Update

Two big things have happened since last I posted. I have begun an editing position, as well as a freelance reporting position with a local sports magazine. This has eaten away quite a bit of time; in addition to my other clients, I have had absolutely no desire to write any of my novel.

Oh, I also have started my own website: http://www.pickingsportswinners.com. This site is going to remain a free site for a while, at least until I have enough demand to start charging for picks. And even then I might still keep it as a free service. I hate that people will charge hundreds of dollars for picks and then post odds and lines that are impossible to find. I think that handicapping touts are, for the most part, a ripoff. I don't want to fall into this trap. Integrity is important regardless of what you do in life. I feel that if I post picks, I need to be reasonable and compare the picks to real situations and real lines at real prices. There are very few good betting opportunities that arise during the NFL season, yet touts have to make picks for every game in order to keep their customers satiated. I don't think this is realistic or profitable for the people making the pick. My site zeroes in on making the betting process a bit more transparent and accessible to the average bettor.

I still want to give out a few free copies of my ebook. If you have any ideas for a contest, please message me.

Zenyatta Book

As some people might know, I am an avid horse racing fan. I love watching thoroughbreds compete--they are sport in the most pure sense of the word. I haven't been as into the sport as I once was after the retirement of Zenyatta last November, however. As a tribute to this horse, I wrote a short ebook about her and about some of my opinions on the state of racing as a whole. I understand that many people are repelled by the rumors of drug use in horses, and I address this concern in my book. The horse racing world is way ahead of the human world in terms of finding and punishing cheaters, though, and I applaud the people looking out for the horses' best interests. Drugs can be used to cover up all sorts of medical maladies, and this can lead to a worsening of health or even a life-ending injury.

There are a few drugs that benefit horses, and these drugs should be kept within the industry. Lasix is a prime example. This drug helps prevent capillaries from bursting in the nasal and throat areas of a horse. In young horses especially, this can lead to serious medical concerns. Lasix should be administered on an as-needed basis for this reasoning.

Zenyatta changed the way I thought and felt about the sport. Her amazing achievements will forever stand out as one of the greatest feats of athleticism this world has ever seen. Losing her last race might have prevented her from obtaining the largest undefeated streak ever by a top-level thoroughbred, but her only loss was truly her greatest race.

If you are interested, you can buy my ebook through Amazon. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Zenyatta-ebook/dp/B005MYKRL6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1316188354&sr=1-1

This book would not have been made possible without my friends at http://simplysports-talk.com. These guys have a lot of potential in the world of sports journalism and if you are a sports fan, you really need to check out their insights.

My New Site

I have been working on a novel for over two years now. I finally have the ending plotted out in my head and it is about 3/4 of the way completed. The last month has been especially crazy, however, and I have not written a word within my novel in that time period. I have every intention of completing it, I just have not had the energy to work on it. I do so much other writing for clients and now I have a website that I am attempting to launch on my own, the novel has been resigned to the proverbial back burner.

Which leads me to my point. I have worked as a freelance sports writer for a couple years now and I have been not 100 percent on board with any of the sites I have written for. The premise is simple: I want to write about sports and sports predictions. Not gossip or rumors. One site I wrote for became a sports-related tabloid basically, which bears no interest to me whatsoever. So I have decided to put together my own sports site.

The concept, from a handicapper's perspective, is pretty unique. I want to analyze games in such a manner that a lawyer would prepare a brief for a case. This is time intensive, so I would be limited to one or two games per week. Most handicappers, at least from my experience, go for quantity rather than quality. I want to pick one game that might hold some controversy over who the winner will be and break it down so people can see the inner workings of a handicapper's mind. This is unique because I want to teach people to look at games analytically and help them to learn this process so that they will feel comfortable doing so on their own eventually.

I will be including more info here as it becomes available.