11/16/2008 - Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmie Johnson became the second driver in NASCAR's 60-year history to win three consecutive Cup championships. Johnson finished 15th in Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 at the Homestead- Miami Speedway to join Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to accomplish the feat.
Carl Edwards gambled on fuel late in the race as he "coasted" his way to victory, his series-leading ninth of the season.
Kevin Harvick finished second, and Jamie McMurray was third. Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five.
More details to follow.
<< Reed boots Steelers over Chargers and into first in AFC North
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Reed's 32-yard field goal with 11
seconds remaining gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a narrow 11-10 victory over the
San Diego Chargers at a snowy and blustery Heinz Field.
Down 10-8 with 6:41 to p
<< Stanford holds off Sorenstam, Lang in Mexico
Guadalajara, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angela Stanford carded a three-under 69
Sunday to hold off Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lang to win the inaugural
Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Stanford, who has posted five straight top-five finishe
<< Canes edge Bolts in SO; spoil Tocchet's debut behind the bench
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuomo Ruutu scored the game-winner in the
shootout, as the Carolina Hurricanes handed Tampa Bay's new head coach Rick
Tocchet a loss in his coaching debut with a 3-2 win over the Lightning at the
RBC Cen
<< Landry leads No. 25 Wisconsin past Long Beach State
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Landry scored 23 points on 7-of-10
shooting, and 25th-ranked Wisconsin held on for a 68-61 win over Long Beach
State in the Badgers' season-opener.
Jason Bohannon scored 12 points, but made
Portis in uniform against Cowboys >>
Landover, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Redskins running back Clinton Portis will give
his injured knee a go on Sunday night, as he is in uniform in Washington's NFC
East battle with the Dallas Cowboys.
Portis, officially listed as questionable o
Spartans cruise past Idaho to open season >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Allen and Raymar Morgan both scored
21 points, as sixth-ranked Michigan State opened the 2008-09 season with a
100-62 rout of the Idaho Vandals.
Morgan shot 7-of-8 from the floor while Allen f
Magic down Bobcats for third straight win >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hedo Turkoglu scored a game-high 20 points,
as the Orlando Magic wrapped up a three-game road trip with a 90-85 win over
the Charlotte Bobcats.
Rashard Lewis added 17 points and six rebounds for the Magi
Niners halt six-game slide and get first win under Singletary >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shaun Hill threw for two touchdowns and
ran for another score, and Frank Gore rushed for two more TDs, as the San
Francisco 49ers crushed the St. Louis Rams, 35-16, at Candlestick Park to give
interim
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com
Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting