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06/19/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A new challenger has emerged to the trio that has been battling for top honors in the formidable National League West all season long. And no, it's not the San Francisco Giants.
Now, it may be hard to view the Colorado Rockies as a serious threat to the Padres, Dodgers and Diamondbacks, considering that the franchise hasn't finished less than 12 games out of first place in the division at any time during the last decade. However, an impressive surge over the last month has at least placed Clint Hurdle's club in the equation.
Colorado has amassed a 17-7 record since May 22, the best mark among NL squads over that period. The only other team to go 10 games over .500 during that span is the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who have won 18 of 26 games.
Although the Rockies still may not have many believers, they probably gained at least a few following last week's interleague series with the powerful Boston Red Sox. Colorado went into Fenway Park and took two of three games from the AL East frontrunners, outscoring them by an eye-opening 20-5 margin in the process.
The Rockies' offense continued to flex its mighty muscle when the team returned to Denver for a three-game weekend set with Tampa Bay. Colorado erupted for 22 runs in back-to-back victories over the Devil Rays on Friday and Saturday, then smacked three home runs in Sunday's 7-4 defeat.
The top four hitters in the Rockies' lineup -- Willy Taveras, Kaz Matsui, Matt Holliday and Todd Helton -- are all hitting .318 or better this season, with early-season MVP candidate Holliday's .363 clip the best among NL hitters at the moment.
This surge hasn't been entirely built on offense, however. After firing five shutout innings in Colorado's 7-1 win over the Red Sox in Thursday's finale, young lefty Jeff Francis improved to 5-1 with a 1.84 earned run average over his last seven starts. Rodrigo Lopez's return from a seven-week stint on the disabled list has also provided a boost, as the former Orioles castoff has put together three quality starts in his four outings since being activated.
Colorado gets another chance to prove its merits this week, as the Yankees pay a rare visit to the Mile High City. New York's star power and recent torrid play (11 wins in 12 games), could make for the most anticipated series at Coors Field since the glory days of the Blake Street Bombers in the mid-'90's.
WELCOME BACK
The Rockies recalled Cory Sullivan, the team's Opening Day center fielder last season, from Triple-A Colorado Springs prior to Saturday's game with Tampa Bay. The 27-year-old impressed as a rookie in 2005, batting .294 with 12 steals as Colorado's fourth outfielder, but had a trying season in a more prominent role last year. When the organization decided to keep veteran Steve Finley to serve as Taveras' backup in center field, Sullivan was optioned to the minors to begin this season.
The demotion seemed to affect Sullivan, as he batted just .212 with Colorado Springs over the season's first two months and was passed over in favor of the lesser-experienced Sean Barker when Finley was released on June 5. However, a recent 10-game hitting streak in which Sullivan batted .613 (19-for-31), plus the Rockies' need for a left-handed bat off the bench, earned the Wake Forest product a trip back to the big leagues.
Colorado also wanted to give Barker, who only garned two at-bats in three games during his first taste of the majors, a more regular role and returned him back to Triple A.
"We were hoping for Barker to have a little more opportunity to play, but he's not playing and he needs to play," Hurdle told the team's official site. "Sullivan's been playing extremely well as of late. We wanted to revisit that, see what value Cory can bring. We believe he can add value."
SUNNY WEATHERS
Colorado came to terms with Vanderbilt pitcher Casey Weathers, the Rockies' first-round selection in the recent First-Year Player Draft, on Monday. According to the Rocky Mountain News, the deal, which is contingent on Weathers passing a physical, includes a $1.8 million signing bonus.
Weathers was the closer for a Commodores squad that spent much of this collegiate season as the nation's No. 1 team and captured the 2007 Southeastern Conference championship. The 22-year-old was also named a first team All-American after posting a 12-2 record with a 2.37 ERA and seven saves in 31 appearances during his senior campaign. Opponents batted just .154 against him this year.
The California native will be assigned to Colorado's low Class A affiliate in Asheville, NC, but is expected to move quickly through the system and could be a valued part of the Rockies' relief corps as soon as 2008.
WHO'S HOT
Garrett Atkins appears to have broken out of his early-season slump, as the third baseman is batting .327 (16-for-49) with four home runs and 13 RBI in 14 June games. Atkins hit just .188 with one homer and seven RBI during a rough month of May.
Right fielder Brad Hawpe homered in every game of the Tampa Bay series and added a game-breaking three-run blast in Wednesday's 12-2 victory over Boston. The left-handed hitter is 9-for-27 with nine RBI and seven runs scored during Colorado's last seven contests.
WHO'S NOT
Starting pitcher Aaron Cook is 0-3 with a 6.15 ERA over his four most recent starts and was tagged for six runs and 10 hits in six innings of Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay. The sinker specialist also served up three home runs in that game.
ON DECK
Josh Fogg (2-5, 4.95) gets the call for the Rockies in the opener of Tuesday's highly-anticipated showdown with the Yankees. Mike Mussina (3-3, 5.17) will pitch for New York. Francis (6-5, 3.61) will oppose Andy Pettitte in 4-4, 2.93) in a matchup of quality southpaws on Wednesday, with Lopez (3-0, 2.90) taking on the legendary Roger Clemens (1-1, 3.65) in Thursday's finale.
<< Atlanta Krunk (CBA)
Hired Kenny Anderson as head coach.
<< Toronto's Dichio is 50-50 for this week's game
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC forward Danny Dichio sprained
his ankle Sunday and is 50-50 for Saturday's game at New England.
He suffered the injury in the 33rd minute of Sunday's 4-0 win over FC Dallas
and remained in t
<< Peer sneaks past Likhovtseva at Eastbourne
Eastbourne, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer
highlighted Tuesday's first-round winners at the $600,000 International
Women's Open, a final Wimbledon tune-up.
Peer held off Russian qualifier Elena Li
<< Ivanovic, Safina notch wins at Ordina Open
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open runner-
up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and 2006 's-Hertogenbosch finalist Dinara Safina of
Russia were among Tuesday's winners at the $175,000 Ordina Open, a final
grass-c
2007 NHL Entry Draft: Preview >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League will hold its
annual Entry Draft this weekend at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, and the
Chicago Blackhawks will get first crack at this year's pool of talented
youngsters.
The Bl
Wiz can move into first with result against Crew >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both Kansas City and Columbus came back from
first-half deficits to earn 3-3 draws in their respective Major League Soccer
fixtures on Saturday. Wednesday, both teams will be looking to get in the win
column
North Carolina knocks Louisville out of CWS >>
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Putkonen allowed just one run and three
hits over seven innings, as North Carolina ended Louisville's tournament run
with a 3-1 victory in the College World Series.
Seth Williams had an RBI single a
U.S., Canada set for Gold Cup clash >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States continues defense of its
CONCACAF Gold Cup crown in Thursday's semifinals by renewing its rivalry with
Canada.
The teams last played in an exhibition game in January of 2006, which ended
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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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.
(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977. Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.
Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer. In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season.
MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season. Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite. After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.
Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions. They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown.
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