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10/26/2007 - Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Biffle edged Kurt Busch for the pole in Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 qualifying at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the seventh race of the 10-race "Chase for the Nextel Cup." The No.16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver circled the fast 1.54-mile circuit in 28.807 seconds (192.453 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Biffle's first of the season and fourth of his "Cup" career. His last pole was in May 2006 at Richmond.
"These guys are giving me great race cars," said Biffle. "I probably left a little bit out there because I wanted to make sure my car was on the bottom. the track had a lot of grip."
Starting alongside Biffle will be the only "Chase" driver in the top-five - Busch, who posted a second-best time of 28.811 seconds.
Dale Jarrett (28.927) and Kasey Kahne (28.936) will make up row two.
The remainder of the "Chase" field will start in the following order: Jimmie Johnson (sixth), Jeff Gordon (eighth), Carl Edwards (16th), Matt Kenseth (17th), Denny Hamlin (18th), Kyle Busch (19th), Martin Truex Jr. (20th), Clint Bowyer (26th), Jeff Burton (28th), Tony Stewart (30th) and Kevin Harvick (34th).
"The car had good balance, we just didn't pick up any speed (from practice)," said Johnson.
Gordon brings a 53-point lead over Johnson and 115-point lead over Bowyer to the AMS.
In the six "Chase" events to date, Gordon has won twice (Talladega, Lowe's) and collected five top-fives. His worst finish in the "Chase" was a still respectable 11th place at Dover.
Johnson is coming off a win last week at Martinsville. It was his third consecutive win at the half-mile short track that used to be Gordon's bailiwick. Johnson has three top-fives in the "Chase," but two 14th-place finishes, at Dover and Lowe's, have left him with a sizeable deficit to overcome.
Johnson was the winner at AMS in March where he led 135 of 325 laps en route to a 1.311-second victory.
The only wild card that could possibly ruin the Hendrick Motorsports Championship march is if Bowyer and his No.07 Richard Childress Racing can come up with a "miracle."
Following a ninth-place finish at Martinsville, his best ever on the flat half mile track, he sits 115 points behind Gordon.
"We were just hoping that we could be within a hundred points of (Gordon and Johnson) coming out of Charlotte and here, because we know they 'own' these two places," said Gil Martin, Bowyer's crew chief after Martinsville.
"I'm really enjoying our situation where we're at - it's fun," said Bowyer. "I'm really proud of the way we've been able to step up our program. It's neat to see how far we've come in just a few races."
The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Sunday at 2 p.m. (et).
<< Wizards look to jump out in first leg lead vs. Goats
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City finished the 2007 Major League
Soccer regular season in fifth place in the Eastern table, and because of the
new playoff format, have been moved to the Western bracket as the fourth seed
and wi
<< Storms plague Nationwide Tour event
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heavy rains overnight forced a seven-hour delay
to the start of the second round of the Miccosukee Championship on Friday, and
further bad weather throughout the day eventually caused its suspension.
Play even
<< Padres release Marcus Giles
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres requested unconditional
release waivers on infielder Marcus Giles on Friday.
Giles appeared in 116 games for the Padres in 2007, making 106 starts at
second base. He hit .229 wit
<< Estes, Armour lead suspended PGA event
Port St. Lucie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bob Estes and Tommy Armour III were
still on top of the leaderboard when the second round of the Ginn sur Mer
Classic was suspended on Friday due to inclement weather.
After opening with 64s
Pyatt guides Canucks over Caps >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Taylor Pyatt scored twice as the Vancouver
Canucks defeated the Washington Capitals, 3-2, at the Verizon Center.
Daniel Sedin scored the other goal while Roberto Luongo made 26 saves for the
Canucks, who
Lions clinch first in West by topping Hamilton >>
Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jarious Jackson completed 13-of-17 passes for
206 yards and a pair of touchdowns with an interception, and British Columbia
downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 27-19, to clinch first in the West Division.
Making
Detroit downs San Jose after Draper re-signing >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valtteri Filppula and Tomas Holmstrom each had
a goal and an assist as Detroit beat San Jose 5-1 at Joe Louis Arena.
Andreas Lilja, Henrik Zetterberg and Kirk Maltby also scored for the Red
Wings, who o
Plekanec and Habs power their way past 'Canes >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Plekanec had a four-point night with two
goals and two assists, leading the Montreal Canadiens past the Carolina
Hurricanes, 7-4, at the RBC Center.
Saku Koivu and Mark Streit each recorded a g
Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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