07/04/2008 - Edmonton, AB (Football Betting) - Ricky Ray threw for 448 yards on 27-of-41 passing, and completed a go-ahead touchdown pass to Jason Tucker with 55 seconds left, lifting the Edmonton Eskimos to a 34-31 win over the Calgary Stampeders.
Ray had three touchdown passes overall, and Kelly Campbell caught two of them, finishing with eight receptions for 158 yards for the Eskimos (1-1). Tucker had four catches for 93 yards as Edmonton won the Battle of Alberta.
Henry Burris went 23-for-35 passing and accumulated 330 yards and three touchdowns, but threw two interceptions as Calgary (1-1) lost its first game of the season.
Jeremaine Copeland and Nik Lewis each caught four passes, one for a touchdown, while Joffrey Reynolds ran for 74 yards and one touchdown on 11 attempts.
The Eskimos led 25-17 heading into the fourth quarter, and kicker Noel Prefontaine missed a 47-yard field goal with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining. Edmonton got the single, but left the door open for the Stampeders to come back.
Burris then led Calgary on a quick drive punctuated by a quick strike. After a 10-yard pass to Ken-Yon Rambo brought the club up to its own 45-yard line, Burris connected with Ralph for 65 yards and a touchdown. Sandro DeAngelis converted the kick, bringing Calgary within 26-24.
After Edmonton added another single, Calgary got the ball back with 2:04 remaining. Burris made passes of 33 yards, to Ryan Thelwell, and 27 yards to Ralph. A 20-yard pass to Lewis completed the drive, and vaulted the Stampeders to a 31-27 lead, their first lead of the game.
But the Eskimos took the ball with about 1 1/2 minutes on the clock. After Ray completed a 27-yard pass to Campbell, Ray connected with Tucker for a touchdown as Edmonton took the lead right back.
Jordan Younger then intercepted a Burris pass on the ensuing Calgary possession to seal the win.
Ray got Edmonton on the board in the first quarter with a 32-yard touchdown strike to Campbell, though Burris' 15-yard touchdown throw with one second left in the stanza knotted things headed into the second.
There, the Eskimos started to pull away; Campbell caught an eight-yard throw to end a three-play, 71-yard drive with a touchdown, and Prefontaine had field goals of 26 and 19 yards. Edmonton also added a single in the quarter, boosting its lead to 21-7 at the half.
Reynolds, though, opened the third-quarter scoring a little more than two minutes in by scampering into the end zone from eight yards out, to get Calgary back in the game.
Prefontaine and DeAngelis each booted a field goal, and Edmonton added another single, keeping the Eskimos in front headed into the final quarter.
Game Notes
Edmonton committed just one turnover, while Calgary had three...Calvin McCarty was the Eskimos' leading rusher with 31 yards on two attempts; the team had only 51 rushing yards total...Ralph finished with two catches for 92 yards for Calgary.
<< Spilborghs rescues Rockies in extra innings against Marlins
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Spilborghs' two-run single in the bottom of
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The Rockies threatened in
<< RSL, Dynamo battle to scoreless draw
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite dominating almost every aspect
of the game on Thursday night, Real Salt Lake had to settle for a 0-0 draw
with the Houston Dynamo at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
RSL, which is now 4-0-5 on its hom
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Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Lowell both drove in two runs, and the Boston Red Sox
shut down the New York Yankees, 7-0, in the opener of a four-game set from
Yankee
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San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rich Aurilia drilled a three-run homer
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Jagr to play in Russia >>
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financ
Williams sisters reach Wimbledon doubles final >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The mighty Williams sisters -- Venus
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victor
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Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the third time in seven years
the mighty Williams sisters -- Serena and Venus -- will square off in an all-
American, all-sister final on the Wimbledon grass.
The sixth-seeded former world
Braves option slumping Francoeur to minors >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves optioned slumping
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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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