11/27/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Westbrook scored four touchdowns -- two on the ground and two through the air -- and Donovan McNabb threw four touchdown passes as Philadelphia thumped the Arizona Cardinals, 48-20, as the Eagles played host on Thanksgiving for the first time since 1940.
Westbrook set a franchise record with the scoring barrage after having been labeled questionable with nagging ankle and knee ailments prior to Thursday. The Villanova product rushed for 110 yards on 22 carries and hauled in three passes for 20 yards.
The recently much maligned McNabb was crisp in hitting on 27-of-39 pass attempts for 260 yards without an interception for the Eagles (6-5-1), who successfully staved off -- at least for one more week -- a brewing storm of turmoil that has built momentum for several weeks as the club's poor play resulted in an 0-2-1 showing in its last three games.
Two weeks ago, a 13-13 tie against one-win Cincinnati was followed by six days of conversation about McNabb and his ignorance toward the NFL's overtime rules.
Then this past Sunday, McNabb played poorly in the first half at Baltimore, and was surprisingly benched at halftime of a 10-7 game in favor of second- year-pro Kevin Kolb.
Kolb was no better in what would become an eventual 36-7 loss, sparking debate about head coach Andy Reid's decision and the future of the team's quarterback spot for the rest of this year and beyond.
Kolb made an appearance late in the game but, to the fans delight, it was due to a handy fourth-quarter lead. A stingy defense also contributed to the lopsided affair with three interceptions and two forced fumbles.
The Eagles, who travel to New York for a divisional bout with the Giants next Sunday, are still in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs as they remain in last place in a crowded NFC East despite the win.
Kurt Warner struggled early and often, throwing two of his three interceptions on the first two offensive series before righting the ship with three TD passes on 21-of-39 attempts for 235 yards.
Larry Fitzgerald caught two TDs and Steve Breaston hauled in the other while the ground game managed just 25 yards for Arizona (7-5), which failed in its second attempt to wrap up the club's first division title since 1975, having also dropped last Sunday's battle with the NFC East-leading New York Giants, 37-29.
The Cardinals have made the postseason just once since the organization shifted its base of operation to the southwest in 1988 and have never topped the NFC West in its six previous years of existence. However, Arizona hosts a 2-9 St. Louis Rams squad next Sunday and still holds a healthy lead in the division with San Francisco (3-8) a distant second.
<< Howard summons Magic to win over Wizards
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard scored 26 points and grabbed
14 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic in a 105-90 victory over the Washington
Wizards at the Verizon Center.
Hedo Turkoglu added 20 points and hauled in 10 boar
<< Coyotes' Jokinen out two-to-four weeks
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix Coyotes center Olli Jokinen will be
sidelined for at least two weeks with a shoulder injury
Jokinen, the second-leading scorer on the team with seven goals and 18 points,
was injured in the first pe
<< Anaheim's Giguere takes leave of absence
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien
Giguere will miss Friday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks as he returned
to his hometown of Montreal for family reasons.
Giguere is not scheduled to retu
<< Spezza leads Sens past Leafs
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Spezza scored the winner in the shootout
as the Ottawa Senators downed the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1, at Scotiabank
Place.
Spezza was the first shooter and he banged his wrister off the right post a
No. 14 Sun Devils scorch Charlotte >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Pendergraph logged a game-high 23 points
and grabbed 10 rebounds to carry the 14th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils to
an 84-56 victory over the Charlotte 49ers as part of the 76 Classic.
James Harden s
Flames upend Canucks behind Cammalleri's hat trick >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Cammalleri recorded his first career hat
trick and Curtis Glencross netted the game-winner late in the third period, as
Calgary topped Vancouver, 4-3, in a Northwest Division battle.
Miikka Kiprusoff mad
Hornets hand Nuggets loss in Denver >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Posey sealed the game on a three-pointer
with 19.1 seconds left and the Hornets hit their foul shots down the stretch
as New Orleans posted a 105-101 triumph over the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi
Center
Clark alone in lead at Australian Masters >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Clark posted a two-under 70 on
Friday to take sole possession of the lead after the second round of the
Australian Masters.
Clark finished two rounds at seven-under-par 137 and is on
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.
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.
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