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07/23/2010 - Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake will aim to start a new streak when it hosts Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer tilt on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
RSL (9-4-3) is coming off a 2-0 loss at Dallas that snapped a 10-game unbeaten run in league play.
"We move forward," RSL coach Jason Kreis said after the game. "We need to forget that game as quickly as possible. The biggest concern is how the players will view it and whether or not they can move on quickly. We haven't lost a game in a long time, so it feels brand new."
The goals scored against RSL were the first scored against it in the last eight matches, and first multiple goals allowed since mid-April.
"I think we got the streak from our hard work," RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "But that doesn't mean we weren't working hard, because we worked hard and I think that kind of grounds us a little bit, to know that these next couple of games we've got to make some points up to catch the leaders [The Los Angeles Galaxy]."
Chivas USA (4-9-2), on the other hand, is just trying to build on its last league fixture, a 2-0 win over Kansas City two weeks ago.
Striker Justin Braun scored both of his team's goals to end a seven-game winless streak for the last-placed Goats.
"Today, the level of concentration was there for 93 minutes, which is why we take the win," Chivas USA coach Martin Vasquez told mlssoccer.com after the match. "We knew it was going to be difficult. Winning [at CommunityAmerica Ballpark] 2-0, I think it's going to help us to keep building."
The key to the win was obviously the strong finishes by Braun, who is starting to really find his game.
"The goals are coming for me now, and it's nice," he told mlssoccer.com. "It shows that all my hard work has paid off for me. I put a lot into it this year at training and working on my touch and finishing. I think it is finally showing for me."
<< Melzer and Golubev advance to semis in Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer and Andrey Golubev were
two of four quarterfinal winners at the German Open Tennis Championships
on Friday.
Melzer dispatched Potito Starace of Italy, 6-4, 6-1, in only 69 minu
<< Kings sign free agents Wright and Jeter
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings have signed
forward/guard Antoine Wright and guard Pooh Jeter, the team announced Friday.
Wright averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 67 contests for
Toron
<< Timberwolves' Kahn fined for inappropriate remarks
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball
operations David Kahn has been fined $50,000 for his recent remarks about
forward Michael Beasley, for whom the team recently traded.
Kahn spoke about Beasl
<< Riera leaves Liverpool to join Olympiakos
Athens, Greece (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Riera has left Liverpool to sign with
Olympiakos, the Greek club announced on Friday.
Riera signed with Liverpool from Spanish side Espanyol in 2008 for a fee of
$12 million, but he has now moved t
Chakvetadze reaches semifinals in Slovenia >>
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anna Chakvetadze overcame a dropped set
and saved two match points to beat fellow Russian Vera Dushevina on Friday in
the quarterfinals at the Slovenia Open.
The sixth-seeded Dushevina had a 5-3 le
Chen and Dambaugh in U.S. Girls' Junior final >>
Village of Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doris Chen and Katelyn Dambaugh
won both of their matches on Friday to advance to the final of the U.S. Girls'
Junior Championship.
Chen first knocked off stroke-play medalist Danielle Ka
Orioles' Wigginton suspended, will appeal >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles infielder Ty Wigginton has
been suspended by Major League Baseball for three games for his on-field
argument and subsequent volatile reaction with an umpire in Thursday's game
against
Coaches: Players also responsible for agent probe >>
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -Tennessee coach Derek Dooley and Auburn's Gene Chizik both say the onus isn't just on agents to follow the rules, college athletes know the difference between right and wrong.``A lot of this has got to go back to the young guy,''
Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.
The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.
Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.
NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.
"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.
The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.
But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.
The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.
Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.
The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.
The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.
The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.
Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.
Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."
Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.
"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."
Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.
It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.
"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."
Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.
"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."
At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.
According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.
Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.
Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.
When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.
He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.
Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.
Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.
Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.
While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.
"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.
Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.
Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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