Ricky Rubio, the 18-year-old Spanish point guard, may not be joining the NBA for a couple of years if his father is to be believed. After falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fifth slot, Europe sounds like a better option to Rubio than the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

From CBS Sports:

The most significant development was the following quote, uttered by Rubio’s father, Esteban: “Con esta elección, es posible que Ricky juegue un año o dos más en Europa.”

Translation: Minneapolis, we have a problem.

The actual translation is more like “With this choice, it’s possible that Ricky plays a year or two more in Europe.” If Ricky’s really unhappy about going to Minnesota his agent can try to get him traded or he’s headed back Europe. People are likening Rubio’s game to Pete Maravich’s, but I don’t think Pistol Pete would’ve backed down from the challenge of playing for the ‘Wolves.

Will T-Wolves rue Rubio pick? Stay tuned [CBS Sports]

Baseball is called America’s past time but the NFL is what drives the country. The football season is over but you can barely tell. The NFL combine and schedule release get treated like playoff games. The NFL Draft is a holy weekend for millions.

Not to be left out, NFL betting is available year round too. Most of the prop bets I found can’t be decided until the season’s in progress, but they’re still fun to go over. Forget about the same ole same ole odds to win it all next season, let your money ride on something more exciting.

Bodoglife.com is offering action on these two items,

Will Gene Upshaw be fired or resign from the Executive Director Position of the NFLPA before the start of the 2009-2010 Season?

Will Brett Favre play again in the 2008-2009 Season?

but they don’t offer the odds. I’m going with yes and yes.

These next props are in the NFL Draft section, but none of them have anything to do with the draft.

1. Will the winner of the November 2nd, 2008 game featuring the New England Patriots at the Indianapolis Colts have AFC home field advantage throughout the playoffs?
Yes -160
No +130

2. When will the New England Patriots lose their first regular season game? (I’m not listing all 16 games)
Week 2 @ New York Jets 17/4
Week 5 @ San Francisco 49ers 9/2
Week 6 @ San Diego Chargers 2/1
Week 9 @ Indianapolis Colts 4/1

3. How many Sunday Night games will the NFL change between weeks 11-16 using the flex scheduling option?
No games changed 5/4
1 game changed 2/3
2 games changed 2/1
3 games changed 7/2
4 or more games changed 6/1

4. Who will replace Bryant Gumbel as the new lead announcer for the NFL Network?
Tom Hammond 1/2
Rich Eisen 5/2
Gus Johnson 3/1
Joe Buck 7/1
Deion Sanders 10/1
Bob Costas 12/1
Other 5/4

Deion Sanders has a better shot at being the lead man than Bob Costas? Hmmm. I’m pulling for GGuuUUUUUSS JOOOOhnnnssonnn, but Tom Hammond is the favorite at BoDog and The Big Lead.

5. Will the Democratic or Republican Presidential Nominee be in attendance for the Washington Redskins vs New York Giants game on Sept. 4, 2008?
Yes +200

6. Which 2008 Monday Night Football game will have the lowest Neilson rating?
Cleveland Browns @ Buffalo Bills – Nov. 17, 2008 7/2
San Francisco 49ers @ Arizona Cardinals – Nov. 19, 2008 13/10
Minnesota Vikings @ New Orleans Saints – Oct. 6, 2008 9/2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers – Dec. 8, 2008 9/2
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans – Dec. 1, 2008 7/1
Field – Any other Monday Night Football game 5/2

The NFL changes so much from year to year so there’s no telling which team will be good and which will be garbage.. Although, if I was a betting man, that Bucs-Panthers game would be looking pretty good.. Or bad.. You know what I mean.

NFL Prop Bets. Courtesy of BoDogLife.com

Tags: NFL, Betting, Prop Bets

Steve Spurrier wants to help the Confederate Flag get off the pole. Courtesy of Larry Brown Sports

Michael Jordan is one of the most competitive people on the planet. Did you really think he would let Neil Diamond beat him at anything? Courtesy of the Washington Post

The (inconvenient) truth is, Mother Nature hates sports. Courtesy of the Ap by way of Post-Gazette.com

David Wright’s 23 game hit streak postponed due to rain. Courtesy of Metro Canada

Leigh Steinberg arrested for DUI. Rumor has it Roger Goodell will take away his Blackberry for a year. Courtesy of The OC Register

Speaking of losing Blackberry privileges, Charles Taplin is gonna lose his for contacting LSU football players. Courtesy of the AP by way of The Town Talk

Tim Duncan get’s ejected for laughing. I was just as shocked by the ejection as I was at the fact that Tim Duncan can laugh. I didn’t think his model was programmed with emotions. Courtesy of Fan IQ

Purdue..The Cincinnati Bengals of college football. Courtesy of Covers.com

If Eagles fans give Donovan McNabb a hard time, what would they have done with Akili Smith or Ricky Williams? Eagles offseason talk here. Courtesy of The Burlington County Times by way of PhillyBurbs.com

De La Hoya forces Mayweather to fight with bad gloves? Courtesy of The Grand Rapids Press by way of MLive.com

And finally…. Props to everybody that has left a number in the Can You Help A Brotha Out?? post. I’m accepting your numbers up until midnight Pacific on Wednesday. It doesn’t matter if you repeat a number that somebody already posted. So, again, please click here  and leave any number from 1 to 16 in the comments.

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