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02/17/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's best team hits the hardwood for the first time since the All-Star break on Tuesday as the Los Angeles Lakers welcome the Atlanta Hawks to Staples Center.
The NBA's mid-season classic had quite the Lakers flavor to it as the reunion of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille ONeal under head coach Phil Jackson turned out to be the highlight of the annual affair.
Bryant and O'Neal teamed up Sunday for the first time since Los Angeles lost to Detroit in the 2004 NBA finals, and were selected as co-MVPs after leading the Western Conference to a 146-119 thumping over the East.
The Lakers actually finished the first half of the season on a down note last Wednesday when Mehmet Okur scored 22 points, pulled down eight rebounds and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 42.8 seconds left, boosting Utah to a 113-109 win over LA in Salt Lake City.
Bryant tallied 37 points for the Lakers, who had a seven-game win streak broken. Lamar Odom had 19 points and a season-high 19 rebounds.
Despite the loss, the Lakers went into the All-Star break at 42-10, tops in the NBA.
The Hawks, meanwhile, entered the break on the upswing by opening a six-game road trip with a 99-95 win over the Detroit Pistons. All-Star Joe Johnson finished with 27 points and Ronald Murray added 23 in that one.
Josh Smith added 10 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for the Hawks, who have won two in a row and four of five overall. The push helped Atlanta improve its record to 31-21 going into the All-Star break, as the Hawks sit in second place in the Southeast Division, 7 1/2 games behind Orlando.
Atlanta, which is 12-15 on the road, will also face Sacramento, Portland, Utah and Denver on its trek.
The Lakers, who are a gaudy 24-4 at Staples Center, have won three of their last four meetings with Atlanta.
<< Rockets welcome Nets to town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets get back to business Tuesday when they
resume a six-game homestand by welcoming the New Jersey Nets to the Toyota
Center.
The Rockets opened the residency on February 11 when Yao Ming tallied ga
<< Slumping Pistons host Bucks in Central clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Central Division rivals kick off the second half of the NBA
season Tuesday night, as the Detroit Pistons welcome the Milwaukee Bucks to
The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Detroit entered the All-Star break riding a three-game los
<< Suns open Gentry era at home vs. Clippers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The glitz and glamour of NBA All-Star Weekend has died down
in the Valley of the Sun and a Phoenix team in transition will now get back
to work by welcoming the Los Angeles Clippers to town.
On the floor, Suns veteran
<< Big Ten showdown pits Spartans against Boilermakers
West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Michigan State Spartans
continue their quest for the Big Ten Conference regular-season title, and a
win over the 19th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers on the road tonight would
certainly help the
Knicks get a visit from Southwest-leading Spurs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs will
continue their lengthy stretch of road games tonight, when they pay a visit to
the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
San Antonio has won seven in a row against
Surging Sens take five-game win streak to Colorado >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Owners of their longest winning streak of the season, the
Ottawa Senators will try to wrap a five-game road trip perfect tonight in a
battle with the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
After going just 4-6-2 in the mo
Canucks visit Flames for Northwest showdown >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks begin a four-game road trip tonight,
as they visit the first-place Calgary Flames for a Northwest Division battle
at Pengrowth Saddledome.
Vancouver won't leave Canada on this trek, as it will also vi
Sharks try to end slide in home test vs. Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly struggling San Jose Sharks will try to halt a
three-game losing streak for the second time in 10 days, as they host the
Edmonton Oilers tonight at HP Pavilion.
San Jose leads the Western Conference with 83 poi
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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JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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