Since the brand new year is almost here, we found it fitting to wrap up all the stuff that has happened in 2008 before we welcome 2009.

The 2008 sports betting season sure had everything. From denying perfection on a football field to acquiring some sense of redemption in Beijing. The year 2008 sure brought everything alright and we’re here to reintroduce some of that stuff to you.

And yes, probably the greatest season in sports betting started in Glendale, Arizona, were the New York Giants denied the New England Patriots of perfection to win Super Bowl XLII.

The New England Patriots were coming into this one with an 18-game winning streak. A win then would’ve erased the mark set by the 1972 Miami Dolphins aside from the fact that they will once again be at the top of the food chain in American football.

Unfortunately, the Giants had other plans and after New York beat the Pats, 17-14, to win Super Bowl XLII, this once mighty New England team has never been the same since.

And while sports fans from Boston continue to feel sorry for their beloved Patriots, their ”other” team from Boston was already making headlines after the Celtics signed both Kevin Garnett and…

How in the hell did a 6-6 Kentucky Wildcats team earn a BCS bowl invite?!?

Whatever it is, Kentucky’s defensive end and resident politician Jeremy Jarmon didn’t have to do much politicking to convince his teammates of the merits of finishing their season playing in the 2009 Liberty Bowl in his hometown of Memphis.

After spending the last two years in Nashville at the Music City Bowl, the Kentucky Wildcats were ready for a change of venue, even if not a change of state. The 6-6 Wildcats accepted an invitation to play Conference USA champions, the East Carolina Pirates in the 50th anniversary of the Liberty Bowl.

Although it’s only the first time these Kentucky Wildcats will play in the game, it has some relevance to the Wildcats’ family tree because the 1982 Liberty Bowl was the last game coached by Alabama’s legendary coach Bear Bryant, the same guy who also coached the Wildcats.

Although at 6-6, I still have no idea how the Wildcats pulled it off.

Jarmon was beaming when he announced the bid to the crowd at Rupp Arena during Kentucky’s victory over Mississippi Valley State.

Should Kentucky win over East Carolina, it would be the first time in the history of the program the Wildcats have ended three straight seasons with a bowl victory. Just by playing in the postseason for…

Isn’t it amazing that USC always finds itself playing for the Rose Bowl?

You read it, the 2009 Rose Bowl will once again have the USC Trojans playing for the title when they go up against the Penn State Nittany Lions in Pasadena, California.

For the No.6 Penn State Nittany Lions, this will just be the third time that they’ll play in the Rose Bowl game. The No.5 USC Trojans, judging from their experience from all the Rose Bowl wars that they had, should give the Lions a tough battle for sure.

The USC Trojans will be making their fourth straight appearance and record 34th overall in college football’s oldest BCS bowl game, known as the ”Grandaddy of Them All.”

The last time USC and Penn State played for the Rose Bowl, it was way back in 1923, four years before Joe Paterno was born, in the ninth Rose Bowl. USC beat Penn State then, 14-3. The Nittany Lions got their first Rose Bowl win 14 years ago under Paterno, beating Oregon 38-20. The Trojans, on the other hand, have put up a record of 23 Rose Bowl wins.

Both teams have 11-1 records and both know that if it wasn’t for that lone loss, both could be playing for the BCS national championship game. Pac-10 champion USC dropped a 27-21 decision to Oregon State on Sept.25 while Big Ten winner Penn State fell 24-23 at Iowa on Nov.8, losing on…

The FedEx Orange Bowl, what a strange name for a BCS Bowl Game don’t you think?

The battle for positioning is over in the 2008 NCAA college football season as Big East champions, Cincinnati Bearcats, are slotted to face the Virginia Tech Hokies for the Orange Bowl.

The 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl will be the 75th edition of South Florida’s showcase game. Cincinnati and Virginia Tech will meet on January 1 in Miami. The last time these two teams met, it was back in 2006 with Virginia Tech prevailing, 29-13.

The Virginia Tech Hokies have been to the Orange Bowl twice before, losing to Nebraska in 1996 and Kansas at the end of last season.

The Cincinnati Bearcats on the other hand, have been on a tear, winning 28 of its past 35 games since losing to the Hokies a little over two years ago. Over that span, only seven teams; Boise State, Oklahoma, BYU, Florida, Southern California, Hawaii and Ohio State, have won more games than the Bearcats.

The Virginia Tech Hokies finished the regular season ranked seventh nationally in total defense, allowing just 277 yards per game, while…

It’s in Orlando, Florida where both Georgia and Michigan State will be looking to do their own magic for the Citrus Bowl title.

The 2009 Capital One Citrus Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Michigan State Spartans is one of the BCS bowl games we have to start the new year. This is a New Year’s Day matchup containing two teams that are both coming off losses.

Neither the Georgia Bulldogs nor the Michigan State Spartans are ranked in the Associated Press top 15, which makes this Capital One Bowl different from any other since 1992, when the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten began meeting in Orlando. Yet this game does have at least two things going for it.

Michigan State’s Javon Ringer and Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno.

Ringer leads the Big Ten in rushing and ranks third nationally after amassing 1,590 yards (132.5 yards per game) and 21 touchdowns on 370 carries. Moreno leads the SEC and is 16th nationally with 1,338 yards (111.5) and 16 touchdowns on 227 carries.

Though the No.16 Georgia Bulldogs rely on Moreno, Michigan State rely heavily on Ringer.

