The NBA has a gambling problem and NFL picks for 2025 Week 8

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

It is a crazy time to be a sports fan with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups being arrested on gambling-related charges this morning.

Rozier, who was arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using insider NBA information. As part of the scheme, gamblers used nonpublic information to bet on at least seven NBA games between March 2023 and March 2024 involving the Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, according to the indictment. In three of the seven games, players intentionally removed themselves from contests to benefit the gamblers’ bets, according to the indictment.

Billups, who was arrested in Oregon, is charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, authorities said. The defendants are accused of using technology to steal millions from victims in the New York area, Nocella said.

I used to think that the introduction of online sports betting wouldn’t lead to an increase in scandals like this one since betting was already available illegally. I was wrong because I failed to take into account how easy it would be to rig player props. It’s way easier than shaving points off a spread since that is something that a whole team might need to cooperate on. With these player props, you can just fake an injury and make your under hit, which is allegedly what Rozier did. If stuff like this isn’t cleaned up, the NBA could be ruined.

Stephen A. Smith seems to think that the gambling arrests are due to Donald Trump wanting revenge on the NBA. This would be a wild leap to make even if the FBI investigation wasn’t initiated before Trump took office. I don’t know if Smith feels the need to defend ESPN and its investment in sports betting, but he should be more worried about the integrity of the NBA and its players than the intentions of the FBI.

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The NBA is back and there’s a lot of pressure on the Knicks to win the East

Posted on October 22, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

The NBA returned to NBC for the start of the regular season on Tuesday night, and while everyone on the internet was jacked up for the iconic theme music, we also got a pair of pretty good basketball games with the defending champion Thunder needing double overtime to defeat the Rockets 125-124. In the late game, the Warriors overcame a great game from Luka Doncic to defeat the Lakers in Los Angeles 119-109.

Doncic had 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists on 17-for-27 shooting, but Austin Reaves was the only other Laker to score more than 10 points. He contributed 26 points and nine dimes, but Reaves and Doncic combined to shoot just 3-for-15 from beyond the arc while the Warriors shot 17-for-40 from deep despite Steph Curry only going 3-for-9 from there. Instead, it was Jonathan Kuminga (4-for-6) and Buddy Hield (5-for-10) setting the pace for Golden State from three-point range.

The Lakers trailed by double digits for most of the fourth quarter, but Reaves brought them within six with four minutes left by feeding Deandre Ayton for a fast break layup and then driving for a reverse layup himself after a Curry misfire to cap a 9-0 run. Jimmy Butler made sure that was as close as Los Angeles would get, as he fed Draymond Green for a clutch three from the corner and later drove past Doncic for a layup to push the lead back up to 10. Butler ruled the inside of the arc last night with 31 points and 16 coming on free throws.

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Defense runs Monday Night Football and Blue Jays clinch AL pennant

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

The Houston vs. Seattle NFL game last night devolved into a rock fight that was painful to watch, but staying up late was worth it because I won my fantasy match despite Jahmyr Gibbs going off for 222 total yards and two touchdowns in the early game. The other player that my fantasy opponent had in Tampa Bay vs. Detroit was Jameson Williams, and he was held to a big ole goose egg on two targets. When the action shifted to Seattle, Ka’imi Fairbairn kept my opponent closer with a pair of field goals in the second quarter, but the Seahawks defense came through for me by holding Nico Collins to 27 receiving yards before he exited in the fourth quarter due to a concussion.

Seattle led 27-12 at that point, but Houston would get plenty of chances to come back thanks to two late turnovers on a fumble by Elijah Arroyo and an interception by Sam Darnold. The Texans turned the ball over on downs following both Seattle mistakes thanks to their inability to break through at the goal line. A 21-yard strike from C.J. Stroud to Jaylin Noel set Houston up with 1st and goal from the three-yard line, but the Texans failed four straight times to score a touchdown, with the last three plays coming after Woody Marks carried the ball down to the one-yard line.

Just like the Giants on Sunday afternoon, the Seahawks did everything you’re not supposed to do when holding a multi-score lead on offense. It’s amazing what a difference a competent defense makes. Seattle’s bailed the offense out of turnovers while New York’s collapsed and blew the game even after Jaxson Dart scored a go-ahead touchdown in the final 40 seconds.

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We are in for a wild sports night with Game 7 of the ALCS and an NFL doubleheader

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

Tonight is going to be wild. We’ve got two Monday Night Football games on and I’m leading my fantasy football match by 54 points. My opponent has Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, Nico Collins, and Ka’imi Fairbairn. I’m in the clubhouse with all my players having played already. Can I pull it out?! It’s a good thing there’s a Rangers hockey game and Game 7 of the ALCS to distract me from my huge fantasy lead slipping away like the Giants’ 19-point advantage in the fourth quarter yesterday.

