Like any other form of sports betting, gambling on American football can be accomplished much more successfully if you actually have some knowledge of the sport before starting.

Of course nowadays it is a lot easier to gain this knowledge, as games are screened live inmany countries, and there are websites offering information about the teams, players and types of bets to place and there are also American football games available at online casinos. In fact these games may actually offer one of the most accessible ways into the game for people outside the U.S. because they can play them to improve their knowledge, while also enjoying a bet.

If you’re a fan of the Washington Redskins then you know all too well that the team’s playoff hopes ended on the last day of the regular reason when the team failed to secure a wild card sport for post-season play much to the disappointment of fans and bettors alike. At least they have a chance for rebirth in the 2013-2014 season in the fall. Until that time, while they can partake in sports betting on other sports, Redskins fans can also find some fun at online casinos like JackpotCity playing sports themed slot machines.

One popular slot machine with a relevant theme is a video slot known as Field of Green. This particular online slot machine available on many casino sites is a five reel machine designed around an exciting football layout. Field of Green provides a maximum of 20 paylines and the maximum bet size is set at 100. A progressive jackpot is also built into the game which provides another way for players to win with the maximum payout for the progressive jackpot is 8000 coins. It’s a different way to gamble compared to sports betting, but both options give the fan a way to participate in the game. Better than shouting at the tv, right?

Entering the game, the Terps were 5-6 in the ACC, needing a miracle to have any hope of dancing next month. That miracle came with a 83-81 win over the second ranked Duke Blue Devils.

Will it be enough to propel Maryland into the national picture? The answer in short, not yet....

At 6-6, the Terps move into a tie for sixth with Florida State in the ACC standings. To secure a spot in the big dance, the Terrapins probably need to win five of their remaining six games.

02/19/13	at Boston College *	Chestnut Hill, Mass.	9:00 p.m. ET
02/23/13	vs. Clemson *	College Park, Md.	12:00 p.m. ET
02/27/13	at Georgia Tech *	Atlanta, Ga.	8:00 p.m. ET
03/02/13	at Wake Forest *	Winston-Salem, N.C.	12:00 p.m. ET
03/06/13	vs. North Carolina *	College Park, Md.	7:00 p.m. ET
03/10/13	at Virginia *	Charlottesville, Va.	6:00 p.m. ET

Maryland likely needs a good showing at the ACC tournament in Greensboro as well. First round play begins Thursday March 14th with the finals on Sunday the 17th.

How the Terps finish regular season play willl determine just how far they need to advance in North Carolina to secure a spot.

There is no long term deal between Jordan Zimmermann and the Nationals.  Yet. 

The Nationals and Zimmermann did agree on a one year deal that avoids arbitration, a desire of both sides.  Arbitration is always contentious and leaves hard feelings. 

The Nats are thought to want long terms deals wqth Zimmermann and Ian Desmond.  Both signed one year deals while longer term extensions are sought. 

That was the question posed by Bruce DePuyt, host of NewsTalk on News Channel 8, to a panel of guests including myself, American University  journalism professor and scholar Angie Chuang and Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney. Watch the discussion below and feel free to voice your opinion on this subject in our Redskins fan forum.

The Washington Capitals started this shortened season out pretty miserably. No one argues that.  However, the Caps are doing their best to turn it around.  

Eric Fehr scored two goals and Washington scored four total on the night to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning and crawl out of the division cellar.  All three wins have come against Southeast Division rivals.  The win improves the Caps to 5-8-1 and 11 points.  The won also leap frogs the Caps over Florida and into a third place tie with Winnipeg.  

The Caps got on the board early in the first period with another Troy Brouwer goal.  The marker extended Brouwer's goal streak to three games.  Brouwer has now scored four goals over the last three games.  Brouwer's seventh marker of the season was assisted by Mathieu Perreault, who had three helpers on the night, and Nicklas Backstrom.  It also came on the Caps power play.  The lead lasted six minutes when Martin St. Louis knotted The game for Tampa.  Caps out shot the Lightning 12-6 in the first period.

Eric Fehr scored his first of the night, the only tally of the second period, to give the Caps a 2-1 lead at the 5:09 mark of the second period.  Perreault and Joel Ward assisted the goal.  Caps out shot the Lightning 13-12 in the second period.

Fehr scored his second of the night just a little over two minutes into the third period to put the Caps up 3-1.  Perreault added his third helper of the night and John Carlson added an assist.  Five minutes later, at the 7:29 mark of the third period to put the Caps up 4-1.  Assists came from Jeff Schultz and Tomas Kundratek.  

As customary with Tampa, despite a three goal lead, it was far from safe.  Teddy Purcell and Nate Thompson scored after the half way point of the third period to narrow the Caps lead to just 4-3.   Braden Holtby stopped 27 of 30 shots to earn his fourth win of the season. 

