Sounders aim to continue winning ways against 'Quakes
Soccer Betting Lines
07/30/2010 - 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 victory against the Colorado Rapids last time out, and despite a poor start to the season, they now find themselves just four points back of third-place FC Dallas.
The club has also been active in the transfer market with two new designated players joining the team recently.
Swiss striker Blaise Nkufo made his Sounders debut in the win over the Rapids, while just this past Thursday, Seattle added a third DP with the signing of Uruguay international Alvaro Fernandez.
The 24-year-old Fernandez was part of Uruguay's World Cup team in South Africa, and his presence will help to bolster the midfield.
Fernandez is unlikely to be ready to play this weekend, but his inclusion in the lineup in the near future can only help a Seattle attack that is becoming more potent.
"We have been tracking Alvaro for a while," said Seattle owner/general manager Adrian Hanauer. "Versatility, quality, character, a lot of the same attributes that we have been interested in all along attracted us to him. Alvaro is a player who has a very good pace. He is good in the air. He can play anywhere across the midfield. Again, we just felt like another quality player was necessary to continue to build on what we have got and certainly to make a run for the playoffs."
That run toward the postseason will be made easier if striker Fredy Montero can continue to play at a high level.
Nkufo's presence up top will no doubt help Montero, but he has done fine on his own lately, scoring three goals and assisting on five more in the past seven games.
San Jose enters the match just one point clear of Seattle, but they are riding a four-game unbeaten streak that includes a 2-2 draw with the Western Conference leaders, Los Angeles Galaxy.
The Earthquakes took a one-goal lead into the final minutes of the game, but were denied all three points by a late goal from Landon Donovan.
L.A. sits atop the conference with 40 points from 18 games, nine points clear of second-place Real Salt Lake. However, 'Quakes midfielder Bobby Convey feels that the Galaxy is not as good as their record might indicate, and that San Jose has only themselves to blame for the result.
"I think [the Galaxys] record is a bit unrealistic, because they've played three more games than we have," Convey told mlssoccer.com. "So I don't think they're as good as everyone thinks they are. They had a good run and they have good players, but we lost the game. They didn't win it. We lost the three points."
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
<< Gaming: Mountain West mediocre outside of league play
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mountain West's non-conference
straight-up records point in a favorable direction at 41-28 over the last two
years, but don't be so quick in jumping to the windows to wager on the league
against outside c
<< Hancock says Big 12 defections won't affect BCS
DETROIT (AP) -Bowl Championship Series executive director Bill Hancock says the defections of Nebraska and Colorado from the Big 12 will not influence the BCS.Hancock spoke Friday at the Mid-American Conference's media day at Ford Field in Detroit.N
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids host FC Dallas at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night. The Rapids (6-5-5), who are winless in six league fixtures, should have their hands f
K.C. hopes to build on win vs. Man United in league play vs. TFC >>
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
Niners ink draft picks Davis, Mays, Bowman >>
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers have signed three
of their first four picks from April's draft, including first-rounder Anthony
Davis.
In addition to a five-year deal for Davis, an offensive tackle from Rutger
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
2007 online football betting Preview
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.
2007 College Football Betting Preview
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.
Las Vegas Sports Lines
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.
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.