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09/14/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond -- the final race of the regular season -- the 12-driver field for the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" has been determined. The 2009 Chase features your usual cast of title contenders such as Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, and a class of newcomers featuring Juan Pablo Montoya and Brian Vickers. But no one stands out as a clear-cut favorite to win this year's Sprint Cup Series championship.
JOHNSON'S BID FOR A RECORD FOURTH STRAIGHT TITLE
Johnson enters the final 10 races of the season as the most experienced Chase contender. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has made the field every year since the playoff format began five years ago. In 2007 and '08, Johnson went on a late-summer surge by winning the last two races before the Chase began. That wasn't the case this year, as he finished 36th at Atlanta and 11th at Richmond.
Heading into New Hampshire next weekend, Johnson will begin his quest for a record fourth consecutive Cup championship in the third seed.
"I think it's anybody's championship right now," Johnson said. "I think it's really tough to really give this to anybody and really pick a favorite at this point. We just need to buckle down, put in ten good ones and work really hard."
Last year, Johnson tied Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old record of three titles in a row. Johnson and Matt Kenseth were the only drivers to qualify for the Chase each season, but Kenseth failed to make it this year after finishing 25th at Richmond. He ended up 38 points behind 12th-place Vickers.
COMEBACK CHASERS
Mark Martin and Ryan Newman made the Chase by overcoming a sluggish start to the season. Martin finished outside the top-30 in three of the first four races this year and held the 35th spot in points after the spring event at Atlanta. The 50-year-old driver staged a remarkable comeback by scoring four victories, which earned him the top-seed.
"I'm a really intense person," Martin said. "I'm really competitive, and I will give every ounce that I have at it just like I do every time. We'll see how it turns out. I'm proud to be driving for this race team. [Crew chief] Alan Gustafson is the key to all of the success I've had this year."
Martin's fourth-place finish at Richmond secured him a playoff spot for the fourth time in his career. He ran a partial schedule in the series from 2007-08. Martin, in his first season with Hendrick, has been running well lately, as he gears up for what is perhaps his best shot at winning the title for the first time.
Kyle Busch, who also has four wins this season, had an opportunity to share the first seed with Martin, but Busch came up eight points short of making the Chase.
Newman endured a rough early season as well. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver wrecked twice and blew an engine during Speedweeks at Daytona. He finished 36th in the Daytona 500, using a backup car intended for the following event at California. Newman sat 32nd in points after Atlanta in March, but gained enough momentum from there to put him in the Chase for the fourth time.
DRIVER/OWNER CHAMPIONSHIP?
Tony Stewart's remarkable first year as driver and owner continues with the two-time Cup champion beginning the Chase in the second seed. Stewart, with three wins this year, ended the regular season with a 179-point lead, but now finds himself 10 markers behind Martin.
"It's better than 12th," Stewart said. "The system I think is a good system. It's not devastating to leave [Richmond] and be second in the points after leading for so long. We all knew what the system is going in. It's a fair system."
Stewart has struggled lately, finishing outside the top-10 in each race since winning in early August at Watkins Glen.
NEWCOMERS
Juan Pablo Montoya and Brian Vickers, unlikely Chase contenders at the start of the season, made the playoffs for the first time.
Montoya, in his third Cup year, has been one of the most consistent drivers lately, despite no wins so far for the season. Four of the final 10 races this year will be held on 1.5-mile tracks, and that could work in favor for Montoya, who recently has excelled on the intermediate tracks.
"We made it, we were good enough to be there and we showed everybody we had the potential," Montoya said. "At this point, I think we have got a car fast enough to go far."
Ten races ago, Vickers held the 17th spot in the rankings and trailed then 12th-place Montoya by 123 points. A victory last month at Michigan helped Vickers gain enough steam to squeak into the Chase.
"We have done it for the past ten weeks, so there's no reason we can't do it for the next ten weeks," Vickers said.
Vickers has been one of the most improved drivers in the series since he joined Red Bull Racing in its first season of Cup competition in 2007. Two years ago, Vickers was struggling to qualify for a race. Now he's battling for a championship.
CHASE VETERANS
Carl Edwards was voted by the media as the pre-season favorite to win this year's title, but Edwards surprisingly has yet to win a race this year after leading the series with nine victories in 2008. The Roush Fenway Racing driver finished second in last year's Chase, 69 points behind champion Johnson.
"This season is so much different than last season," Edwards said. "Right now, we have struggled a little bit as a group, Roush Fenway, so I feel like this is our opportunity to only be a few points behind the leader, kind of gather all of our energy and all of the things we have been working on and head into these last ten races full force."
Jeff Gordon is a four-time series champion, but has not won a title since the Chase format began in 2004. In past seasons, Gordon has not been consistent throughout the playoffs, and this year will probably be no different.
Denny Hamlin is coming off a huge win at Richmond, and it could serve as a springboard for his championship bid. Hamlin has been in the Chase each of his first four Cup seasons. If he continues to run strong, he just might be there fighting for the title in the season-finale at Homestead.
Hamlin, who holds the fourth seed, is the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver in this year's Chase.
After winning two races this season -- Sonoma and Atlanta -- Kasey Kahne put Richard Petty Motorsports in the playoffs. Kahne has rebounded nicely since finishing 14th and 19th in points the last two years. He will begin the Chase in the fifth spot.
Kurt Busch also improved significantly this season after an 18th-place finish in points last year. Busch's quest for a second title could be hampered with team distractions. Last Friday, Busch revealed that his crew chief Pat Tryson will leave Penske Racing at season's end. Tryson will serve as Martin Truex Jr.'s crew chief at Michael Waltrip Racing next year.
Greg Biffle hung on to make it in the Chase for the second straight year, but Biffle could start off the playoffs the same way he did last year, winning at New Hampshire and Dover. He is winless so far this season, but he also began the '08 Chase with no victories to his credit. Biffle finished third in points last season.
This year's Chase should be as close and exciting as the battle to make the playoffs has been in the last 10 races. Any one of the drivers in the field could make things quite interesting during the next couple of months.
After New Hampshire, the Chase moves on to Dover, then Kansas, California, Charlotte, Martinsville, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix and wraps up November 22 at Homestead.
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Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher
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Golf Course Review - The Golf Club at Lansdowne >>
Lansdowne, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS AND STATS: Course Architect: Robert
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Hole-by-Hole
Tigers P Rodney has suspension reduced >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball reduced the suspension
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Braves' Vazquez named NL Player of the Week >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Javier Vazquez has been
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NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.
Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
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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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