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04/08/2011 - St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Executive Committee announced Friday that Miami-Ohio RedHawks forward Andy Miele was named the 31st winner of college hockey's most prestigious individual honor.
Named after a legendary Princeton hockey player who died in World War I, the award recognizes strength of character in players both on and off the ice.
During his senior season, Miele led all of college hockey with 71 points (24G, 47A) in just 39 games. He also took home the CCHA scoring crown after posting 56 points (16 goals, 40 assists) in 28 contests. His 40 assists were more than any other player had points, which was a first in league history.
The 22-year-old native of suburban Detroit took home CCHA Player of the Year honors, along with CCHA Tournament MVP as Miami-Ohio won the playoff crown for the first time in program history.
After the RedHawks were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, by New Hampshire, Miele signed a pro contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. Miele finished his collegiate career with 60 goals and 160 points in 141 games.
North Dakota forward Matt Frattin and Boston College forward Cam Atkinson were the other two finalists.
University of Wisconsin product Blake Geoffrion took home the award last season.
<< Twins edge A's in home opener
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Mauer capped a two-run eighth inning
with an RBI single and Carl Pavano pitched eight frames of one-run ball, as
the Minnesota Twins opened the home portion of their 2011 schedule with a 2-1
victory
<< Edwards earns pole for Texas Nationwide race
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards will start on the pole for
Friday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 Nationwide Series race after posting the
fastest lap in qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway.
Edwards, who won at Texas for
<< Isner exits Houston
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded American John Isner succumbed to
fellow towering ATP performer Ivo Karlovic in Friday's quarterfinal action at
the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
In a battle of the two tallest men in the his
<< Tigers win home opener, beat Royals
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victor Martinez belted a three-run double as
Detroit opened Comerica Park for the 2011 season with a 5-2 win over Kansas
City.
Jhonny Peralta batted in two runs on two hits for the Tigers, who started th
Jury heads home for weekend in Bonds trial >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Members of the jury headed home for the
weekend without coming to a verdict in the Barry Bonds perjury trial.
The 12 jurors, consisting of eight women and four men, started their
deliberations
Crew's Cunningham eyes record against Chivas >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Crew forward Jeff Cunningham has played
just 91 minutes this year, but he could make Major League Soccer history this
weekend against winless Chivas USA.
Cunningham is second on the all-time regular-se
Ragan claims first Sprint Cup pole at Texas >>
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Ragan earned his first career pole in
the Sprint Cup Series after topping his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Carl
Edwards, in Friday's qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway.
Ragan, who was the last to
Marta makes Flash the team to beat in WPS >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time women's World Player of the Year
Marta has won the Women's Professional Soccer regular-season championship the
last two years with the Los Angeles Sol and FC Gold Pride, and makes expansion
Western
Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sports betting
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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