May 19th

1) Blackpool Win/Draw vs West Ham Win
The Championship this year was much more 3 top teams, and then teams 4-6.  Blackpool and West Ham were separated by 11 points even though they were only two places apart.  West Ham blew Blackpool out in both their matchups this year (4-1 on the road, 4-0 at home)  Note: In the road game West Ham even picked up a red card in the 53rd minute.  West Ham only had 1 0-0 draw the entire year, so I'm not too worried about a bore draw, and they were on fire in the first leg of playoffs winning 5-0 on aggregate.  I'll take West Ham to win this one. I'd take this with up to a W3.

2) Maryland W/LB1 vs Johns Hopkins W by 2+
I think a lot of streakers will take Johns Hopkins simply because they have a #2 next to their names, but Maryland will definitely be able to hold their own, and could pull this one off.  Maryland only lost one game this year by 2 or more, and they beat Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.  I definitely think that Maryland is the pick here.  Could win the game outright easily. I'd take this with up to a W5.

3) Chelsea vs Bayern Munich
I think this is the easiest pick of the day.  Bayern Munich did extremely well in the Bundesliga this year and Chelsea really struggled in the premier league.  They even limped to the finish losing 2 of their last 3 and their only win in those 3 against lowly Blackburn.  Also, Chelsea has a number of players suspended which I'm sure is spread all throughout the boards.  While Munich is coming off a cup loss to Dortmund, Dortmund had their number all season winning both home and away.  Outside of those two losses Munich only lost 5 games all season, and I think Dortmund could blow Chelsea out of the water.  Munich is at home and a heavy favorite to win the Champions League.  I'll take Munich and I'd put it on any streak.

4) I'll Have Another or Bodemeister vs AOH
Now almost always AOH is the pick in these props simply based on the odds dictating a 60-70% favorite toward AOH.  However, in the Preakness this is not the case.  Bodemeister is a major favorite at 7/4, and I'll have another is second at 5/2.  Both are stationed outside at the start so they have no worry about being bogged into the pack.  These two horses went 1-2 in the Derby, and the third place horse isn't in the Preakness.  I definitely think Bodemeister will win at least one of the Triple Crown races, maybe two.  And one of the major reasons for going AOH in the Derby, because there were soooooo many horses, doesn't apply to the Preakness, as there are only 9 spots.  I'll take I'll Have Another or Bodemeister to win the race, but wouldn't risk more than a W2.

5) Chicago White Sox vs Chicago Cubs
I stayed away from this matchup yesterday and found my green on the softball prop, but I'll take my shot at it today for two reasons.  First, the game on Friday took a mere 2:34 and I want to make sure I get the last prop of the night in.  Secondly, I like the Cubs more than any other of the baseball picks.  Despite Dempster's 0-1 record, he is pitching incredibly.  Giving up 2 or fewer runs in 5 of his 6 starts.  On the other side, Danks is lucky to have a 2-4 record, contrasting with Dempster, he's given up 3 or more runs in 7 of his 8 starts.  I think the Cubs take this one, with baseball being so risky, I wouldn't put more than a W7 on it.

6)OKC vs L.A.
L.A. won a crazy game last night. They shot 41/42 from the foul line compared to OKC's 26/28.  I doubt either team will shoot that well from the free throw line tonight.  In the 3 games this series L.A. has shot poorer than OKC from the floor.  If they shoot better tonight, I definitely think they win.  In the season series against OKC, 1 of the 2 games L.A. shot a better percentage.  At home this season the Lakers were 11-6 against playoff teams.  On the road this season the Thunder were 9-9 against playoff teams.  In the playoff series so far, L.A.'s effective possession margin (A statistic I made up to calculate the amount of times a team gets an attempt at a basket calculated simply the difference between each teams Offensive Rebounds-Turnovers) has been:-8,+6,-4.  In the home games for L.A. against OKC this series, their effective possession margin was: -4,+15. Thus, in only one game so far this series has L.A. had a better shooting percentage or won the effective possession margin, but these two categories were split 2/2 in the home games against OKC.  They lost game two because OKC shot 3.5% better from the floor, but more importantly 22% better from 3! I think if L.A. wins either of these categories they win tonight, and I think they will.