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"The 300"...Make That 500

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:07:00 +0000

Josh Smith scored a career best thirty-two points (12-of-15 from the field) to help the Atlanta Hawks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 99-93 on Saturday night for their third victory on the trot. He went 7-for-7 from the floor in the first half accumulating seventeen points in the half. Smith is third in the NBA with his 2.4 average and last Saturday against the Knicks, he became the youngest player ever to block five hundred shots.

'March Madness' - NCAA Four Take Seedings.

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:51:00 +0000

Defending champions Florida have been given one of the top seedings in the NCAA tournament on Sunday, along with Ohio State, Kansas and North Carolina. All four teams booked their positions by winning their conference tournament championship games.

The tournament involving sixty-five teams, known as 'March Madness' begins on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, with a play-in game between the two lowest ranked teams. On Thursday afternoon, it's action all the way on the court.

The Gators aim to become the first repeat champions since Duke in '92. Florida, which won the football championship in January, will begin its bid for another title in the Midwest region with a game on Friday against Jackson State in New Orleans.

Thanksgiving Important for Cowboys

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:18:00 +0000

Dallas can celebrate Thanksgiving with their Cowboys team in first place in the NFC East if they can overcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday.

Four days after beating the Colts (their first loss of the season) the Cowboys (6-4) will host the Buccaneers (3-7) who are bottom of the NFC South Division.

Coach Bill Parcells said: "We didn't have much time to enjoy the win over the Indianapolis Colts".

Parcells was delighted with a defence that forced four turnovers, two interceptions of Peyton Manning, and held the Colts to just two touchdowns in a 21-14 well deserved victory.

One of the turnovers was a 39-yard interception-return for a touchdown by young linebacker Kevin Burnett.

Parcells should also be happy with Tony Romo who is 3-1 since being starting quarterback.

Tampa Bay are 3-4 since quarterback Bruce Gradkowski replaced starter Chris Simms.
Last time out Gradkowski threw two touchdown passes and Carnell Williams rushed for a season-high 122 yards in a 20-17 win over Washington.

The Cowboys cut Johnson and signed Terrell Owens last March.

Owens has been good for Dallas, catching 53 passes for 724 yards and seven scores.

Dallas are 23-14-1 on Thanksgiving but have lost six of its last nine holiday games, including two of three under Parcells.

Last season, the Cowboys got beaten in overtime to Denver, 24-21.

The Buccaneers have never played on Thanksgiving.

Patriots And The Cardinals

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:12:00 +0000

The Patriots go into their bye week at 4-1 and top of the AFC East. New England haven't exactly lit up the park with their play but as always they have found a way to win tight games.

Belichick when interviewed was wearing a St Louis Cardinals jersey. When asked about it he said that he wanted to show support for Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, who will faces the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series a World Series place. Belichick is a fan.

New England will get back to their regular routine on Monday. Nex up is a trip to Buffalo - currently 2-3.

Palmer Factor

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 18:44:00 +0000

Carson Palmer took part for the sixth time in eight practices on Thursday afternoon. The left knee looks ok and it appears as if he will play some part in at least two preseason games.

If the Bengals had a 100% fit Palmer they might turn out to be the best of the long shots for the Super Bowl - but that's a big 'if'.

Cowboy Shot...Again

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 03:02:00 +0000

Keith Davis safety with the Dallas Cowboys was reported to be in a stable condition after being shot.

The team confirmed that Davis was driving a vehicle on I 635 on Sunday morning when he was shot twice. Full details of his injuries are not known.

Davis was also involved in a shooting a few years ago outside a Dallas night-spot - where again he was shot twice.

Lets hope he plays this coming season.

Turley Makes NFL Comeback

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 15:34:00 +0000

Kyle Turley has returned to the NFL after joining the Kansas City Chiefs on a two year contract.

The 30 year old Turley is known for his emotional outbursts but has been out of the NFL for a couple of years with a back injury. Prior to the injury he was a regular starter for the St. Louis Rams.

