 Wednesday night a feat once rare in professional baseball almost became a commonality. Prior to this year MLB betting based on the possibility of a perfect game, had perhaps the slimmest odds in all of sports. However in the span of five weeks, the odds have increased as two of a possible three pitchers have accomplished the biggest rarity in all of baseball. On May 14th, Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics tossed the 19th perfect game in league history against the powerhouse Tampa Bay Rays. Almost two weeks later on May 29th, pitching phenom Roy Halladay became the 20th pitcher in league history to record a perfect game. Finally four days later, last night, on Wednesday June 2nd, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers almost became the third pitcher this season to record a perfect game.
However, with two out in the bottom of the ninth, a routine grounder was hit to first baseman Miguel Cabrera, Galarraga, raced down to first to cover for Cabrera who threw the ball to Galarraga recording the out. Or so we thought, fans betting online for the Tigers and Indians game could not have predicted what would happen next, as although Galarraga had clearly beat out the Indians player to first base and recorded the out, veteran umpire Jim Joyce called the Indians player safe. The result was the young Galarraga losing his perfect game bid to what was ruled as an infield single. Galarraga will go down as the player to get the closest to a perfect game, recording 26 of a possible 27 outs before giving up a hit, on perhaps the most controversial call in sports history. Joyce's error on the play is not the first bad officiating of the year, as various umpires have been making headlines all season. As recently as Tuesday, another umpire was in the spotlight, as Angel Hernandez, the home plate umpire in the Blue Jays versus Tampa Bay Rays game made a few questionable calls. First he refused to grant a time out to Rays designated hitter Carlos Pena resulting in a strike out, where Pena was unprepared for the at bat. Then later in the same inning he shortened the strike zone for Jays closer Kevin Gregg resulting in a four run ninth inning come from behind victory for the Rays.
For Tiger pitcher Galarraga, the missed out is surely disappointing, however Galarraga is a good enough pitcher that he has plenty to build upon after this experience. Tiger's fans betting on another perfect game for the young Galarraga have reason to feel confident as such a strong outing will not go lost on the young pitcher.
 The NBA draft lottery continues to be the only big four sports lottery in which it is a rarity for the worst place team with the highest odds to win the draft, to win the lottery. This streak of seven years continued last night as the New Jersey Nets the NBA's worst team by a landslide dropped down to third in the overall draft, while the Washington Wizards seeded sixth worst jumped up to grab the number one spot. Fans betting on which team would receive the first overall pick must have been disappointed, as with a 25 percent chance all expectations were on the Nets to finally have something good happen.
Last season was not only the worst season for the Nets, but also one of the worst in league history as the Nets managed a record of 22 wins and 70 losses. NBA betting like any other league's betting can be difficult as picking winners and losers is no sure thing, but with the first 70 loss season in franchise history the Nets made it easy to place bets against them. On the other hand, the Washington Wizards finally received some good news in a season fans and ownership would each like to forget. Star point guard Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely by the league, after bringing guns into the Verizon Center, while fan favorites Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Drew Gooden were each traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers respectively. Many experts believe that the Wizards will select Kentucky guard John Wall, a player who was unbelievable during the March Madness tournament. If the league ever lets Arenas back in and he remains on the Wizards, a back court of Arenas and Wall will be an amazing site for years to come.
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 Stop the presses - have the Oakland Raiders actually started to figure things out? Most NFL betting tips over the last decade have been why someone should bet against the pathetic Oakland Raiders, but now it appears that the tide has turned a bit. For starters, they acquired Jason Campbell, which was a shrewd move. Secondly, they cut ties with JaMarcus Russell, who is one of the biggest busts in NFL history. Now they are continuing to make smart moves in their back field.
College football betting fans thought that Darren McFadden would be a stud when he made it to the next level but that has been far from the case. Granted, the Raiders - and the offense - haven't helped him much but it appears he'll have to share carries, or maybe even give some of his up, with a lower draft pick. McFadden may be a combine star but Michael Bush has been more effective as a pro running back and the Raiders are not willing to part ways with him, even though opposing teams have been calling. Bush is a steady, reliable running and while McFadden has the razzle and dazzle, that hasn't produced much so far in his career. So far, he's been backseated for Justin Fargas and now Bush. Bush helps the Raiders cover NFL points spreads and win games. McFadden is just the bigger brand name that those who bet on sports are familiar with. At the end of the day, though, McFadden will fade into the background, similar to the over-hyped Reggie Bush, unless he starts showing us similar stuff to what he did in college.
 It's hard to say how basketball betting odds would be affected in college and the NBA if John Calipari were to leave the University of Kentucky after just one year, but the Wildcats' administration doesn't look like it even wants to take that chance.
Calipari is already the highest-paid coach in the college ranks, and he led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in his first season in Lexington, posting a 35-3 record. Then reports started to filter down that New Jersey, where Calipari coached to little success in 2 ½ seasons during the 1990s, would be looking to go after him. Chicago fired Vinny Del Negro on Tuesday, and the reports were that the Bulls were also aiming to offer Calipari a contract to lead a team that is powered by Derrick Rose, who Calipari coached for a season in Memphis. It's likely that Calipari will be in Lexington for a while now, because he's a god at Kentucky after only one season. He's a master recruiter, and he's coached the past two Rookies of the Year, Rose and Sacramento's Tyreke Evans. He could make it three in a row with five Wildcats heading to the NBA draft, and John Wall is favored to be the No.1 pick. He already has another phenomenal class coming to Lexington this fall, led by Brandon Wright and Marquis Teague. The Wildcats are looking to make sure Calipari retires at Kentucky, which means that online sports betting players should look for UK to be a threat for years to come.
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