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03/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a potential mismatch on the NBA docket, the Western Conference power Utah Jazz welcome the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves to Salt Lake City tonight.
The Jazz, who are currently the fourth seed in the West, snapped a rare two- game skid on Monday with a win over another also-ran, the Washington Wizards. Carlos Boozer led the way in that one with 23 points and nine rebounds as the Jazz sent the reeling Wizards to their eighth consecutive defeat, a 112-89 setback, at EnergySolutions Arena.
Deron Williams added 17 points and 11 assists, but sat out the fourth quarter for the Jazz after landing awkwardly in the waning moments of the third. Sundiata Gaines totaled a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players score in double figures.
Mehmet Okur returned from a one-game absence due to a strained back and had 14 points for the Jazz, who won for the fifth time in seven contests. They were coming off a 2-2 road trip.
"I was proud of us," Boozer said. "We lost two tough ones on the road. We just played [Sunday] and we came back [Monday] and acted like we didn't play last night. Hungry. We beat a team that had been playing pretty good."
Williams is expected to play tonight while forward Andrei Kirilenko, who missed his second straight game on Monday with a strained left calf, remains questionable.
The Wolves, meanwhile, continue to mail it in down the stretch, dropping their 10th consecutive game last night. Jason Richardson led eight Phoenix players in double figures in that one with 27 points as the Suns lit up the scoreboard with a 152-114 win.
Amare Stoudemire netted 25 points and Steve Nash added 13 along with 14 assists as the Suns set an NBA-high for points in a game this season.
"That's what happens when you don't play any defense," Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said.
Corey Brewer racked up 21 points and Ryan Gomes added 18 for the lowly T-Wolves, who have lost 16 of their last 17 overall and have the worst record in the Western Conference.
Despite their monumental struggles this season, the Wolves have actually taken two of three meeting from Utah this season, including their last trip to Salt Lake -- a 110-108 triumph in December.
<< Raptors return home to face Hawks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoping to hold on to a playoff berth that's beginning to
slip away, the Toronto Raptors return to the Air Canada Centre this evening
for an important matchup with an Atlanta Hawks team that figures to be without
its lea
<< Road-weary Pacers try to fix issues in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An Indiana Pacers team that's had its share of troubles on
the road will face another tough challenge in tonight's visit to Quicken Loans
Arena for a bout with the NBA-best Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Pacers have lost eigh
<< Reeling Bulls visit powerhouse Mavs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have picked a bad time to start playing
poorly and their chances of ending an eight-game slide don't look so promising
with tonight's road matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Bulls have also dropped
<< Basement brawl: Woeful Nets visit lowly Sixers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The bottom two teams of the Atlantic Division will go head-
to-head for the final time of the 2009-10 campaign this evening at the
Wachovia Center, where the homestanding 76ers aim for a season sweep of the
dismal
Scorching Bucks try to take down reeling Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Milwaukee Bucks aim for their longest winning
streak in eight seasons tonight, when they face off with the reeling Los
Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
The Bucks, who are kicking off a three-game road trip t
Nationals release Dukes >>
Kissimmee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals have released
outfielder Elijah Dukes.
The team announced the news Wednesday in a brief release, which did not
provide a reason for the move.
Dukes, 25, was expecte
Reina close to inking new Liverpool contract >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina has
confirmed that he is on the verge of penning a new contract with the Anfield-
based club.
The 27-year-old Spaniard is settled on Merseyside and is happy to com
Jones relieved by injury news >>
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland have been boosted by the
news that striker Kenwyne Jones' hip injury is not as serious as was first
feared.
The 25-year-old frontman had to be replaced at halftime of the 1-1 draw w
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.
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
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