There is no doubt that Kyle Turley will bring experience to the Chiefs, it just remains to be seen if he can match it with a high standard of play. The Chiefs obviously think so.

The 300 pound right tackle was the 7th outright pick in the '98 draft.

Sapp Flys With Ravens Again

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 16:33:00 +0000

Gerome Sapp has been snapped up by the Baltimore Ravens - from the Indianapolis Colts - in return for a conditional draft pick in 2007.

Sapp has been a Colt for the last two seasons after being designated surplus to requirements in 2004.

The Ravens took him as a sixth round from Notre Dame in 2003. Sapp has primarily been a special teams player.

Crash Bang Ben

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 22:46:00 +0000

There could be a different take on Pittsburgh Steelers price to win the Superbowl after Ben Roethlisberger, star quarterback, was involved in serious motorcycle accident involving an SUV at an intersection.

It appears, however, that the young quarterback will be fit to play once his broken jaw has healed - which should take in the region of seven weeks. Those who have already placed futures bets on Pittsburgh for Super Bowl XLI can breathe a sigh of relief.

Roethlisberger underwent a seven our surgery to face and skull and is said to be stable.

Police are still looking into the matter under their standard investigative procedures.

Boston Goes To Tampa

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Sat, 27 May 2006 15:33:00 +0000

NFL: The Buccaneers have signed 27 year old wide receiver Dave Boston from Miami Dolphins.

Boston was the eighth overall pick in the 1999 draft and spent his first four years with the Cardinals peaking in 2001 when he went to the Pro Bowl with a record of 98 catches for 1,600 yards and eight TD's.

He is back from a serious knee injury and it remains to be seen if Tampa have made a shrewd purchase...

Bonds Closes In On Ruth

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Fri, 12 May 2006 17:07:00 +0000

Bonds is about to hit his 714 th home run, at least we're not holding our collective breath. If and when he achieves this, he will tie with Babe Ruth for second place overall.

Tonight San Franciscos face the Dodgers. The Dodgers are slight favorites for the win. These two teams are bottom of the NL West. But leaders Colorado are not really that far ahead. It should be a close division right through to the end of the season.

Bonds should be concerned about Moises Alou though, who will now miss games due to a sprained right ankle. He is a big loss in the fifth place in the batting order. Pedro Felix now bats behind Bonds which means Bonds will get even fewer quality pitches to his that normal.

The Dodgers have a streak of five out of six wins even after yesterdays loss to Houston but they rely heavily on Drew and Garciaparra and if they are to have any success those two will have to remain healthy.

It will be interesting if Bonds does the business.

Lakers Rolling On

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 22:42:00 +0000

Milwaukee Bucks at Detroit Pistons

Detroit (64-18) may be the class team of the NBA for now - but they are not invincible. The Pistons are just 2-10 ATS when they are 12 point favorites. Detroit is also a poor 8-13 at home ATS when playing teams under 0.5. They are 20-21 ATS at home overall.

Milwaukee is 40-42 on the season but they match-up better with Detroit than people know. They have big people in the middle to match the Pistons' size up front. They have a scorer in Michael Redd and one of the best up-and-coming point guards in the shape of Ford. Bucks could spring a surprise.

LA Lakers at Phoenix Suns

The LA Lakers (45-37) have momentum going into the post season. They are winners of 11 out of 14 games. But the Lakers defense will need to be alive against a powerful Phoenix offense.

Phoenix are 54-28 and 12-5 ATS at home versus opponents above 0.5, while LA are 12-8 ATS on the road versus opponents above 0.5. The Suns are 5-1 ATS when coming in as 7 point favorites.

When the Lakers score 110 points they are perfect against the spread. When they give up 110 points, they have still not won a game. The line is seven points and this could be a close one.

LA Angels In Heaven

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 19:26:00 +0000

The LA Angels are now 5-3 after losing two of three at Seattle - and winning two of three against the New York Yankees at home. They are in the final game of a home series against Texas and will be looking to complete the sweep tonight.

