The Online Sports Bettor specializes in NFL, hitting 58% with a 33-24 record this year, as well as MLB picks. Occasionally the Sports Bettor will tackle other sports, but NFL and MLB are the big ones over there. His stated objective is to bet on sports, win, and tell you about, according to the header of the blog, along with making you laugh and winning tons of money.

For three years, The Online Sports Bettor has done both.

• The Visionary Sports Handicapping Blog

The Visionary, along with The Online Sports Bettor, can both be found on the blogroll, and they are there for good reason. Picks are posted daily for all major sports, with pretty decent percentages.

In the MLB, the Visionary enjoyed a 77-56 (58%) season and is .500 or better in every sport except the NBA. At least we aren't the only ones off to a rough start in that department.

Along with free picks of varying unit amounts, the Visionary provides sports commentary and news on the current state of the onling betting industry. Hopefully, now that he has earned a Lemmy Award, he doesn't big-time his readers and quit the great work he's been doing

• The Money Line Journal

The Money Line Journal has some great wagering insight and some hilarious reviews on the outcome of his games, along with his very frequently updated picks.

While the picks haven't beed doing so great this year as opposed to last year (-31 units in 2008-09 compared to +175 units in '07-08), he still delivers them with great wit on a daily basis in a multitude of sports. Yes, including golf. He provides sports wagering with an attitude and isn't afraid to show emotion after a back-door cover.

We've been mentioned once on his site after e-mailing him a story of ours, which he then stuck in a Q & A session of his blog, complete with a sarcastic remark:

I am sure that the above link is going to result in loads of meaningful, repeat traffic for the soon to be famous “Stockle Mon”** blog.

The asterisk notes that he reads Stock Lemon as Stockle Mon, but hey, at least he's reading it at all. Be sure to check out some of his comments based off message board posters, or one of the aforementioned Q & A sessions. Hopefully, his last post about his struggles does not lead to him getting away from some of the things he has done so well.

• Against All Odds

Against All Odds has had some success in various sports (59-49 in NCAA Football), including way more bets on tennis than we ever imagine making (47-45 record). It's usually a good place to be during baseball season, not just because they were up 8 units on the year, but because the write-ups are pretty darn good.

In fact, the write-ups for their picks of any sports are better than a lot of what you'll find on the internet and are always worth a read. The two-man operation out to beat the books does a nice job of justifying their picks, and they'll cause you to think twice if you're on the other side of a play.

• Vegas Watch

Again, we said we felt obligated to post the best sports wagering sites we know of, and that's what we're doing. That doesn't mean that these sites are too fond of us, for whatever reason.

A while ago, we decided to add our Lemmy's Friends blogroll to the right side of the page and so we e-mailed around to see if anyone was interested in link exchange. Vegas Watch and a couple of others (some of which are Lemmy Award winners) seemed to have a personal grudge against us and didn't want to add us to their own blogrolls, which is fine.

Later, Vegas Watch e-mailed us regarding our reasoning for the Steelers as one of our NFL picks. Of course, the reasoning was made up, as many of you know we simply follow our systems but sometimes post a fun stat anyway that favors our side. Vegas Watch didn't undestand that, and replied hastily:

I don't understand how you could actually give it as reasoning for picking the Steelers. Do you actually think it's relevant to a football game?

We later asked him again about including us in his blogroll, to which he decided:

Quality of the content isn't close to being high enough.

When we told him that other links on his blogroll haven't even been updated in months, he shot back:

I am glad you're policing my blogroll. Fantastic. I have no further input.

So, if anyone thinks that these Lemmy Awards are only given to blogs that we are friendly with... that isn't always the case. Regardless, Vegas Watch is deserving of the award more for commentary than for picks. You can find some great weekly NFL survivor analysis as well as a tracking of MLB free agents, in addition to whetting your gambling appetite.

• Sports Investments

Another site that isn't quite fond of us enough to put us into that elusive blogroll of theirs, but another deserved site. Like the Money Line Journal, the units are down this year (-13 in 2008-09 after +84 in '07-08), but there's still time to improve upon that.

We especially like the disclaimer at the bottom of the page, which states: "I am not responsible, nor do I care, if you lose money following my picks."

After their peformance last year, their readers can afford to lose some money.

• You Guessed it, Frank Stallone

They aren't having a great year over there, but they deserve a Lemmy Award for the constantly updated picks and solid write-ups. After all, the worst thing a gambler can do is quit, right?

Hopefully this award can help brighten up their mood, as the "about me" says: "If you know me, you know where I am. If you don't, let's keep it that way."

Maybe not the friendliest, but a Lemmy Award winner nonetheless.

Congratulations to the seven Lemmy Award winners. Feel free to brag about the award all you want. Go ahead, stick the image of that Lemmy Award trophy all over your site. Just remember to tell everyone about the great free picks you get over at your favorite site.

Playing a Heavy Pair of Aces

We have two picks for today's MLB post-season action, and the total weight of the starting pitchers for our two winners is well over 600 pounds.

Speaking of pounds, we hope to make some of them for a few of Lemmy's new European friends. Check out the Lemmy's Friends section on the right-side of the page, which includes international punters from England and Italy, among other countries. For the rest of you, we hope to make you some dollars, as always.

On to the Free MLB Picks for today...

CC Sabathia and the Brewers ML -128 over the Phillies

Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs ML -158 over the Dodgers

Yesterday was a rough one for the NL Central, as both of these two teams fell in their respective series openers. We like the Cubs to rebound at home, and CC Sabathia to continue to carry the Brewers.

Hopefully, our winnings today will be as huge as these two starting pitchers.

Good luck!