08/20/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers have signed free agent center Theo Ratliff.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a report Tuesday in the Philadelphia Daily News said the 35-year-old Ratliff has accepted a one-year deal for the league minimum of $1.4 million.
"We are very fortunate to sign a player of Theo's caliber," Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski said. "He is a consummate professional who will provide us with additional depth in the front court."
A 13-year veteran, Ratliff played for the Sixers from mid-December of 1997 through late February of 2001.
Ratliff has also played for Atlanta, Detroit, Portland, Boston and Minnesota. In 705 NBA games, including 504 starts, he has averaged 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.63 blocks.
After being traded from Boston to Minnesota as part of the Kevin Garnett deal, Ratliff was waived by the Timberwolves on February 29 and signed with Detroit. He appeared in just 26 games last season and averaged 4.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.46 blocks.
Ratliff is one of seven players in NBA history to lead the league in blocks at least three seasons and is 18th all-time in league annals with 1,855 total blocked shots.
<< Eagles' Curtis out with sports hernia
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Kevin
Curtis will undergo surgery Thursday for a sports hernia.
Curtis suffered the injury during last Friday's preseason game against
Carolina and will "be out
<< Panthers release veteran DT Scott
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers reached an injury
settlement with defensive tackle Ian Scott Wednesday and released the veteran.
Scott, who was signed in the offseason after the Panthers traded defensive
tack
<< Reds place Hairston on DL
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds placed infielder Jerry
Hairston Jr. on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a strained right
hamstring.
The move is retroactive to August 18.
In 63 games this season, Hai
<< Dolphins trade CB Daniels to Browns
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins traded cornerback Travis
Daniels to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for an undisclosed draft choice
Wednesday.
Daniels, a fourth round draft choice out of LSU in 2005, played in
Travers gets evenly matched field of 12 >>
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A dozen evenly matched three-year-olds
have been entered in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race
Course, led by Jim Dandy Stakes winner Macho Again and Jim Dandy runner-up
Pyro.
Smith to start third preseason game for Ravens >>
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens will again go
with Troy Smith at quarterback to start the team's third preseason tuneup
against the St. Louis Rams on August 23.
Smith, who started the team's second
Twins continue home dominance with series win over Oakland >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Redmond stroked a pair of run-scoring
singles to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland
Athletics in the finale of a three-game series at the Metrodome.
Justin Morneau a
Griffey hits one of Chicago's four homers in rout of M's >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. belted his first home run in a
White Sox uniform and Nick Swisher homered for the third consecutive game, as
Chicago completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 15-3 rout
at U.S.
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 won’t 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 doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s 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. Where’s 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, don’t 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 won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m 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.
American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies
It's that time of year folks. Betting on American Idol Season 9. And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below. With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.
No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.
Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.
Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.
Odds to Win
There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.
All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.
A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.
Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.
Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol.
Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.
If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.
Elimination Props
Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.
Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.
Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups
The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.
Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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