Cummings named MLS Player of the Week

Soccer Betting Lines

09/06/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings was named the MLS Player of the Week for Week 23 on Monday as he had a hand in all three of Colorado's goals in a 3-0 win over Chivas USA on Saturday.

Cummings is the first Colorado player this season to win the award, and he owes much of the credit to a change in footwear at halftime.

"I didn't think we played well the first half, especially me," Cummings told the team's official website after the game. "My touches were bad and off a little bit. So going into the second half, I thought why not change (my shoes), change my attitude and be more aggressive, take some shots and try to score some goals."

Whatever it was, the plan worked as Cummings helped to set up the opening goal from Conor Casey in the 52nd minute, before sealing the win with a pair of goals in a 13-minute span.

The MLS Player of the Week award is selected each week by the North American Soccer Reporters. The group consists of members of online, print, television, radio media. More information can be found at soccerreporters.com.

2010 MLS Player of the Week winners:

Week 1: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)

Week 2: Kenny Mansally (New England Revolution)

Week 3: Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union)

Week 4: Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 5: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)

Week 6: Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 7: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 8: Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake)

Week 9: Emilio Renteria (Columbus Crew)

Week 10: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)

Week 11: Brek Shea (FC Dallas)

Week 12: Chris Pontius (D.C. United)

Week 13: Juan Pablo Angel (Red Bull New York)

Week 14: Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake)

Week 15: Justin Braun (Chivas USA)

Week 16: Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union)

Week 17: Steve Zakuani (Seattle Sounders)

Week 18: Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls)

Week 19: Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas)

Week 20: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)

Week 21: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo)

Week 22: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders)

Week 23: Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids)

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Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

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MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts US credit cards needs.

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.