The Mariners had a chance to clinch their first American League pennant in franchise history on Sunday night, but Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford hit into inning-ending double plays with the bases loaded in consecutive innings. Meanwhile, Toronto jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to Addison Barger hitting an RBI single in the second inning and a two-run tater in the third. Seattle finally broke through against Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage in the sixth inning with a solo shot from Josh Naylor and an RBI single by Eugenio Suarez, but it wasn’t enough and the Mariners were shut down by Louis Varland and Jeff Hoffman the rest of the way.

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Penn State and the New York Giants made me very sad this weekend

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

I don’t know why I keep going back to football. It has made me so sad this weekend with the way it has given hope to my teams and then snatched it away. I should be thinking about the fun times I had with my family on Saturday and Sunday, but instead I’m dwelling on Penn State losing to Iowa after taking an 11-point lead in the third quarter and the New York Giants losing to Denver after taking a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. I don’t know why I expect my teams to come through. They keep fooling me again and again before pulling the rug out from under me and leaving me in pain.

The Penn State loss doesn’t even seem that bad anymore when compared to the Giants, but it would have been really cool to win in a tough road environment during Terry Smith’s first game as interim head coach and Ethan Grunkemeyer’s first game as starting quarterback. That would have been a huge lift for the program, but once again Jim Knowles’ defense failed to contain a scrambling quarterback.

Penn State’s offense could have done more in this game. It could have converted a goal-to-go situation into a touchdown with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter and went up by nine points instead of settling for a field goal and a five-point lead. Given the inexperienced quarterback and a tough Iowa defense, though, I was happy with how the offense played. Kaytron Allen grinded out 145 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries while keeping Grunkemeyer out of third and long for most of the night. The defense had to step up and keep Iowa out of the end zone with five minutes left, but instead it allowed Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski to take off on a 67-yard run. Kaden Wetjen scored on a jet sweep for the go-ahead touchdown on the next play.

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Dodgers sweep Brewers thanks to Ohtani’s legendary game

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

Six shutout innings, 10 strikeouts, and three home runs. Those are the numbers we will be talking about for years to come when we speak of one of the greatest postseason performances of all time. Of course it was done by Shohei Ohtani, the only man capable of even pitching and hitting in the same baseball game, let alone dominating in both aspects to almost single-handedly clinch the pennant for the Dodgers.

Perhaps the only thing you can say to drag down Ohtani’s accomplishment is that the series appeared well in hand no matter what happened with the Dodgers ahead 3-0. Maybe the next time Ohtani takes the mound, it will be in a critical spot in the World Series. Still, what Ohtani did is baseball magic, especially since he didn’t get back to pitching this year until the middle of the season. For him to be dominant over six innings and hit three home runs, including one nuke that left Dodger Stadium, puts him in the realm of October legends like Don Larsen and Reggie Jackson.

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Thursday Night Football pumps out another thriller as Cincinnati wins the Unc Bowl

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

Remember when fans used to complain about the lack of quality football on Thursday nights? Thursday Night Football used to be considered one of the worst games of the week where the most interesting story line was how bright the Color Rush uniforms were. In 2025, fans are singing a different tune, and you can bet that Roger Goodell and Jeff Bezos are smiling and laughing about it. They deserve to smile and laugh, because for three weeks in a row, Amazon Prime has been the home of shocking upsets and great performances from star players.

Two weeks ago, Mac Jones and Matthew Stafford dueled into overtime where San Francisco pulled off a 26-23 win. Last week, Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo stole the spotlight from the Super Bowl champion Eagles, and this week it was all about Ja’Marr Chase and the Unc Bowl. Not only did the league’s best wide receiver go off 16 catches on an insane 23 targets for 161 yards and a score during Cincinnati’s last-second 33-31 win over the rival Steelers, but Joe Flacco had a throwback performance of his own. The 40-year-old veteran threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns in just his second game with Cincinnati after being traded from Cleveland. It turns out that Mike Tomlin was right about the Browns making another short-sighted move.

Pittsburgh overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and took the lead with two minutes and 20 seconds remaining thanks to its own old man quarterback. Aaron Rodgers took advantage of a busted coverage on 2nd and 20 and found Pat Freiermuth for a 68-yard touchdown strike that gave the tight end over 100 receiving yards for the game. It also gave the Steelers a one-point lead, but it was one that the team’s shaky defense could not hold.

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Aaron’s 2025 Week 7 NFL Picks

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

I went 7-8 in NFL picks during Week 6 to drop my record to 46-47 on the season. Fortunately, that is still good enough for second place in the prestigious ChabDog Sports Talk group. On the other hand, it is just one bad pick away from fourth place. Look at that logjam between myself, Eric, and Frank! Meanwhile, Abe is still a savant and poor Doggie is bringing up the rear.

