Hey guys, I put together a sample article applying for that sports analyst gig with SBR and figured I might as well put it up. Cheers.

Oddsmakers must be putting a great deal of faith in the ability of "new" head coach Jacques Lemaire to turn the disastrous New Jersey Devils' season around. For the Tuesday matchup of the New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild most online sportsbooks currently offer the New Jersey Devils moneyline in the neighborhood of -135, suggesting they are favored to move from an impressive six home wins to a remarkable seven. The illustrations of the turmoil within the Devils are plenty: the insane Ilya Kovalchuk contract, the sudden inability of legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur to stop even the largest of beach balls, their laundry list of key injuries-one could continue ad neasum. Perhaps the recent home win over the suddenly sliding Atlanta Thrashers bodes well for Devils backers. However, this win is countered by a long list of recent losses to the likes of the Toronto Maple Leafs (4-1) and the New York Islanders (5-1). Home losses to teams of this calibre are not shrugged off by any professional hockey team-they are complete soul-stompings. Keeping all of this in mind, the Minnesota Wild are not exactly lighting up the NHL these days. The Wild go into Tuesday's game with an unremarkable eight wins and six losses on the road. The key word here for the Wild is unremarkable. There really is nothing wrong with a reliable, if unspectacular method of play-especially playing on the road in the NHL. One other cautionary heads up for bettors would be that the Devils have taken four of the last four matchups, although two have been shoot-out wins. Recent matchup history is one part of the betting picture and the Devils' overall picture has not been kind to their backers this season. The Devils have close to half the team points of the Minnesota Wild (22 to 41) and are so far into last place it's difficult to explain how they can be favored against virtually any opponent.