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07/12/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays will send three of their starting nine to the 81st MLB All-Star Game, after hitting a major-league leading 136 home runs in the first half.
Toronto's All-Star representatives of Vernon Wells, Jose Bautista and John Buck have combined to hit 56 of those homers, as the Jays sit in fourth place in the American League East with a 44-45 record. The three All-Stars are the most the Jays have sent to the Mid-Summer Classic since five were selected to take part in the 2006 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh. That event also featured Wells, who looks to be finally living up to the seven-year, $126 million contract former general manager J.P. Ricciardi inked him to in 2006.
Wells has not been running as much this season as in years past (four stolen bases, after swiping 17 in 2009), but the Gold Glove outfielder has provided stellar defense in addition to some pop in the middle of the lineup. The 31- year-old is on the verge of reaching 20 home runs, after doing so just once in the past three seasons, despite five-straight campaigns of 20 or more from 2002-2006. Wells will also be one of eight players taking part in the 2010 State Farm Home Run Derby on Monday night. Wells started off the year on a tear but has since seen his average dip to .265, to go along with 19 homers, 49 RBI and 46 extra-base hits, good for fourth most in the majors this season. Oddly enough, the center fielder is hitting just .186 against lefties, continuing a downward spiral from last season, when he hit a measly .206 against southpaws after hitting above .300 against lefthanders in four straight seasons.
Bautista, meanwhile, has been a pleasant surprise for the Jays this year, possessing skills that extend far beyond just pop in his bat. Heading into the break, Bautista carries in a major-league leading 24 home runs and his 54 walks are tied for tops in the AL with Oakland A's first basemen Daric Barton. Despite showing flashes of power throughout his career, dating back to his days with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bautista has already eclipsed his previous best of 16 home runs in 2006. Bautista has been on a home run tear since the end of last season, when he hit 10 of his 13 homers during his final 23 games. While Bautista's average remains a dismal .237, he continues to show strong plate discipline by piling on the walks and providing great defense wherever he plays (third base or right field). His seven outfield assists place him in a three- way tie for second among right fielders, despite playing just 57 games at the position.
Buck, the Blue Jays' starting catcher, earned the right to play in Anaheim by leading all AL catchers in RBI with 41 and ranking second in home runs with 13. The backstop is also sporting a respectable .272 batting average, which includes a whopping .400 average against lefties. The 30-year-old catcher is playing for his second big league organization after spending six years in Kansas City and is well on his way to surpassing career bests in home runs (18) and runs batted in (50). Like fellow teammate Bautista, this will be Buck's first All-Star Game appearance.
CANADIAN MADE
Joey Votto: With Votto down to his last lifeline in order to make the All- Star Game, the fans got it right and selected him as the last player to represent the National League on July 13th. Votto's .314-22-60 line has him in serious contention to make a run at the Triple Crown in the second half of the season. The 26-year-old Canadian will be making his first All-Star appearance and will be joining teammates Brandon Phillips, Scott Rolen and Arthur Rhodes at the Mid-Summer Classic. The Cincinnati Reds were rewarded with four representatives for their strong play in the first half, as they hold the division lead in the National League Central.
Justin Morneau: The 29-year-old slugger suffered a mild concussion during a game against the Blue Jays last week, which will prevent him from participating in the All-Star Game festivities. Morneau's injury does not seem to be too serious, and the Minnesota Twins are likely taking a cautious approach to avoid a further setback. This was the first year Morneau had been selected as the AL starting first basemen and the fourth all-star appearance of his career. He remains one of the game's most consistent hitters and is batting .345, with 18 home runs and 56 RBI, placing him among the AL leaders in all three categories.
<< Montana's Wilson to play after murder acquittal
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Wilson plans to rejoin the University of
Montana football team after the NCAA granted him another year of athletic
eligibility following his acquittal on murder charges.
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<< The 'wow' factor in horse racing
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This past Saturday had three stakes races
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<< This Week in Golf - July 12th through July 18th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, The Old Course
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Andrews
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Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks on Monday announced the
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GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -Enough talk about the salary cap. The New York Knicks think they can win now.New York introduced new additions Raymond Felton, Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike and Ronny Turiaf on Monday. Not quite the same as showing off Le
Ducks sign LW Green >>
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Knicks officially sign PG Felton >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks made it official on Monday
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NCAA Tournament to begin with "First Four" games >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Division I Men's Basketball Committee
revealed its format for the newly expanded 68-team field in the NCAA
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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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