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07/30/2010 - Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a disappointing season to so for the Kansas City Wizards, but the Major League Soccer club is hoping it can use a 2-1 win in an exhibition against English premier League side Manchester United this past Sunday as a stepping stone when it hosts Toronto FC on Saturday.
"It was definitely a big game for our organization," Kansas City manager Peter Vermes said. "Having the opportunity to play Manchester United, arguably the best club team in the world, was a huge accomplishment for the Kansas City area. It was tremendous to have 50,000 fans show their support at this game. I am extremely proud of the team for how they played during the game. To have the courage and competitive drive to stay ahead for 55 minutes while a man down was big."
The Wizards (4-8-4) have just two league wins in their last 14 fixtures, but the confidence gained from the win vs. United could be the turning point in a relatively dismal season.
"It was really exciting, we took the initiative and really made them play," Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad said. "We didn't allow them the time to do the things they like to do. We know it is their pre-season, but we knew we would get their best, but to be able to take it to them early was exciting."
Toronto FC (6-5-5) is streaking as well, with only one league loss in its last 10 fixtures, but a 1-5-1 road record combined with a disappointing 1-1 draw at home in its last league fixture doesn't have the Reds to confident heading into the game.
"Probably the most important part of the game [vs. Dallas on July 24] is the last 20 minutes, especially when you get on top and you score a good goal," TFC coach Preki told mlssoccer.com. "And then, once again, we found a way to give away a soft goal. That's a worrying thing. I think we're lacking concentration in the box."
The disappointing result came a week after falling to the expansion Philadelphia Union, 2-1 on the road.
"We didn't win our individual battles and we must pick the intensity up a notch when we defend those set pieces, we gotta get better," Toronto goalkeeper Stephan Frei said. "We always work on set pieces and if I had the answers we wouldn't be in the position that we are now, so we have to just keep working on it and get better at it."
<< Sounders aim to continue winning ways against 'Quakes
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC will go for their third
straight win on Saturday when they visit Buck Shaw Stadium to face the San
Jose Earthquakes.
The Sounders followed a 1-0 win over D.C. United with a 2-1 vi
<< Hilliard, Tyree retire as Giants
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former New York Giants receivers Ike
Hilliard and David Tyree each signed contracts this week to retire as members
of the organization.
Hilliard played in 98 games, starting 92, during his career
<< Crew chief Letarte extends contract with HMS
Pocono, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Letarte, the crew chief for four-time
NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, has signed a multi-year contract
extension with Hendrick Motorsports.
Letarte and HMS made the announcement Frida
<< Robinson agrees to five-year deal with Saints
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms
with rookie cornerback Patrick Robinson on a five-year contract.
Financial terms of the deal for the 32nd and last pick in the first round of
April's draft were
AL Central: Twins putting the heat on Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins continue to prove that it takes more
than high-profile personnel moves to compete for a postseason berth.
While the Detroit Tigers inked Johnny Damon and Jose Valverde in the
offseason, Minnesota stayed
Revs searching for league success against Union >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England has won four straight games without
allowing a goal, but just one of those matches was in Major League Soccer. The
Revolution hope to build on their SuperLiga success in league play Saturday at
PPL Par
Youzhny ousted in Gstaad quarters >>
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seed Mikhail Youzhny was a
quarterfinal upset victim Friday at the Swiss Open Gstaad.
Qualifier Yuri Schukin upended his world No. 14 fellow Russian Youzhny 6-4,
2-6, 7-5 in 2 hours, 12
Dolphins sign ex-Saints DE Grant >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have signed defensive end
Charles Grant.
Terms of the deal were not released, but the Palm Beach Post reported
Wednesday that the contract is for two years and is worth $4.5 milli
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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