[IBL] The Playoffs are near and so is the prophesizing

[Doug Palmer]

With the end of the season coming fast, time to look towards the playoffs.  The newly renovated Heads We Win, Tails You Lose Casino and Massage Parlor in beautiful Schurz, Nevada (check ‘em out!....seriously, it’s a real city)  has posted their odds for the IBL League Championships and World Series.  Take it all with a grain of proverbial salt.

Odds to win the AC
MCM 1:1
NJR 2:1
PHI 3:1
POR: 6:1
BOW: 8:1
MAD: 15:1

Odds to win the NC
NYK 3:1
SKY: 3:1
BAL: 9:1
SNH: 10:1
CAN: 15:1
GTY/SDQ: 40:1

Odds to win the IBL World Series

MCM 5:4
NYK 5:2
NJR 4:1
SKY 4:1
PHI 5:1
POR 10:1
BAL 15:1
BOW 20:1
CAN 25:1
MAD  40:1
SNH 40:1
GTY/SDQ 50:1

The guy responsible for the sportsbook at HWW, TYL Casino, is Willie “Blind Man” McGuffin.  Mr. McGuffin explained his rationale  by noting that in the AC, MCM has owned their potential playoff opponents all season.  Having beaten PHI 11 of 12 meetings and NJR in 8 of 12, the major obstacles for the MCM squad don’t seem as formidable.  NJR and the wildcard teams are all around .500 against each other, making it appear that Motor City has an easier path to the AC Championship series where they will be favored regardless of the opponent.

On the NC side, it’s not as clear cut.  NYK and SKY are clearly the class of the field, but they’ve struggled more with their playoff potentials.  NYK is only 7 of 12 against SKY and playing .500 ball against SNH.  The only team in the playoffs that NYK has handled well is BAL where they’ve won 8 of 12 (gee, who’s NYK going to select for their opponent?).  Although, if CAN were to win the wildcard, NYK is also 8 of 12 against them.  Meanwhile, BAL had SKY’s number this year (7-5 vs SKY).  Would NYK select a wildcard winning CAN team so that SKY would have a tougher road to the championship series?  Hmmm.  Mr. McGuffin wasn’t so sure, but he was busy eating a complementary shrimp cocktail (Westward Ho surplus) when he was asked.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the championship, it appears to be MCM’s to lose.  The #2 hitting team and #1 pitching team in the IBL,  it’s no wonder that they’re pretty much even money to win the whole thing.  The only way it could be impeded would be to hit the brick wall that is the NYK pitching staff (#1 in the IBL).  NYK’s 8th ranked hitting squad may be good enough to squeak across some runs against a juggernaut like MCM.  Pitching wins championships they say (they also said New Coke would taste better than old Coke) and that’s reflective in the fact that of the teams listed above, 9 are in the top 10 of the league in runs allowed (only TRI at #5 appears destined to miss the playoffs)

When asked to make his prediction, Blind Man McGuffin said to put your smart money on the Syracuse Storm!  When told that the Storm haven’t been in the IBL since 1996, Mr. McGuffin shrugged it off and told this reporter that he didn’t care, he was still putting his money on the Storm (and feeling ill from the 15 year old shrimp cocktail).

IBL PLAYOFFS……it’s FAN-TABULOUS!!!!! (patent pending)


Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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