The Caps held on in the final two minutes to fend off the Lightning.  

Multi-Point Scorers:

Eric Fehr, 2 goals

Mathieu Perreault, 3 assists

Are you ready for some baseball? The Nationals have released their plans for TV and radio coverage of Spring Training.

Nats pitchers and catchers are already in Florida with position players required to report by tomorrow (Friday).

Spring training coverage is listed below, but the MLB Network may add additional coverage.

Meanwhile, MASN has a new broadcast partner in WUSA Channel 9. The two networks will simulcast 20 games this season, beginning on Opening Day, April 1st when Washington hosts the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park.

The Redskins have added depth along the defensive line with the signing of Ron Brace. The 6'3" 330 Brace was a second round pick by the New England Patriots in the 2009 draft.

Brace had 39 tackles in 39 games with the Patriots before his release in December. The 26 year old Brace started early in his career, but hasn't started since the 2010 season.

Washington has been looking for a solid backup behind starter Barry Cofield. Chris Neild was a servicable reserve during his rookie season in 2011, but missed last season due to injury. Chris Baker backed up Cofield last season, but he is an unrestricted free agent.

Cofield is small for the nose in a three man line at 318 pounds and the team would like the flexibility to slide him outside to end in passing situations. Brace has lacked proper conditioning in his career, which ultimately led to his release.

The Washington Redskins believe that QB Robert Griffin III has a 'legitimate' chance to start week one, despite his ACL knee surgery.  Despite being only a month removed from the surgery, the Redskins are confident. 

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the team is already encouraged enough by Griffin’s rehab that they believe he has a “legitimate chance” of being on the field when the Redskins start the 2013 season. “Legitimate chance” is one of those purposefully vague phrases that leave a lot of wiggle room and it is with good reason in this case.

Griffin’s rehab is just starting and there are plenty of other checkpoints that he’ll have to hit in the seven months before the start of next season before he’s given the green light to lead the Redskins offense. Encouraging signs are just that at this point in the process because there’s no way they or anyone else can know how RG3′s knee will progress over the long road ahead.

QB Kirk Cousin will no doubt go into the off-season OTAs and opening of training camp in the mind frame that he will start the season out as starter.  The fact the Redskins are encouraged this early may be telling that RG3 may be a head of rehab schedule.  It is a story that will dominate the off-season for the Redskins. 

The NFL Mock Draft Database has grown to 284 mock drafts for the 2013 NFL Draft.  For this week's mock munch, we munched together all NFL mock drafts updated between February 9, 2013 and February 13, 2013, that is a total of 59 mock drafts!   By munching them together, we come up with leaders based upon an average of the most updated mock drafts out there. 

These mock drafts range from major sports media, to fan networks, to newspaper media, and to fan bloggers.  It's OK to be skeptical.  Their just mock drafts.  Their just opinions.  However, our mock draft consensus was pretty accurate last year.  So were many mock drafts.  Many of these are based on inside sources and team connections that may know a team's specific and general thinking of player rankings. So take it for what it is worth and what you value it to be. 

We track the total percent of mock drafts projecting the Top 6 picks and the change in percentage from the last update.   Here are the Top 6 picks

DATABASE TRENDS:

First off, we have one change in the Top 6 projected leaders.  CB Dee Milliner is now the leader at the 5th overall slot to Detroit.  Out of the 59 mocks, 20 project Milliner to Detroit.  Last week's leader, DE Bjoern Werner had 16 projections this week.   Other than that change, projections were remarkably steady.  The biggest gain or loss was Werner losing 4% at the second overall spot.  OT Star Lotulelei is surging as a possble second overall pick. We probably will not see much fluctuations now until after the NFL Combine.   

OTHERS NOT LISTED:

 DE Damontre Moore is a favorite in the Top 6, even though he does not specially lead at any of those slots.  39 of the 59 most updated mocks have Moore going between 2nd and 5th overall.  14 mock draft project Moore to go second overall to Jacksonville.  OT Eric Fisher still gets 8 projection at the fourth overall slot to the Eagles.  LB Barkevious Mingo is only 1 mock projection behind LB Jarvis Jones for the lead at the sixth slot.   Finally, keep an eye on DE Ezekeil Ansah at the sixth slot.   He has been projected at the 6th slot by 5 mocks, but all those mocks were updated the last two days. 

Washington Capitals fans received some great news today, after head coach Adam Oates confirmed to Washington Times reporter Stephen Whyno that center Brooks Laich has been cleared to practice with contact.

I know Smitty told me he’s allowed to have contact," said Oates. "I think it’s going to be a day-to-day basis evaluation because it’s one of those things where we don’t want to set it back.

Laich suffered a groin injury while playing with the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss National League during the lockout. His absence appears to be a major reason why the Caps have started the season 4-8-1, and though the group has won two straight, Laich's return should still provide a massive boost.