09/17/2008 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas underwent another surgery on his left knee on Wednesday, and told a Washington newspaper that he will not return to game action until December.
Arenas, who missed 66 games during the 2007-08 regular season before mounting an ultimately unsuccessful return for the end of the season and the playoffs, told the Washington Post on Wednesday that he plans on returning to play some time in December, meaning that he will miss at least the first month of the season.
The three-time All-Star has now undergone two surgeries in two years on the knee. He tore the left meniscus in the knee during a game against Charlotte on April 4, 2007. This latest procedure was done to remove debris from the knee.
"After Gilbert's normal course of rehabilitation was ramped up, he experienced some swelling and discomfort in his knee," said Wizards team physician Dr. Marc Connell, who performed the procedure at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC.
"A subsequent MRI showed that the knee is structurally sound. The decision was made to perform an arthroscopic lavage procedure, during which a moderate amount of debris was removed after saline solution was washed through the knee," said Connell. "The presence of debris is common with the nature of his previous injury. This was a proactive procedure that will enhance his rehabilitation process."
Arenas, who signed a six-year, $111 million contract this summer, averaged 19.4 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 13 games for the Wizards last season. The Arizona product has career marks of 22.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game in seven seasons with the Golden State Warriors and Washington.
<< Marshall, Polamalu, Bulluck take AFC weekly honors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon
Marshall, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Tennessee Titans
linebacker Keith Bulluck took the AFC's top honors for Week 2 of the NFL
season.
<< Warner, Horton, Jones earn NFC weekly honors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner, Washington
safety Chris Horton and Cowboys kick returner Felix Jones were named the NFC's
top players for Week 2.
Warner posted a perfect 158.3 passer rating to help Arizona
<< Bucs activate Stevens; release Troupe
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have activated tight end
Jerramy Stevens from the suspended list and released tight end Ben Troupe.
Stevens was suspended for the first two games of the season for violating the
league's
<< Baseball releases schedule for 2009
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball has released its 2009
schedule for all 30 teams.
The season will start on Sunday, April 5 with a stand-alone game between a
pair of undetermined teams, while most clubs will open t
Sixers' Smith undergoes knee surgery >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia 76ers center Jason Smith
underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee
on Wednesday.
The procedure was performed by Dr. David Altchek, the attending or
Gallas saves a point for Arsenal >>
Kiev, Ukraine (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - William Gallas scored in the 88th minute to
help Arsenal salvage a 1-1 draw in its Group G opener in Champions League play
against Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday.
Ismael Bangoura had the Ukrainian side ahead
Thigpen to start at QB for KC >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards
announced that Tyler Thigpen will start at quarterback for the game on Sunday
against Atlanta.
"We're trying to look at young players," said Kansas City coach H
Flyers tab Richards as team captain >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers rewarded Mike
Richards on Wednesday, naming the young forward team captain.
"Mike carries a lot of the attributes that we believe a Philadelphia Flyer is
all about," said ge
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their “supplements” to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this won’t be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a “truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit.” And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. “The plug-necked yahoos on your team,” you can say, “will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.”
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Where’s your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, “I’ll try to type slower for you next time.” Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, don’t just conclude by saying your opponent is a “twerp who drafts like my grandmother.” Say that your opponent is a “sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars.” By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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