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06/12/2010 - Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maria Sharapova and Li Na were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title of the Aegon Classic on Sunday.
The second-seeded Sharapova advanced first with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory over American qualifier Alison Riske, before the top-seeded Li notched a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over France's Aravane Rezai.
Sharapova has captured this Wimbledon tuneup twice previously and has never lost prior to the semifinals in her seven appearances. She won the title in 2004 and 2005, the first triumph leading to her first Grand Slam title at the All England Club a few weeks later. The Russian star also lost in the 2007 final to Jelena Jankovic.
Li, meanwhile, was last year's Birmingham runner-up to Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.
Sharapova has won five of the six all-time matchups with Li, but the China native notched a 6-4, 6-4 win in the semifinals of this event last year. Sharapova beat Li in the round of 16 in Birmingham in 2006.
Li will try for her first title of 2010 and the third of her career. She last won two years ago at the Gold Coast Australian Open tuneup and will enter Sunday's match with a 2-4 record in WTA Tour finals. Her best previous results this year were semifinal losses at the Australian Open and the Warsaw Open.
Sharapova, meanwhile, has won twice this year, capturing titles in Memphis and Strasbourg. She is 22-8 all-time in WTA Tour title matches.
<< Brewers take aim at third straight win in middle tilt with Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers push for their third straight win
tonight as they again host the Texas Rangers in the second of a three-game
interleague set at Miller Field.
On Friday night the Brewers blasted four home runs agains
<< Braves try to hold onto first place in Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Division leaders clash in the second of a three-game
interleague set tonight as the Atlanta Braves take on the Minnesota Twins at
Target Field.
The Braves, still five games under .500 on the road (16-21), have the best
h
<< Zito faces former team at AT&T Park
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Zito tries for his first win in five starts this
evening when the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics resume their
three-game series at AT&T Park.
Zito won his first five decisions, but is just 1-2 his six
<< Mariners hope Cliff Lee can slow down Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners try to snap the longest current losing
streak in the American League as they face off against the San Diego Padres in
the second of a three-game interleague set at Petco Park tonight.
On Friday night t
Federer continues Halle dominance, Hewitt up next >>
Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer moved a step closer to his
sixth title at the Gerry Webber Open with a straight-set semifinal win over
Germany's Philipp Petzschner, and will next face Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's
final.
Dillon takes Michigan truck pole >>
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Austin Dillon captured his second
straight pole in the Camping World Truck Series after posting a lap of 176.488
m.p.h. in qualifying for Saturday's VFW 200 at Michigan International
Speedwa
Algeria, Slovenia both optimistic heading into opener >>
Polokwane, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Algeria and Slovenia open their
World Cup Group C schedules on Sunday under a ton of pressure for a result.
Both clubs are underdogs to advance past England and the United States in the
group,
Ghana kicks off Group D play against Serbia >>
Pretoria, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin-Prince Boateng made headlines
on the international level before ever playing for Ghana, and now the German-
born midfielder is set to make more on the field at the World Cup.
Boateng, who p
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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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