10/26/2008 - Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded Robin Soderling needed three sets to defeat France's Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7 ), 6-1, in the final at the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix.
Soderling captured his second title in Lyon, as he also won the event in 2004. The 24-year-old Soderling earned $148,000 for his work at this year's tournament.
He defeated American and 2005 Lyon champion Andy Roddick on Friday and eliminated fourth-seeded Gilles Simon in three sets on Saturday to advance to the final.
Soderling, who competed in his fourth ATP indoor final this year, and Benneteau have split four meetings.
Benneteau, who registered three double faults, was just 1-for-4 when he had a chance to break Soderling's serve. Soderling, who converted 4-of-5 break-point chances, served up 10 aces to Benneteau's seven.
The 26-year-old Benneteau failed to win his first ATP title. He collected $80,000 as the runner-up in Lyon.
<< Phils try to push Rays to brink of elimination
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies try to push the Tampa Bay Rays to
the brink of elimination this evening when they play Game 4 of the World Series
at Citizens Bank Park.
After a 91 rain delay on Saturday, Philadelphia grabbed con
<< Ivanovic cruises past Zvonareva in Linz final
Linz, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic had no problem
defeating Russian Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, to capture
the $600,000 Generali Ladies Linz tennis event.
The former world No. 1 Ivanov
<< Redknapp takes over at Tottenham
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the
appointment of Harry Redknapp as their new manager, following the sacking of
Juande Ramos late on Saturday evening.
Redknapp has moved to White Hart Lane after
<< Alfredsson rallies for three-shot win in China
Haikou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Helen Alfredsson fired a seven-under 65
Sunday to come from behind and earn a three-shot victory at the Grand China
Air LPGA.
Alfredsson, who won for the second time this season, finished the tournament
at 1
Rams RB Jackson inactive >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson is
inactive for Sunday's contest against the New England Patriots with a strained
right thigh muscle.
Jackson had missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but
Pats' Morris, Jordan inactive against Rams >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots will be missing
a pair of running backs, as Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan are inactive for
Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams.
Morris injured his knee during New En
NFL Inactives (Sunday, October 26, 2008) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players
for today's NFL games.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS VS. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS at LONDON, 1:00 P.M. (ET)
Chargers - 3rd QB Charlie Whitehurst, T Corey Clark, WR Buster Davis
Gracious host! Garcia wins his own tournament >>
Castellon, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Garcia made his first tournament as
a host a memorable one.
Garcia posted a four-under 67 on Sunday to win the inaugural Castello Masters
Costa Azahar. He finished at 20-under 264 and won by thr
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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