Rockets in flight vs. Raptors
Basketball Betting Lines
02/28/2007 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors conclude a three-game road trip tonight
when they travel to Houston and the Toyota Center to battle the Rockets.
The Atlantic Division-leading Raptors fell to 1-1 on the trek Monday when they
were downed by the San Antonio Spurs, 107-91. Rasho Nesterovic had 16 points
and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who had a two-game winning streak broken.
Rookie Andrea Bargnani tallied 17 points and Chris Bosh 14 for Toronto, which
lost the services of guard Anthony Parker in the second quarter due to a right
ankle injury.
Parker was hurt when he landed on the foot of San Antonio's Bruce Bowen with
4:55 remaining until halftime. Parker had to be helped to the locker room with
the Spurs ahead 49-30 at the time. He is questionable for tonight's game.
Forward Jorge Garbajosa, who played against the Spurs and had eight points,
also finds himself questionable for tonight's game because of a right knee
injury.
Toronto leads the Atlantic standings by 3 1/2 games over New Jersey and will
aim to improve its 11-18 mark on the road tonight. The Raptors return home on
Friday to host Milwaukee.
Houston was without the services of star guard Tracy McGrady on Monday, and
was defeated by lowly Boston, 77-72.
McGrady missed the game with flu-like symptoms and his absence was evident in
a lackluster offensive effort. Bonzi Wells, starting in place of McGrady,
scored 27 points and Juwan Howard had 12 points for Houston, which has lost
three of five.
The Rockets are still without center and leading scorer Yao Ming, while
McGrady is questionable tonight because of his illness.
Houston, which is currently fifth overall in the Western Conference, is 20-8
at the Toyota Center this year. The club will travel to Denver for a matchup
on Friday.
The Rockets are 9-2 all-time against the Raptors. Both of those setbacks came
last year as Toronto swept the two-game season series. The clubs are meeting
for the first time this season tonight.
<< Bulls welcome Warriors to Windy City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago is seeing its chances at a division title slipping
away. The Bulls will try to rebound tonight when they host the Golden State
Warriors at the United Center.
Chicago has lost two straight, including Monday's
<< Hornets aim to sting visiting Hawks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets will try for their
sixth straight win at home this evening when they welcome the Atlanta Hawks to
the Ford Center.
The Hornets were on the road last night and fell to the Clevelan
<< Wizards try to turn down Heat in D.C.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat close out a brief two-game road trip tonight
when they take on the Southeast Division-rival Washington Wizards at the
Verizon Center.
Miami has dropped three of its last four games, including Monday's
<< Jazz visit Grizzlies in Memphis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Northwest Division-leading Utah Jazz open a three-game
road trip this evening when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies at the
FedExForum.
Utah, which owns a 9 1/2-game lead over Denver in the Northwest standin
<< 76ers continue homestand vs. Suns
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers resume a six-game homestand this
evening when they welcome the Phoenix Suns to the Wachovia Center.
Philadelphia opened the homestand with an 89-82 win over the Sacramento Kings
on Monday night.
Bobcats, Kings set for battle at ARCO >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings return home after going 1-3 on a four-
game road trip, as they welcome the Charlotte Bobcats tonight to ARCO Arena.
On Monday, Samuel Dalembert posted 20 points and 17 rebounds, as the
Philad
LA aims to clip visiting Sonics >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers try to make it three wins in a
row, as they welcome the Seattle SuperSonics tonight to the Staples Center.
This is the first of a home-and-home set between the clubs. The SuperSonics
will ho
Nuggets try to foil Magic in Denver >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic play the second of a tough four-game road
trip when they visit the Denver Nuggets tonight at the Pepsi Center.
All-Star Dwight Howard scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to overcome 11
turnovers, as
Steelers, Smith officially agree to extension >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers signed defensive
end Aaron Smith to a four-year contract extension Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deal were not released, but the deal, which will keep
him with the team thr
Breaking down a busy deadline day >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keeping track of all the activity at the
NHL's trade deadline is kind of like trying to follow a tennis match on fast
forward.
When the dust finally cleared, there were 25 trades on Tuesday and those
deal
NFL Football Trash Talk
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject
would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms.
Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends,
their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the
sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies
your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming
the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like
your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in
defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your
hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say,
will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt
focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea
is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to
make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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