The 5-foot-9, 202-pound senior from Michigan State, has 32 more carries than the second-busiest running back in the NCAA bowl subdivision. In a three-week stretch in late…

The Central Michigan Chippewas need to win this one since they are the team from the Motor City in a BCS Bowl game named after their city.

After opening the season 1-5, a bowl game seemed bleak for the defending Sun Belt champion Florida Atlantic Owls. However, since that time, the Owls have reeled off 5 wins in 6 games, receiving an invitation to the 2008 Motor City Bowl.

The Florida Atlantic Owls suffered a brutal start before claiming its bowl berth. Since then, the Owls averaged 35.0 points while winning five of their final six games, overcoming a 1-5 start, becoming bowl-eligible with a 57-50 overtime win over Florida International on Nov.29.

Considering the last Motor City Bowl and each team’s most recent contests, with the Central Michigan Chippewas also on fire, it’s possible the 2008 matchup could be another shootout.

Florida Atlantic boasts a top defensive presence in senior linebacker Frantz Joseph, the nation’s second-best tackler with 141 to lead the Sun Belt in that category for a second straight season. He also earned all-conference honors while breaking his own school record for tackles in a season. Joseph also set the school’s single-game (16) and career (333) tackle mark.

The Owls’ offense is directed by junior quarterback…

Merry Christmas people!

By now, I’m already off to a much needed vacation. (More specifically, playing Madden all day long without anyone bothering me…) But before I leave ya’ll here, I’m going to give ya’ll my very last weekly preview of the 2008-09 NFL football season. It’s already Week 17 people. Boy, time sure flies huh? And after 16 weeks, we learned that the Lions are only a loss away from becoming the most fucked up team in years, Tom Brady continues to lose his job to Matt Cassel and the Cowboys desperately need to win this Sunday to make the playoffs.

Yes, the Dallas Cowboys, after losing to Baltimore, 33-24, need to beat the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday to give themselves a shot of making the playoffs. And since Philly can only put up three points in their game against Washington last Sunday, this is probably the perfect opportunity for the Cowboys to steal one in Philly.

Dallas Cowboys by 3.

The Atlanta Falcons, with a playoff berth already secured, will probably just look for some momentum heading for the postseason when they face the struggling the St. Louis Rams, who have now lost nine in a row. The Rams won’t have anything to gain on this game and they’d probably just rest some of their starters to give those guys a chance to rest up and…

It’s do or die for the Bears on Monday Night Football.

In what would be the very last broadcast of ESPN’s Monday Night Football this 2008-09 NFL football season, the Bears are hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive with a win over the Packers.

Thanks to the Minnesota Vikings dominating the high-flying Arizona Cardinals, 35-14 last Sunday, the Chicago Bears were pushed further to playoff elimination. It would’ve been a nice Christmas gift for the Bears if the Cardinals defeated the Vikes and gave them an even better chance of catching up to Minnesota in the NFC North.

Instead, even though the Bears defeated New Orleans to go 8-6 last Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings, with the win over Arizona, are still a game ahead of Chicago at 9-5 with only two more games left to play this weekend.

For what it’s worth, the Bears know they still have to do their part to stay in playoff contention. A win over the Green Bay Packers is big and Bears defensive tackle Anthony Adams is aware of it.

”I don’t know, man, we’ve just got to let that stuff play out,” Anthony Adams said. ”I try to simplify things when I look at [scenarios]. We’ve got to get this win against Green Bay, then get the next one [at Houston], and then just…”

Yes, even Bodog is in the Holiday spirit.

Bodog is hosting the ”12 Days of Poker” Series for the Christmas season, giving you more than enough reason to stay at home, enjoy the week off while cashing in on some big pots online.

The online poker room is running a 45-event series aptly called, the ”12 Days of Poker.” The series will run for 12 days starting from December 21 to January 1.

As a Christmas gift, Bodog Poker will pump $100,000 in bonus money into the series so this should be more than enough reason for poker aficionados to get in the action.

Aside from the prize money you can win, the ”12 Days of Poker” series will have a leaderboard and a Grand Finale.

The top three finishers in the Grand Finale get to take home a complete package of buy-ins to the Bodog Poker Open III which is happening in the Spring of 2009.

To get into the Grand Finale, you either automatically qualify by being in the top four at the series leaderboard, or you can be in spot 5 to 100 and play in a two-tier playoff where another 18 Grand Finale seats will be awarded.

Bodog will add 1,000 to 20,000 dollars in each tournament. The events are usually titled according to the bonus money…

Two straight losses heading to the playoffs? Yes, the Giants need to wakeup now.

After what has been a dominant run for the playoffs in the 2008-09 NFL football season, the Giants, for some reason, lost their edge during the last two weeks, suffering two straight losses to two NFC East rivals, Philadelphia and Dallas.

The New York Giants were one of the heavy favorites to win Super Bowl XLIII, but after the last two weeks, people are starting to wonder if this Giants team really is as good as they were hyped up to be.

The New York Giants know they have to get back to work. Surely, they don’t want to be caught playing this bad once the playoffs get here right? They already have a playoff berth AND the NFC East title secured but if they want to get to the Super Bowl again, they better get back to work now.

They have the Carolina Panthers on Sunday Night Football, a win over that high-flying team should bring the defending Super Bowl champs back on track. Another loss and New York should be pressing on the panic button faster than Ray Allen’s sweet jump shot with a sense of desperation they haven’t felt…