NBA – The San Antonio Spurs are having a brilliant start

The San Antonio Spurs are experiencing one of their best starts ever. At 17-3, the Spurs are first in the Southwest Conference, and as of press time, they hold the best record in the Nation. With a winning percentage of .850, the Spurs have had a stronger start than the National Title contender, Boston Celtics, at 16-4 and a .800 winning percentage, and the Defending Champions the LA Lakers, that have recorded 14 wins and 6 defeats so far this season.

But is this early success from the San Antonio Spurs legit? It’s a bit hard to say. Tony Parker, despite his personal problems and the filling of his divorce with tv-star Eva Longoria, has been quite fantastic in the Spurs last games. As a matter of fact, Parker was responsible for 19 points in the Spurs 109-84 bashing of the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday.

Their almost perfect record is not really fair to the fact that the Spurs are one heck of a fighting team. Their success so far this season could be defined by an overwhelming drive: they just won’t give up. Here is a fact: The Spurs have fallen behind by 15 or more points in 4 games this season, and yet, have found their way back into a winning game. The Spurs 25-point win over the Hornets is their largest winning margin of the season.

And they were quite brilliant later in the second quarter when shooting from outside the perimeter. It seems like this is a very good winning formula for the Spurs. San Antonio has won each and every of their last 7 games in which the team 10 or more 3 pointers. And it seems that both Spurs strongest players, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are really hitting it off this season.

There is just one big issue when it comes to assessing the Spurs early success. They still have not played some of the strongest teams in the country, and it is hard to asses their game until they take a game against, let’s say, the LA Lakers with Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant on the starting 5, or the Boston Celtics with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen on the floor. Sure enough, they defeated the Chicago Bulls 103-94 early in November, and defeated the Orlando Magic 106-97 at San Antonio, but it really is hard to predict whether the team is actually as good as it sounds.

Now, the Spurs have been quite brilliant playing straight up. Surprisingly enough, the team has also been quite successful when it comes to playing Against The Spread. As of press time, the Spurs ATS record sits at 12-7-1, for a very respectable 63.2 percent of success when taken on straight bets. The team is just slightly surpassed by the Dallas Mavericks when it comes to wagering against the spread among the best teams in the Southwest conference. As of press time, the Mavericks as 12-6-2.

The Spurs are 9-2 at home and 8-1 on the road. The Spurs have had a strong start and have had a good series of wins during the last 10 games. At 8-2, they are still very well off. Let’s just wait and see if they can keep up this rhythm into the postseason, where it matters most.

NCAA Football – Cam Newton brilliant season guides Auburn to BCS title

Cameron Jerrell Newton was for a while living under the shadow of Tim Tebow over at the Florida Gators. In 2007, as a freshman, Cam Newton was the back-up quarterback for Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow. An ankle injury kept him away so he took a medical red-shirt year, then transferred to Blinn College where he won the 2009 NJCAA National Football Championship and became the No.1 recruit in the country. When Newton finally made his move to Auburn University, the Tigers where about to experience one of their finest seasons ever.

Newton was absolutely brilliant against the SEC championship game as he lead the Tigers against South Carolina for a 56-17 win. Newton passed for a career high 335 yards, completing 17 of his 28 attempts for 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. He ran for a pair of touchdowns and was simply outstanding in his one-man show. The Tigers must now wait until Sunday afternoon to make it official, but considering that the Oregon Ducks defeated Oregon State 37-20, it is almost a fact that the two top-ranked and undefeated teams in the country will be playing on January 10 in Glendale Arizona for the BCS National Championship Game.

There is one ugly side to this story. TCU, the little school that almost could, was shut down from the BCS title, despite their perfect record. Had Oregon or Auburn failed to win their last game of the season, TCU would have become the first school from a non-BCS conference to play for the National Title.

Newton should now start striking a pose for when they announce the Heisman Trophy winner for this season.  The 6-foot-6, 250 pound junior has had a season that has just come a tad short from perfection. He has now joined Tebow as the only player in a top division conference to run and pass for over 20 touchdowns in a season.  And let’s just face the fact that he can pass and run just as good as anyone else in the league can. Regardless of what happens in the National Championship Game, it shouldn’t be too long before we see Newton playing on Sundays.