The Angels' Kelvim Escobar comes up against Texas' John Koronka in the pitching battle. Los Angeles is at -180 with an over / under of 9.5 runs.

The Angels spent most of the winter looking for a slugger to take their place with Vladimir Guerrero in the line-up.

They finally brought in Tim Salmon, a favourite of the LA crowd, to help at DH. This means the Angels will be relying on outfielders Anderson and Erstad, as well as first baseman Casey Kotchman - to have good offensive years. Unfortunately, Anderson and Erstad are both getting on it a bit - so will have to pull out good performances this season.

Defense and Pitching is what makes the LA Angels a World Series contender this season. The team has five solid starters, all right-handed. John Lackey, Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar are at the top of the rotation - while Ervin Santana is at the bottom. Santana is a very promising young guy.

Relief pitching is also in good shape for the Angels. Francisco Rodriguez is one of the best closers in the game and Scot Shields would be a closer almost anywhere else.

What gives?

The Angels have been to the playoffs - three out of the last four years with a World Series Championship in 2002. They have as much young talent as any team in baseball -in the Major and Minor leagues.

The Angels are always dangerous because of their pitching - a potent weapon in the post season - but first they need to get there. With the competition hot in the American League, that is certainly not a foregone conclusion.

The Los Angeles Angels are 25/1 to win the World Series and 12/1 to win the American League.

Sox Struggles To Be Expected

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:56:00 +0000

The Chicago White Sox are at present 10/1 to win the World Series and 5/1 to win the American League.

Chicago is struggling with a 2-4 record, losing two of three against both Cleveland and Kansas City. Now, they travel to play a surprisingly hot Detroit team that is 5-1, and tied for the lead in the AL Central. It's a bit of come down from last season but lets face it - this often happens to teams who have achieved great heights in the preceding season. Still, it's early days..

Today’s pitching match-up is White Sox's Fred Garcia versus the Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman. The White Sox are the underdog at +120 with an over / under of 9 runs.

White Sox Batting

The Sox lineup is similar to last seasons except they have traded center fielder Rowland to Philadelphia for hitter Jim Thome. Thome is slotted in the third hole ahead of Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye, giving Chicago a far more fearsome middle of the line-up than last year.

Taking over for Rowland in center is the 24 year-old Brian Anderson. Anderson is hitting in the nine hole to take the pressure off his offense, so he can be on the defensive side where Rowland was strongest. The youngster has talent.

White Sox Pitching:

Chicago won the World Series last year because of their starting pitching. The staff looks great again this year, because with the addition of Javier Vazquez, the White Sox now have five very good starters.

The starting pitching may have been the Chicago's calling card last year, but they wouldn't have won the World Series without Bobby Jenks. One down note is that Dustin Hermanson will be out at least two months with a back injury.

Lowdown:

The White Sox won their first World Series since 1917 last year, lifting a huge burden for the City of Chicago who has also had bear the Cubs lack of success.

No team in baseball has won back to back championships since the Yankees in 2000. It is natural to assume that the White Sox may have a let down this year as other champions have before them. They have had a bad start - but one thinks they can only improve in the short term.

Detroit Pistons Smother Miami Heat

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 23:24:00 +0000

The Detroit Pistons would not be beaten again. Six weeks ago, Wade scored Miami's final seventeen points to seal a two-point win. If Wade hadn't been is such form the Pistons might well be celebrating the double over their rivals. Nevertheless an 82-73 victory must have been satisfying enough.

In contrast to previous game Wade managed just 3 of 15 from the floor. The Pistons will be relieved that they kept Wade in check - it's never good to be beaten by one man.

O'Neal returned to the team after sitting out Tuesday's loss at Minnesota and added 27 points.

Mourning tore a calf muscle though and they missed him from early in the game.
O'Neal knows he has a lot of game time to play now that his team-mate will be out injured - and admitted it would be tough.

