That would be me. How's it going folks. If you're here from my Twitter or other social, you know pretty much everything you need to know about me. If you're not familiar with me, consider this my formal introduction. My name is Mark, I grew up in Syracuse, and I currently work as an intern for a sports talk radio show. For more on that, feel free to follow me on Twitter (@mprowlands99). That's where the nickname "Box Score" comes from, so you can call me that too. I'm a Red Sox, Celtics, Eagles, and SU fan, which makes me just about the most annoying person in Central New York. What will I bring to this site? Well, I'll probably write some articles about those teams, but I'm a generalist so any stories that pique my interest will be fair game. I don't take myself too seriously, so you shouldn't take me too seriously either. I will make jokes, I will have hot takes just for the sake of having hot takes (but you'll never know which ones I actually believe, that's the fun), and I will talk about things that I love talking about. You may ask yourself one question:
"Mark 'Box Score' Rowlands, what do you love talking about?" and the answer is simple.
Sports. I love sports. I watch them, I broadcast them, I read about them, I now write about them, and of course, I gamble on them.
"But Mark 'Box Score' Rowlands, how can someone who doesn't get paid for any of their sports coverage afford to gamble on sports?"
Listen my friends, I'm not out here betting $500,000 on the Lions to win the Super Bowl. I'm not an idiot. And it's easy to gamble when you win, and let me tell you baseball season has been good to me. I also have other sources of income, but that's beside the point. I'll be providing winners on this very site multiple times a week. Don't like baseball? I've got football plays. Don't care for the pigskin? Well when basketball rolls around you'll have my plays there as well. Not a basketball guy? How about golf, boxing, MMA, and whatever else I feel confident in. And guess what? I'm not someone who makes you pay to read my picks. That, in my opinion, is pretty stupid. So you get free winners from me, and we're gonna start that RIGHT NOW. (I am not a gambling expert, and this is not advice. Just what I like on the slate tonight.)
First pick: St. Louis Cardinals ML +170
That's right, give me the Redbirds against Brandon Woodruff. The Cards are HOT right now, and they are itching to get into the postseason. I love the birds tonight in the much anticipated Battle of the Wood (Card's pitcher is Jake Woodford).
Second Pick: Nationals/Marlins o8 (-107)
"The Nationals and the Marlins? Gross!" Exactly! Another game where the starting pitchers share something about their last name (Trevor J'Daniel Rogers vs. Josh Rogers) and two teams that can score when necessary. The Nats have scored or given up at least 6 runs in 7 out of their last 10 games, with the same going for the Marlins. This also means I am betting against two pitchers on my fantasy baseball team, which is how you know I LOVE these bets.
Third Pick: Anthony Joshua to beat Oleksandr Usyk (-285), AND Under 9.5 rounds (+110)
In my opinion, Anthony Joshua is the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, and this should be a pretty easy win for him. Usyk is no slouch, sitting at 18-0 with 13 KOs in his career, but Joshua is simply out of his league. This fight isn't until Saturday, so you've got some time to mull it over.
So that's it for my first blog. Like I said, I'll be around quite a bit, just wanted to introduce myself and give you kind folks some winners for tonight/this weekend. More to come throughout the week, peace.