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06/03/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The unlikeliest of first-place battles commences tonight at Fenway Park when the Tampa Bay Rays head to Boston for the first of three- games with the defending World Series champion Red Sox.
Long the doormat of the American League East, the Rays have turned things around thus far in 2008 and actually own the league's best record - 35-22 - along with a 1 1/2-game lead on the Red Sox in the division.
Tampa Bay won its third straight in dramatic style on Sunday, getting a leadoff home run from Gabe Gross in the 10th inning to down the Chicago White Sox, 4-3, in the finale of a four-game set at Tropicana Field.
Gross added a two-run triple for Tampa Bay and Carlos Pena knocked in the other run, while Shawn Riggans went 2-for-4 and scored a run. B.J. Upton also tripled and scored a run, as the Rays won for the 20th time in their last 23 home games.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, dropped a 6-3 decision to Baltimore in the finale of a four-game series at Camden Yards on Monday, while confirming that slugger David Ortiz will be shelved for at least a month with a partial tendon tear in his left wrist.
According to a Boston newspaper, a source indicated that Ortiz's wrist will be immobilized for at least the next month to see if the injury can heal on its own.
The Rays' Matt Garza seeks his third career win against Boston and improve on an April 25 outing against the Red Sox in Florida which saw him give up five hits and three runs over five innings of a 5-4 Tampa Bay win.
Overall against Boston, he's given up 14 hits and six earned runs in 15 2/3 innings.
Boston goes with 23-year-old righty Justin Masterson, who's making his third major-league start. The former second-round draft choice allowed three hits and a run in 6 1/3 innings while picking up a win in his most recent start, on May 20 against Kansas City.
He debuted on April 24 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and allowed two hits and a run in six innings, while getting a no-decision in Boston's 7-5 loss.
These teams have split six matchups this season, but Tampa has won just five times in its last 31 visits to Boston.
<< NHL's Longest Stanley Cup Finals
Longest Stanley Cup finals that have gone past two overtimes, with date, score, round, time of overtime and game-winning goal:May 15, 1990 - Edmonton 3, Boston 2, final, 55:13, Petr Klima.June 19, 1999 - Dallas 2, Buffalo 1, Stanley Cup winner, 54:5
<< 2008 Playoff Overtime Goals
June 2 - Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 3, 3OT; Petr Sykora, 9:57.Conference SemifinalsMay 4 - Dallas 2, San Jose 1, 4OT; Brenden Morrow, 9:03.May 4 - Pittsburgh 3, N.Y. Rangers 2, OT; Marian Hossa, 7:10.May 2 - San Jose 3, Dallas 2; OT; Joe Pavelski, 1:05.A
<< Blake has seven RBIs in Indians' 13-9 win at Texas
Casey Blake had a week's worth of production in just three at-bats.Blake homered twice and matched a career high with seven RBIs Monday night to help lead the Cleveland Indians to a 13-9 victory over the Texas Rangers.Although Blake's power surge he
<< Florida State, CS-Fullerton, Georgia advance to Super Regionals
Fullerton, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida State, Cal State Fullerton and
Georgia all advanced to the Super Regionals with victories on Monday.
Also advancing were Stanford, Texas A&M and Fresno State.
Cal State Fullerton, the nat
Astros, Pirates start series in Steel City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Phil Dumatrait will try to make it two strong starts
in a row tonight when the Pittsburgh Pirates host the Houston Astros in the
first game of a three-game series at PNC Park.
Dumatrait entered 2008 without a major
Astros haven't been able to stop the bleeding >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros are finding out the hard way just how
quickly fortunes can change.
A week ago, they sat at seven games above .500, and were just 1 1/2 games back
of the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs. Sinc
Marlins hope to get road trip on track in Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins are not having the type of road trip
they had anticipated, as they resume a four-game series against the Atlanta
Braves this evening at Turner Field.
Florida entered its current swing against NL East op
Diamondbacks send Big Unit to hill to battle Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Randy Johnson took the mound the bullpen blew
his solid performance. Tonight, the Big Unit will try again to lead the
Arizona Diamondbacks to victory in the second test of a three-game series
against the Milwauk
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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