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Rangers open second half at FenwayBaseball Betting Lines07/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers enter the season's second half in good position to end an 11-year playoff drought. The Boston Red Sox, on the other hand, still have some work to do in order to secure a fourth consecutive trip to the postseason. The banged-up Red Sox resume that quest with tonight's opener of a four-game series with the American League West leading Rangers, who'll be entering Fenway Park seeking to end a surprising four-game losing streak. Texas went into the All-Star break holding a 4 1/2-game advantage on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for first place in the AL West, but certainly didn't end its first half on a positive note. The Rangers lost four straight meetings at home to lowly Baltimore, which currently owns the majors' worst overall record at 29-59, and managed a mere two runs over the final two games of the series. After mustering just four hits in a 6-1 loss on Saturday that spoiled the debut of newly-acquired ace Cliff Lee, Texas' powerful lineup was shut down once again in Sunday's 4-1 setback to the Orioles, with Baltimore rookie Jake Arrieta delivering 6 1/3 effective innings to nail down the win. "[Baltimore's] young guys are hungry and they're swinging the bats well," said Rangers starter C.J. Wilson (7-5). The left-hander took the loss in Sunday's contest after surrendering three runs and issuing five walks in a shaky 4 2/3- inning stint. All-Star Ian Kinsler's solo home run provided the lone scoring for the Rangers, who'll try to bounce back tonight behind the still-unbeaten Tommy Hunter. Hunter has been terrific since being called up from the minors to join the Texas rotation in early June. The husky right-hander has gone 5-0 with an excellent 2.34 ERA in seven starts following the promotion, allowing two earned runs or fewer in all but one of those games, and the Rangers are 6-1 so far when he's taken the mound. The 24-year-old was touched for three runs in a six-inning no-decision against Baltimore last Thursday, but did register a season-best seven strikeouts in the effort. Hunter did give up a pair of home runs in the start after permitting just one long ball over his first six outings of the year. Hunter has faced the Red Sox twice previously and delivered six innings of one-run ball to beat them in Arlington last season. His lone career start at Fenway Park was a disaster, though, as the University of Alabama product was battered for nine runs and seven hits before exiting after 1 2/3 innings of a loss on August 14, 2008. Boston currently sits three games behind Tampa Bay for the lead in the AL Wild Card standings and is five back of the rival New York Yankees in the race for the AL East's top spot. The Red Sox lost ground to both teams after dropping five of their final seven tests prior to the break, with a rash of key injuries taking their toll on Terry Francona's squad. The Red Sox presently have a unbelievable 11 players on the disabled list, including three (catcher Victor Martinez, second baseman Dustin Pedroia, starting pitcher Clay Buchholz) who were named to this year's AL All-Star team. Starting pitcher Josh Beckett, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and longtime catcher Jason Varitek are also notable members on the shelf. Boston did take two of three matchups from Toronto to close out its first half and earned the series win via a 3-2 verdict in Sunday's finale, with Darnell McDonald and David Ortiz both homering to back six solid innings out of Daisuke Matsuzaka. McDonald broke a scoreless tie with a two-run blast off Blue Jays starter Jesse Litsch in the top of the sixth inning, and Ortiz followed with his 18th homer of the season for the eventual deciding run. The Red Sox did not have a hit off Litsch until Marco Scutaro doubled in front of McDonald's go-ahead shot. "We needed it," Francona told the Red Sox' official site of McDonald's homer. "And then to have David following up. It looked like a breaking ball up and he took a gorgeous swing. To that point we hadn't done anything -- that was big." Matsuzaka (6-3) took a shutout into the seventh inning but was removed after giving up a two-run homer to Aaron Hill with none out in the frame. Daniel Bard took over and tossed two scoreless innings before closer Jonathan Papelbon finished off the win by keeping Toronto off the board in the ninth. Ortiz continued his power surge by winning Monday's Home Run Derby and represented the Red Sox, along with third baseman Adrian Beltre and ace pitcher Jon Lester, in the AL's 3-1 loss in the All-Star Game. Lester worked a scoreless sixth inning in his first-ever appearance in the Midsummer Classic. With Lester having pitched on Tuesday and Buchholz still sidelined, Francona will turn to Tim Wakefield to start tonight's opener. The veteran knuckleballer will be attempting to improve upon a rather poor first half in which he posted an unwanted 3-7 record and a 5.22 ERA in 18 games (14 starts). Wakefield had a rough time in his most recent assignment, a July 7 loss at Tampa Bay in which he was tagged for six runs and walked six batters in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander was sharp his previous time out, though, holding Baltimore to two runs over eight frames in leading the Red Sox to a 3-2 win on July 2. The 43-year-old did allow six runs and walked five in a six-inning no-decision against the Rangers at Fenway Park back on April 20, and has historically struggled versus Texas throughout his career. In 34 lifetime meetings (27 starts) with tonight's opponent, Wakefield is just 10-15 with a 6.09 ERA. Wakefield, who's given up 15 homers in 100 innings pitched for the year, will be taking on a formidable Texas lineup that ranks third in the AL in runs scored. The unit is anchored by outfielder Josh Hamilton and designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero, both of whom started for the AL in Tuesday's All-Star Game. Kinsler and shortstop Elvis Andrus also participated as reserve, with Lee and closer Neftali Feliz rounding out the Rangers' six-man contingent. These two teams squared off in Boston from April 20-22, with the Red Sox winning two of the three clashes. The Rangers have lost in 11 of their past 14 visits to Fenway Park.
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2007 online football betting PreviewMy 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. 2007 College Football Betting PreviewThere 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. Las Vegas Sports LinesThe 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. Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds Will he or won't he? Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team. Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team. "I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success." Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate. Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns. But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches. Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback. It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips. Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date. 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