Venus cruises in Acura opener

Tennis Betting Lines

07/31/2007 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Venus Williams, fresh off her fourth Wimbledon title, breezed past Anastassia Rodionova in the first round of the $1.34 million Acura Classic.

Williams, seeded 10th, ousted the Russian Rodionova, 6-3, 6-0 at La Costa Resort and Spa. Williams is playing her first tournament since capturing the sixth Grand Slam of her career at Wimbledon.

Ninth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, a two-time major runner-up, held off Colombian wild card Catalina Castano 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, while 11th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland smoked American Jamea Jackson, 6-2, 6-1.

Thirteenth-seeded Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin needed three sets to beat Argentine Gisela Dulko, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, and 14th-seeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko overcame Chinese Shuai Peng 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to move on.

Additional first-round wins came for American Vania King, Russians Elena Bovina and Maria Kirilenko, Japanese Aiko Nakamura, German Angelique Kerber, Greek Eleni Daniilidou, Frenchwoman Camille Pin, Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn, Michaella Krajicek of The Netherlands and Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.

This week's top seed, Russian superstar Maria Sharapova, beat Belgian Kim Clijsters in last year's hardcourt finale here. The former world No. 1 Sharapova, who is also the reigning U.S. Open champ and Aussie Open runner-up, has a first-round bye.

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<< Tata hurls Detroit past Oakland
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Tata pitched seven solid innings to pick up his first career win in his first career start, as Detroit downed Oakland, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game set at McAfee Coliseum. Tata (1-0), st

<< Capdeville and Hernych advance at Legg Mason
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chilean Paul Capdeville and Czech Jan Hernych both advanced in the first round at the $600,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic on Monday. Capdeville bounced back from a first set loss to beat Serbian

<< Redskins' OT Samuels to miss four weeks
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels is expected to miss up to four weeks with a sprained knee. Samuels underwent an MRI on Monday evening and it was determined that he has an isolated grad

<< Baker dominates as Twins down Royals
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Baker threw eight strong innings and Joe Mauer drove in three runs as the Minnesota Twins downed the Kansas City Royals, 3-1, in the opener of a four-game series at the Metrodome. Baker (5-4)

<< Crawford's homer in 11th leads Rays past Jays
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Crawford scored the tying run with two outs in the ninth to force extra innings and then homered in the 11th inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Devil Rays over the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4, at Tropica

Batista pitches Mariners past Angels >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Batista combined with two other pitchers for a four-hit shutout as the Seattle Mariners downed the LA Angels of Anaheim, 2-0, in the opener of a three-game set at Safeco Field. Batista (11-7)

Orioles continue to fight >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Although they are still six games below .500, the Baltimore Orioles are doing whatever they can to stay alive in the American League East. The Orioles currently trail the Boston Red Sox by 14 1/2 games, but have now won six o

Davenport will return to play singles in September >>
Bali, Indonesia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 star Lindsay Davenport will return to singles tennis in September, just three months after giving birth to her first child. The 31-year-old Davenport hasn't played singles on th

Bedard, Beckett square off at Fenway >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Streaking lefty Erik Bedard can stretch his unbeaten streak to nine starts tonight when the Baltimore Orioles head to Fenway Park for the first of three games with the American League East Division rival Boston Red Sox. B

Reds, Nats start series at RFK >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Left-hander Bobby Livingston takes his first turn as a regular member of the Cincinnati starting rotation tonight when the Reds visit RFK Stadium to open a three-game series with the Washington Nationals. Livingston, who

Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

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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. online football betting 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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