11/08/2008 - Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Garcia shot a four-under 68 and Henrik Stenson had a three-under 69 to share the lead Saturday at the HSBC Champions.
Garcia and Stenson stood at 10-under-par 134 when the second round was finally completed after more than 24 hours of weather delays pushed its start back to Saturday.
The third round began, but was suspended soon after as darkness settled in on Sheshan International Golf Club. Garcia and Stenson were among the 30 players in an elite field of 76 who hadn't teed off yet in the third round.
Graeme McDowell was one-under par through four holes of his third round, creeping within a shot of the lead at nine-under. He shot a 65 in the second round Saturday.
Oliver Wilson (68) was also at nine-under without having finished a hole yet in the third round.
Geoff Ogilvy, Padraig Harrington, Anthony Kim and defending champion Phil Mickelson were among the players who were within five shots of the lead when the third round was suspended.
The event marks the start of the European Tour's 2009 season and the beginning of its new Race to Dubai, the season-long money scramble that replaces the Order of Merit and ends in the most lucrative tournament in golf, the $10 million Dubai World Championship.
Because of its importance as the start of a new season -- and a new money race -- the tournament will not be shortened to 54 holes. Organizers said players will have to return on Monday to finish.
Garcia couldn't have been steadier to start his second round, as the third- ranked Spaniard rattled off 13 consecutive pars before making an eagle at the par-five 14th.
He went on to birdie the 16th and 18th holes for his share of the second-round lead.
"I stayed pretty patient, had a lot of pars and I looked like I wasn't going to birdie," said Garcia. "The good thing was that I was not making any bogeys. Then I managed to have a nice finish with an eagle on 14th, which obviously helped a lot, and then a couple of nice birdies on the 16th and 18th.
"It was a good solid round but it could have been different if I had made a couple of birdies earlier on, but at the end of the day, it was still a nice solid round."
Stenson, who held the first round lead for more than a day after shooting a 65 on Thursday, mixed four birdies with one bogey for his second-round 69.
"I had a great first round and as you know I have been struggling with my scoring a little bit lately so it was good to get that one in," he said. "Then there was a long wait to get out there again obviously, but I was pleased with my scoring this afternoon."
<< Penn holds off Princeton, 14-9
Princeton, N.J. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Keiffer Garton accounted for
221 yards of total offense and two touchdowns, including 89 well-earned
rushing yards, to lead Penn to a 14-9 win over Princeton on Friday night
before 8,966 fans at Pr
<< Gay, Mayo help Grizzlies hold off Warriors
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Gay scored 23 points and rookie guard O.J.
Mayo had 20 points and nine rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies held on for a
109-104 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Hakim Warrick scored 19 points and g
<< Clippers' Thomas leaves with ankle injury
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Clippers forward Tim Thomas
left Friday's 92-83 loss to the Houston Rockets in the first quarter with a
sprained left ankle.
Thomas had to be helped off the floor after turning the
<< Anthony, Denver sinks Dallas on free throws
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points, grabbed eight
rebounds, added six assists and made several key free throws to help give the
Denver Nuggets a 108-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Chauncey Billups scored 1
Suns close out trip at Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns will try to get back on track this
evening, when they wrap up a four-game road trip against the Milwaukee Bucks
at the Bradley Center.
Phoenix had a three-game winning streak come to an end and
Around the CFL: VERSUS to carry Grey Cup live in the United States >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CFL fans living in the U.S. will get a chance
to watch the Grey Cup live on television.
The CFL announced this week that VERSUS will, for the first time, carry the
Grey Cup in the United States. This y
Winless Wizards pay a visit to Orlando >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards are still in search of their first
win of the 2008-09 season and will take on the Orlando Magic tonight at Amway
Arena.
Washington fell to 0-4 on the year after Friday's 114-108 setback to the N
Heat take on Hornets in New Orleans >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat will take their two-game winning streak to
New Orleans Arena tonight for a showdown with the Hornets.
Miami has won two in a row and three of four games, including Friday's 99-83
victory over the San An
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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Trash 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 won’t 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 doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s 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. Where’s 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, don’t 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 won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m 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.
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