Detroit has now won sixteen in a row at home, five short of the team record. The Pistons also clinched the outright Central Division title.

Pistons Can't Crack Nuggets

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 03:25:00 +0000

The Detroit Pistons suffered a road loss to the Denver Nuggets 98-87 last night.
Even Chauncey Billups' 27 points wasn't enough. Finishing was their biggest problem.
Detroit perhaps have a hit a mini bad streak with the start being their loss to Milwaukee last Monday.

The key for the Nuggets was that they matched Detroit defensively - a key moment in the second half was when they kept Detroit at 6 for 24 shots. The Nuggets had a 82-72 lead going into the fourth quarter (a rare position for the Pistons) - even though they had trailed at the break.

NBA All Star Weekend - O'Neal's

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:22:00 +0000

Picked for his thirteenth All-Star Game in succession, Shaq' O'Neal is only the fifth player in history to achieve that number. The fans voted him in at No.4 after Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

O'Neal stated that every new All Star game was more special than the one before. It might have something to do with his age - at 34 he must know the writing is on the wall.

O'Neal was the MVP in 2004, and has averaged 17.6 points, 8.6 rebounds in these games.

All Star weekend should be a blast.

Miami Turn Up Heat On Pistons

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 18:16:00 +0000

Finally Miami, with Wade at the helm, beat one of the top teams - in the Detroit Pistons. He scored the last seventeen points in a close game, which included the winner with only a couple of seconds left to play. The final score was 100-98.

The Miami Heat have habitually struggled agains the best teams. They are now 1-7 against the league's four top teams.

Trailing 90-83 with 4.30 minutes remaining, Wade came in to the picture with seventeen consecutive points - a franchise record. He made his final seven shots and scored twenty-eight points in the second half.

Shaq also did his part, keeping Miami in the game early on and finishing with a season-high of thirty-one points.

The Pistons have lost three of their last five games but they still have best record in the NBA at 41-9.

Go to NBA Championship betting to wager on your favorite team.

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 18:16:00 +0000

Finally Miami, with Wade at the helm, beat one of the top teams - in the Detroit Pistons. He scored the last seventeen points in a close game, which included the winner with only a couple of seconds left to play. The final score was 100-98.

The Miami Heat have habitually struggled agains the best teams. They are now 1-7 against the league's four top teams.

Trailing 90-83 with 4.30 minutes remaining, Wade came in to the picture with seventeen consecutive points - a franchise record. He made his final seven shots and scored twenty-eight points in the second half.

Shaq also did his part, keeping Miami in the game early on and finishing with a season-high of thirty-one points.

The Pistons have lost three of their last five games but they still have best record in the NBA at 41-9.

Go toNBA Championship betting to wager on your favorite team.

Bulls Kneel Before Kings

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:20:00 +0000

Peja Stojakovic may be gone but the Sacramento Kings still won convincingly against the Chicago Bulls, with a lot of help from Kevin Martin who scored twenty-three points in the first half.

Bibby scored twenty points, Abdur-Rahim got himself fifteen and Brad Miller had eleven for Sacramento, who have now won seven consecutive games at home after a poor start to the season.

Martin made three three-pointers and helped to stifle the hot-shooting Ben Gordon to just a couple of points, as Sacramento took a nineteen point lead into the half.

The void left by the departure of Stojakovic appears to have been filled - for now. Martin has made 64% of his three-pointers, hitting four in this game

The Kings are 4-3 since bringing in Artest, with better defensive organisation and have held six of seven teams under one hundred points at home.

For NBA odds go to our basketball betting page.

Pittsburg Steelers Hit Detroit

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 16:29:00 +0000

The Pittsburgh Steelers will arrive in Detroit today, a day later than the Seattle Seahawks. Bill Cowher wants to limit exposure to the 'distractions' that surface in any Super Bowl city.

