Murray reaches semis at Australian Open
Tennis Betting Lines
01/25/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Murray is back in the Australian Open semifinals after beating Kei Nishikori in straight sets Wednesday.
The fourth-seeded Murray needed just 29 minutes to win the third set at Rod Laver Arena and finish off his 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over Nishikori.
He moved on to face the winner of Wednesday's other quarterfinal match between world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and fifth-seeded David Ferrer.
Djokovic beat Murray in the final last year, and Roger Federer topped him in the championship match in 2010.
So Murray, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, is still looking to break through for his first major victory.
Nishikori, the first Japanese man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in almost 17 years, provided little more than a speed bump Wednesday although he showed a little fight in one of the match's most entertaining points.
Down 30-40 in the game and 1-5 in the third set, Nishikori scrambled to win a long rally with Murray, who was forced to chase down a ball in the backcourt that he could only send harmlessly to the net.
Nishikori was there for the easy volley, forcing deuce, but Murray followed with a service winner and captured the match on the next point.
The 24-year-old Scotsman hit 36 winners in the match and won nearly 80 percent of his first serve points, while Nishikori had 39 unforced errors.
Nishikori was also the first Japanese man in 80 years to advance to the Aussie Open quarters.
Wednesday's buzz on the men's side was about the two quarterfinals matches, but also about Thursday's upcoming semifinal between second-seeded Rafael Nadal and the third-seeded Federer.
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Hodgson scored the winner in the fifth- round of the shootout to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. In the fifth round, Hodgson buried a wrister between the pads of
<< McMillan helps Wild edge Avalanche
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carson McMillan's third-period goal was the
difference as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, at
Pepsi Center.
Justin Falk and Dany Heatley also scored for the Wild, who won bac
<< Coyotes trim Senators
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Radim Vrbata scored the deciding goal early in
the third period, as Phoenix slipped by Ottawa, 3-2.
Gilbert Brule and Shane Doan also lit the lamp to back a 32-save performance
by Mike Smith for the Coyotes,
<< Bargnani returns, lifts Toronto over Phoenix
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrea Bargnani returned from a prolonged
absence to net a season-high 36 points as the Raptors downed the Suns, 99-96,
on Tuesday.
Bargnani, who missed the previous six games with a strained left calf,
<< Niemi helps Sharks blank Flames
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antti Niemi made 25 saves to record his third
shutout of the season as the San Jose Sharks blanked the Calgary Flames, 1-0,
at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Niemi, who backstopped the Chicago Blackhawks all the w
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points, including four during a 22-2 run that vaulted the Portland Trail Blazers to a 97-84 win over the streaking Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. The Trail Blazers held Me
Djokovic, Murray to meet in Aussie semis >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 and defending champion
Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray will meet in a marquee semifinal
Friday in a rematch of last year's final at the Australian Open.
The reigning Auss
Italians, Russians reach women's Aussie doubles final >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday's women's doubles final at
the Australian Open will pit an 11th-seeded Italian tandem of Sara Errani and
Roberta Vinci against a strong unseeded Russia duo of Svetlana Kuznetsova and
Vera Zv
Serena, Venus will play Fed Cup next week >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Williams sisters, Serena and
Venus, will play Fed Cup tennis in Massachusetts for the United States next
week.
The sisters will lead the U.S. against Belarus in a best-of-five Group I
Steelers' Clark added to Pro Bowl roster >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steelers safety Ryan Clark has been added to
the AFC's Pro Bowl roster, the team announced Wednesday.
Clark, a 10-year veteran, will make his first trip to the Pro Bowl. The 32-
year-old recorded 100
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.
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.