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09/02/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic were a pair of second-round winners Thursday at the 2010 U.S. Open.
The 2009 runner-up Wozniacki double-bageled Taipei's Kai-Chen Chang 6-0, 6-0 in a mere 47 minutes at Ashe Stadium.
Wozniacki lost to former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters in last year's U.S. Open finale.
The second-ranked 20-year-old Wozniacki became the top seed here when world No. 1 superstar Serena Williams pulled out last week, citing a foot surgery.
"It's nice to be the No. 1 seed, and, you know, it's nice to play at the big stadium," Wozniacki said. "It's a great atmosphere. I'm just happy to be through to the third round."
Wozniacki's third-round opponent will be another player from Taipei, Yung-Jan Chan.
The fourth-seeded Serbian Jankovic snuck past Croat Mirjana Lucic 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 on Day 4. Jankovic needed just over two hours to hold off the game Lucic. The sloppy matched featured 19 double faults and 16 service breaks, including nine by the winner.
Jankovic was the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up to Williams.
Seventh-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva and 11th-seeded former U.S. Open titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova were a pair of seeded Russian victors on another extremely hot day at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Zvonareva got past big-serving German Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), while the two-time major champion Kuznetsova continued her recent resurgence with a 6-2, 6-3 spanking of Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. Kuznetsova captured the year's final Grand Slam event back in 2004 and was the runner-up here in 2007. Zvonareva lost to the mighty Williams in July's Wimbledon finale.
Belgian slugger Yanina Wickmayer, the 15th seed here, handled German Julia Goerges 6-4, 7-5 to improve to 7-1 in her last eight matches in Flushing. Wickmayer was a surprise semifinalist here a year ago.
In some upsets, 18-year-old American Beatrice Capra upended 18th-seeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, while Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder topped 22nd-seeded Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
Additional second-round wins came for Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova and the aforementioned Chan.
<< D'Backs' Hudson named NL Rookie of the Month
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Daniel Hudson was
named the National League Rookie of the Month for August.
Hudson went 4-1 with a 1.85 earned-run average in six starts during the month.
He led all National Le
<< St. Louis' Pujols named NL Player of the Month
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols has been
named the National League Player of the Month for August.
Pujols batted .379 over 26 games in August and led the National League with 11
home runs. He posted a .
<< Orioles' Matusz named top AL rookie for August
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz has
been selected as the American League's top rookie for the month of August.
Matusz went 4-1 with a 2.43 earned-run average over six starts in August. He
led AL r
<< Atlanta's Hudson voted NL Pitcher of the Month
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson has been
named the National League Pitcher of the Month for August.
Over six starts in August, Hudson posted a 4-0 mark with a 1.71 earned run
average. He struck out 3
Boston's Buchholz named AL Pitcher of the Month >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz was
named the American League Pitcher of the Month for August.
Buchholz was 4-0 with a minuscule 1.03 earned-run average over six August
starts. He struck out
Hawks sign C Thomas >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks signed free agent center Etan
Thomas on Thursday. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
An eight-year veteran, Thomas spent last season with Oklahoma City and in 23
games a
Braves activate Glaus >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves activated first baseman
Troy Glaus from the 15-day disabled list prior to Thursday's game against the
Mets.
Glaus had been on the DL since August 18 with inflammation in his left knee
Iowa gives Ferentz extension through 2020 >>
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -Iowa says it is extending coach Kirk Ferentz's contract through 2020.Ferentz's current deal runs through 2015 and pays him roughly $2.84 million per season. Ferentz's new deal will total nearly $3.7 million a year.School offici
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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