Serena leads U.S. past Belarus
Tennis Betting Lines
02/05/2012 - Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams recorded a Sunday singles victory to move the United States into the Fed Cup World Group Playoffs.
The 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Williams improved to 2-0 this week by overcoming Anastasia Yakimova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 at DCU Center in Worcester. The victory gave the host Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead in their best-of-five World Group II battle against Belarus, which was forced to play without world No. 1 star and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who is nursing a back injury after beating Maria Sharapova in last week's Aussie Open finale.
The former No. 1 and 13-time Grand Slam champion Williams and Christina McHale were a pair of singles winners here on Saturday, as McHale beat Yakimova and Williams topped Olga Govortsova in straight sets.
This is the first-ever Fed Cup meeting between the 17-time champion U.S. and Belarus.
Team USA advanced to the World Group playoffs where it will meet a World Group first-round loser and needs to win in order to have a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title next year.
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Garnett had 24 points and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics handled the Memphis Grizzlies, 98-80, at TD Garden. Paul Pierce added 21 points while Ray Allen and Chris Wilcox each netted 12 as the Celtics
<< Serbs overcome Belgians to reach Fed Cup SFs
Charleroi, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serbia got a tie-clinching doubles win
from Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic on Sunday in order to reach the
2012 Fed Cup semifinals. The Serbs won their best-of-five quarterfinal against
host Be
<< Cologne snaps skid at Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cologne snapped a three-game losing
streak Sunday as Odise Roshi scored in the 72nd minute of a 1-0 Bundesliga win
over 10-man Kaiserslautern at Fritz-Walter-Stadion.
Cologne had lost its last three
<< Borini's brace powers Roma past Inter
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A goal in each half from Fabio Borini helped
Roma to a comfortable 4-0 win over Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on
Sunday.
Juan put Roma in front after 13 minutes when he headed home Francesco Tott
<< United rallies to claim draw at Chelsea
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United fell two points back of
Manchester City on Sunday, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side did well to claim a
point at Stamford Bridge as the club rallied from three goals down to snatch a
3-3 dra
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Draymond Green had 14 points and 16 rebounds, as No. 9 Michigan State earned a convincing 64-54 win over No. 23 Michigan on Sunday. Keith Appling and Branden Dawson both added 10 points for the
Thomas lifts Bruins over Capitals >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Thomas stopped 35 shots to lift the
Boston Bruins to a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center.
Brad Marchand and Rich Peverley each had a goal and an assist while Milan
Lucic a
Kovalchuk leads Devils past Pens >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two
assists on Sunday, leading the Devils to a 5-2 win over the Penguins.
Kovalchuk now has 10 points in his last four games -- all New Jersey
victories. Z
Rangers continue dominance of Flyers >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Artem Anisimov had a goal and two assists to
lead the New York Rangers to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Marian Gaborik had a goal and an assist while Michael Del Zotto, Brandon
Dubinsky and R
Heat get past Raptors >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James had a game-high 30 points to go with
nine rebounds as the Miami Heat outlasted the Toronto Raptors, 95-89, at
American Airlines Arena on Sunday.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points and Chris Bosh add
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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