I got off to a hot start last week with the Giants winning outright and the Jets covering in an ugly loss. It got bad after that, but I still could have finished above .500 for the week if Washington had just held onto the ball and kicked a field goal to go ahead by five instead of botching the handoff and costing me by survivor pool pick as well. The only good thing to come out of that game was Jayden Daniels scrapping together enough fantasy points to win a matchup for me. Shout out to the Chicago defense for forgetting Luke McCaffrey exists on that one play.

Anyway, time to move on to Week 7 and try to make a dent in Abe’s lead.

Steelers -5.5 at Bengals

Cincinnati traded for Joe Flacco last week, and while he wasn’t very impressive in the team’s loss to Green Bay, he did enough to cover the massive two-touchdown spread. The Bengals still stink, so I am fading them with the spread inside of a touchdown.

Rams -2.5 vs. Jaguars

I have read Jacksonville well in the last two weeks since they blew up my 49ers pick. This week, I foresee more pain for the Jags against another NFC West opponent. The Rams might be missing Puka Nacua in this London game, but that just means more balls for Davante Adams.

Saints +5.5 at Bears

This will be a letdown for Chicago after its big win over Washington. New Orleans has been bad on the road this year, but Spencer Rattler is looking more and more like a competent quarterback. The Bears could easily blow another coverage like they did with McCaffrey and allow a backdoor cover.

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Dodgers use elite pitching to take control of NLCS and Blue Jays bounce back in a big way

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

It’s hard to lose in the MLB Postseason when you get back-to-back starting pitching performances like the ones that the Dodgers got from Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 1 and Game 2 of the NLCS in Milwaukee. On Monday night, Snell allowed just one hit in eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and the Dodgers almost blew the game because Dave Roberts decided to let his bullpen handle the ninth inning. After Los Angeles hung on to win 2-1, Yamamoto took the mound on Tuesday night and allowed a leadoff home run to Jackson Chourio. However, the Brewers would reach base just four more times after that as Yamamoto used 111 pitches to throw a complete game in a 5-1 Dodgers victory.

Los Angeles quickly countered Chourio’s solo shot with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning on a Teoscar Hernandez home run and an RBI double by Andy Pages. The Dodgers tacked on a run each in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, including a solo shot by Max Muncy that made him the franchise’s Postseason home run leader with 14. That’s one more than both Corey Seager and Justin Turner and three more than Duke Snider.

Yamamoto got stronger as the game wore on and retired the last 14 batters he faced. He and Snell became the first pair of teammates to last at least eight innings in back-to-back starts of a single Postseason series since Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum did it in the 2010 World Series. If you only include Dodgers history, you have to go back to Orel Hershiser and Tim Belcher in the 1988 NLCS against my Mets.

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Rangers make history with offensive futility and botched handoffs rule Monday Night Football

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Aaron Yorke

How does this keep happening?! It was disappointing when the Rangers were shut out on opening night at MSG by the lowly Penguins. It was strange when they didn’t score again in a loss to the Capitals on Sunday night. Then, on Tuesday night the Rangers lost 2-0 at home to the Oilers and it is starting to feel like a sick joke or a curse or both. How do you not have a home goal in 180 minutes?! The worst part is that scoring on Edmonton is supposed to be the easy part. New York let in just one goal against Connor McDavid and company before the net was emptied, and yet the Blueshirts still came up short. They even had back-to-back power plays (only a few seconds of five-on-three) followed by a breakaway for Sam Carrick, but nothing went in the net.

At least the Rangers have 10 goals in two road games, albeit against two lousy squads in Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Another silver lining is that New York outshot the defending Western Conference champions 30-22, but it’s painful to get shut out by Stuart Skinner, who had just six career shutouts in 168 career starts before Tuesday.

We saw two upsets on Monday Night Football with Buffalo falling in Atlanta 24-14 for a second straight loss and Washington losing at home to Chicago 25-24 in heartbreaking fashion. The Bills had a lot of trouble defending the Falcons’ star players with Drake London catching 10 passes for 158 yards and a score and Bijan Robinson gaining 170 yards on the ground and another 68 in the passing game. Robinson’s night was highlighted by an 81-yard touchdown run in which he ran over Buffalo safety Cole Bishop along the sideline without stepping out of bounds.

That is pure savagery. The Bills appeared to get back in the game when they strolled down the field on their first possession of the third quarter and scored on a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Ray Davis. That brought Buffalo back within seven points, but the offense would go to bed for the rest of the game. The Falcons did a great job pressuring Allen with blitzes, which seems like a good strategy when Buffalo lacks a superstar receiver who can burn one-on-one coverage. Sure enough, Allen was held to 15-for-26 passing and just 180 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns. No Buffalo receiver caught more than three passes, and Joshua Palmer led the team in receiving with 60 yards despite catching a 45-yard bomb on the Bills’ first play from scrimmage.

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