09/29/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the Chicago White Sox, the objective is simple -- defeat the Detroit Tigers this afternoon and live to play another day. Lose, and go home.
Since Chicago is a half game back of the Twins in the AL Central, it must make up today's game against the Tigers. Should the White Sox win this afternoon, they will host a one-game playoff on Tuesday against Minnesota to decide the division.
Chicago managed to keep its playoff hopes alive on Sunday, as Mark Buehrle was solid on the hill and Paul Konerko had a home run, helping the White Sox stop a five-game slide with a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Like the White Sox, Minnesota had lost the first two games of its series with Kansas City, but salvaged the finale of the set on Sunday, making today's game necessary.
Buehrle (15-12) lasted seven innings and gave up a run on nine hits with six strikeouts and one walk to get the win.
The White Sox will have right-hander Gavin Floyd on the hill this afternoon. Floyd has been Chicago's best pitcher this season, going 16-8 with a 3.91 earned run average. However, he has lost two of his last three decisions and did not factor in the decision of his last start against Minnesota on Thursday.
Floyd, who is a perfect 3-0 in eight starts against the Tigers, surrendered four runs and 11 hits to the Twins in 5 2/3 frames of his team's 7-6 loss.
Chicago will have to go through a playoff hero from its past if it wants to extend its season, as Detroit will send Freddy Garcia to the hill. Garcia, of course, won all three of his playoff starts for the White Sox in 2005 en route to their first World Series title since 1917.
Garcia, who signed to a minor league deal with the Tigers in August, split his two starts for Detroit, while pitching to a 4.50 ERA. He is 5-5 lifetime against the Sox with a 4.52 ERA in 11 starts.
Detroit, which fired pitching coach Chuck Hernandez and bullpen coach Jeff Jones following Sunday's 8-7 loss to Tampa Bay, will be putting the lid on an extremely disappointing season this afternoon.
Gary Sheffield, though, is one home run shy of 500 for his career.
Chicago has won 11 of its 17 matchups with Detroit this season.
<< Georgia RB Moreno may miss Tennessee game
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno could miss
the team's next game against Tennessee on October 11 because of a bruised
elbow.
Moreno was hurt during Saturday's 41-30 loss to Alabama. He managed only
<< Golf Course Review - Mission Inn Resort (El Campen/Las Colinas)
Howey-in-the-Hills, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS AND STATS: El Campen
Architects: George O'Neil (1917), Charles E. Clark (1926). Year Opened: 1917.
Location: Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. Slope: 136. Rating: 74.2. Par: 72.
Yardage: 7,003.
Hol
<< Rams fire Linehan
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams have fired head coach
Scott Linehan after an 0-4 start to the 2008 season.
The decision came Monday morning after club officials met in the wake of
Sunday's 31-14 loss to Buffalo
<< Report: Rams fire Linehan
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams have reportedly fired head
coach Scott Linehan after an 0-4 start to the 2008 season.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday morning that the decision to
dismiss Linehan came a
Kanepi advances in Tokyo >>
Tokyo, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia
highlighted Monday's first-round winners at the $175,000 Japan Open Tennis
Championships.
Kanepi came from behind to beat Czech Lucie Safarova 4-6, 6-3,
Two seeds move on in Tashkent >>
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded German Sabine Lisicki
and fifth-seeded Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova notched first-round wins
Monday at the $145,000 Tashkent Open.
Lisicki leveled wild card Dilyara Saidkhodj
Rockets ink Dorsey, add two others to roster >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets signed 2008 second-round
draft pick Joey Dorsey to an undisclosed contract on Monday.
Houston traded its rights to the 25th overall pick in June's draft (Nicolas
Batum) to the Portla
Texans S Brown to have surgery >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Texans safety C.C. Brown suffered a
fractured arm in Sunday's 30-27 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and
will require surgery.
Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said after the contest that B
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.
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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