07/21/2010 -
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unseeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze
scored a surprise victory in second-round action at the Slovenia Open.
On Wednesday, Chakvetadze dismantled four-seed Italian Sara Errani by a 6-1,
6-2 count in a match that lasted just 58 minutes.
It was a sudden end to the tournament for Errani, who produced a hard-fought
straight-set victory against Georgian qualifier Anna Tatishvili on Tuesday.
Slovene Polona Hercog also advances, getting by countrywoman Katarina
Srebotnik 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 on the hardcourts. Hercog will have to take down
Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland, who downed Austrian Tamira Paszek by a 7-5,
6-4 result.
In other action, sixth-seed Vera Dushevina of Russia dispatched unranked
Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Dushevina's road to the next round
doesn't get any easier, as she faces a showdown with Chakvetadze.
<< Steelers sign OL Jones to replace Colon
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran
offensive lineman Adrian Jones to a one-year contract on Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deal were not announced.
Jones was released in training camp last se
<< Bears sign former BYU star Unga
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears on Tuesday signed
running back Harvey Unga, who the team selected in the seventh round of the
supplemental draft last week.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Chica
<< Padres place Eckstein on DL; reinstate Venable
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres placed infielder David
Eckstein on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday and reinstated outfielder
Will Venable from the DL.
Eckstein suffered a right calf strain and is on the
<< Longoria, Rays edge O's to take series
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Longoria homered, doubled and drove
in the game-winning run with a walk, as the Tampa Bay Rays held on for 5-4
win over the Baltimore Orioles in the rubber match of a three-game set at
Camden
<< Liriano and Twins shut down Tribe and their win streak
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Liriano pitched seven shutout
innings, and the Minnesota Twins avoided their first home sweep of the season
with a 6-0 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Liriano (8-7) allowed six hits and walk
Yankees outslug Angels to earn series split >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Teixeira went 3-for-5 with a pair of
doubles and three runs batted in, as the New York Yankees outlasted the Los
Angeles Angles of Anaheim, 10-6, in the finale of a brief two-game set.
Rookie Col
Greinke and Pena lead Royals past Jays >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zack Greinke allowed two runs and struck
out nine in eight strong innings, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 5-2 win
over the Toronto Blue Jays in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Greinke (6-
Melzer advances at Hamburg as more seeded players fall >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer was
among the second-round winners Wednesday at the German Open Tennis
Championships, while more seeded players fell out of the tournament.
Melzer advanc
Twins to reinstate Casilla from DL >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will reinstate
infielder Alexi Casilla from the 15-day disabled list prior to Thursday's game
against Baltimore.
Casilla has been on the DL since June 1 with bone chips in his r
Report: Alabama DE Dareus declared ineligible >>
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus has
reportedly been declared ineligible in the wake of alleged improper dealings
with sports agents.
According to the Tuscaloosa News, it is standard for a player
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.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
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.
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