Clippers take Griffin with top pick
Basketball Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers selected Oklahoma standout forward Blake Griffin as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-10 Griffin was coming off a spectacular sophomore season as he led the Sooners in scoring and rebounding, averaging 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds in 35 games. He also had a team-best 41 blocked shots and finished third on the squad with 80 assists, while shooting 65.4 percent from the field.
Griffin established an Oklahoma record with 25 double-doubles during the regular season and set a Big 12 mark with 13 games of at least 20 points and 15 rebounds.
The move for the Clippers figures to help them in an area where they've had plenty of talent, but that hasn't transferred to making the postseason. In fact, the Clippers have won just one playoff series since moving to Los Angeles in 1984 and recorded an minus-8.75 average point differential per game last season, worst in the league.
"I'm not worried about what's happened in the past," said Griffin. "I'm only looking forward to the future. We're not going to think about what's happened in seasons past. I'm just excited about the opportunity to make the best out of whatever situation that I'm put in."
Memphis took Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet at No. 2. The 7-foot-3 Thabeet averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks over 36 games in helping the Huskies get to the Final Four this season. UConn, which lost to Michigan State in the semifinals, finished with a 31-5 record.
The native of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, started 63 of 64 games over his freshman and sophomore campaigns, averaging 8.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game. He becomes the first NBA player born in Tanzania.
"The last year I remember I was at my house and watching the NBA Draft and today I'm here," said Thabeet. "It's just great. There's a lot of kids dreaming to be in the position I'm in right now."
Among his many accomplishments in 2008-09, Thabeet was named First Team All- American by the NABC and was the Big East Co-Player of the Year. In addition, he was the NABC National Defensive Player of the Year and Big East Defensive Player of the Year in each of the past two seasons.
Oklahoma City selected Arizona State guard James Harden as the third selection. Harden is coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged a Pac-10-best 20.1 points per game to go with 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists. The 6-foot-5 Harden was also named Pac-10 Player of the Year after garnering first-team All Pac-10 honors as a freshman.
"I'm not the fastest guy, I'm not the most explosive guy," said Harden. "But I get from point A to point B. (I just) want to go in there and help those guys out, like Kevin Durant and Russell (Westbrook). It's going to be a great honor."
Sacramento also took a guard at No. 4 in Memphis' Tyreke Evans, who left after playing just one season for the Tigers. He averaged 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists this season. The Chester, Pennsylvania, native finished 2008-09 first on the Memphis all-time freshman steals list with 77 takeaways, which was the eighth-most on the Tigers career list.
Minnesota will pick fifth and sixth with one of those selections coming after the Timberwolves finalized a trade on Wednesday with Washington, a deal that sent guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Wizards.
Magnitogorsk, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergei Fedorov has decided to leave the NHL after 18 seasons. Due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, the Washington center has signed a two-year contract with Russian club Metallur
<< A-Rod ties Mr. October for 11th place all-time
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez hit his 563rd career home run
in the first inning of Thursday's game against the Atlanta Braves and in the
process tied former Yankee great Reggie Jackson for 11th place on the all-time
home ru
<< Perry's 61 good for Travelers lead
Cromwell, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenny Perry had chance at the magical 59 on
Thursday, but settled for a nine-under 61 and the first-round lead of the
Travelers Championship.
Perry needed to go two-under over his last three holes t
<< Former Amateur champ Kim moves on at PubLinx
Devens, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kimberly Kim, the 2006 U.S. Women's Amateur
Champion, knocked off Sara-Maude Juneau, 2 & 1, Thursday to win her third-
round match at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
Kim advanced
<< Magic acquire Carter from Nets
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic have acquired All-Star guard
Vince Carter from the New Jersey Nets in a five-player trade.
The Magic also received forward Ryan Anderson, and sent to the Nets guards
Courtney Lee and Rafe
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ichiro Suzuki finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored as Seattle downed San Diego, 9-3, in the rubber match of a three-game interleague set from Safeco Field. Mike S
Iles in front at Players Cup >>
Bridgeport, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bradley Iles of New Zealand fired a seven-
under-par 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Nationwide Tour
Players Cup.
Canadian Brad Fritsch posted a six-under 66 at Pete Dye Golf Club and
CFL announces final cutdowns >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Canadian Football League on
Thursday announced its final roster cutdowns before the start of the regular
season.
Below is a list of players released, sorted by team and position:
The B
Gal leads suspended Wegmans LPGA >>
Rochester, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sandra Gal fired an eight-under 64 and held a
one-shot lead Thursday when the rain-delayed first round of the Wegmans LPGA
was suspended due to darkness.
Jiyai Shin stood alone in second place at seven-un
Ramirez slams Marlins past Orioles >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and
five total runs batted in, as the Florida Marlins completed a three-game sweep
of Baltimore with an 11-3 victory.
Rookie Sean West (3-2) tossed six shutout inni
FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash 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 wont 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 doesnt focus only on your opponents 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. Wheres 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, dont 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 wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im 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.
SPORTS BETTING
NFL Football Betting OnlineIn terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook betting credit cards