Pittsburgh's closeness to Detroit is one of the advantages that the Steelers will enjoy for the big game. The fan ratio will be heavily tilted towards the Steelers.
Pittsburgh now has plenty of time to get acclimatised. The next big date for them is media day on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh To Play In White

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:23:00 +0000

On February the 5th in the Detroit Super Bowl XL - the Pittsburgh Steelers will play in their white away unforms. This despite being nominated as the 'home' team by the NFL, meaning that they are entitled to wear their more imposing traditional uniforms.

The Seahawks will be in their preferred metallic green/blue.

Interestingly enough, many teams favor a dark strip as it looks more imposing. The Oakland Raiders were once feared throughout the league and part of that aura was to do with the black strip. Overseas the one time invincible rugby side from New Zealand, appropriately named the "All Blacks" also opted for black.

It is probably the Steelers' success as a road team that has swayed the coach's decision to wear white for the fourth game in a row. They have won in successive weeks at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver - all in white.

Super Bowl XL - Steelers Favored By 4.

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 16:26:00 +0000

So the final teams are established - The Pittsburgh Steelers will meet the the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. It should be a good one.

On one side you have the Steelers, a dynasty and tradition under their belt - on the other, the Seahawks, the would be new kings of the NFL.

History is of course on Pittsburgh's side with four titles won between 1974-79 with the likes of Mean Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris. On the flip side Seattle hadn't won a playoff game in twenty years before last week and is going to the Super Bowl for the first time.

But you can look at things a lot of different ways - consider this:

It has all come together for the Seahawks this season. Seattle entered the playoffs as the NFC's top-seeded team, scored more points than any other team in the regular season, and have the MVP Shaun Alexander.

The Steelers, meanwhile, were the last seed in the AFC, the first sixth-seed to make it to the big game and only the second team ever to get there by winning three games on the road.

In terms of experience only one Steeler has been to the Bowl — cornerback Willie Williams, a starter on that 1996 team. Seattle has five who have been there - albeit with other teams; Wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, Robbie Tobeck, Chuck Darby, Grant Wistrom and Tom Rouen.

Still the Steelers are favored on their all round game - and our football betting odds makers give the Seahawks 4 points at the moment. No doubt this will spur on Seattle even more.

Pittsburgh Steelers Take Down Colts

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:27:00 +0000

Mike Vanderjagt missed a crucial 46-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining to let Steelers win 21-18 over the Indianapolis Colts, in a roller coaster finish.

The Steelers (13-5) became the first sixth seed ever to reach the championship game, but they nearly threw it all away after a fumble by running back Jerome Bettis.

Holding a 21-18 lead, the Steelers looked like they had it in the bag after Peyton Manning was sacked on fourth-and-16, giving the Steelers the ball at the Colts two-yard line with just 1:20 left. But Bettis was drilled by linebacker Gary Brackett and Nick Harper picked up the fumble and looked like he would go all the way before Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made a game-saving tackle.

After consecutive incompletions, Indy called up Vanderjagt to try to send the game into overtime - but he pushed his attempt way to the right, sending the Steelers through to the next game.

Carolina Panthers' Smith Undoes Bears.

noreply@blogger.com (Sportsbook) — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 03:28:00 +0000

The Chicago Bears had no answer to the Carolina Panthers' Steve Smith who finished tonight with twelve catches for 218 yards and two great touchdowns, to take the game 29-21. They had to Seattle next and are only the third No. 5 seed since 1990 to advance to the championship game.

Grossman, the Bears quarterback has missed most the season through injury did a good job overall and rallied his team in the second half - but late in the fourth quarter, trailing 29-21, he was intercepted by Ken Lucas with a little over two minutes to play.

There more or less ended the Bears first return to the play-offs in four years. Ironically their good run included a 13-3 victory over Carolina in November. This time around, the Panthers used Smith to great effect to kill off a Bears challenge that still needs some honing.

The Bears never really recovered from Smith's first score, where he left a couple of Bears players flailing, to give the Panthers 7-0 lead.

The game next week promises to be a fantastic game from a football betting and spectator standpoint.