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03/07/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin will miss four to six weeks of action due to a pulled groin muscle.
The injury will sideline Martin for the remainder of Spring Training and Opening Day. Dodgers manager Joe Torre said that rookie A.J. Ellis will get the majority of work with Martin out. Brad Ausmus, 40, is the backup catcher.
Martin apparently suffered the injury during a base-running drill earlier in the week. He then aggravated the groin when he stole a base in Friday's game.
The two-time All-Star had an MRI on Saturday, which confirmed the injury. Martin will be sent to Los Angeles for further medical exams.
In 143 games last year, Martin batted .250 with 53 RBI and seven homers.
<< Royals' Gordon to miss 3-4 weeks
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals announced Sunday that
third baseman Alex Gordon is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks
with a broken right thumb, leaving his status for Opening Day unclear.
Gordon was
<< Pavlyuchenkova sets up Monterrey final showdown with Hantuchova
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Russian Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova got past Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in Sunday's semifinal at
the $220,000 Monterrey Open. Pavlyuchenkova will face second-seeded Slovakian
Daniela Hantu
<< Djokovic propels Serbia past U.S. in Davis Cup
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic outlasted big John Isner in
five sets on Sunday to lift Serbia past the United States and into the 2010
Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The Serbs have an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five
<< Keane's double leads Celtic over Falkirk
Falkirk, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robbie Keane scored a goal in each half
and Celtic defeated Falkirk 2-0 on Sunday at Falkirk Stadium for its first win
over the struggling club in three matches this season.
Celtic settled for draws in
Xavier edges Charlotte to reach A-10 tourney final >>
Upper Marlboro, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyeasha Moss finished with 15 points,
as fifth-ranked Xavier held off Charlotte, 51-49, in a semifinal matchup in
the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Ta'Shia Phillips added 11 points, 14 rebounds and f
Second period blitz helps Wings down Chicago >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pavel Datsyuk's breakaway tally capped a five-
goal eruption in the second period and proved to be the game-winner, as
Detroit overcame an Andrew Ladd hat trick and held on to beat the Chicago
Blackha
Israel stays alive against Chile in Davis Cup >>
Coquimbo, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Israeli doubles specialists Jonathan
Erlich and Andy Ram posted a big victory on Sunday, as the Israelis pulled
within 1-2 of the host Chileans in their best-of-five first-round Davis Cup
matchup
Irish reach Big East semis with win over St. John's >>
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Skylar Diggins scored 21 points to help
sixth-ranked Notre Dame defeat No. 16 St. John's, 75-67, in the quarterfinals
of the Big East Tournament.
Devereaux Peters had 13 points and Lindsay Schrader
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com
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