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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:11 AM

Daily Sports Roundup

Wednesday, October 8

A batch of NBA preseason games and an early look at this week's NFL odds are the biggest things on tap for a slow Wednesday night. Here's your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

The undefeated Titans have a bye in Week 6, leaving the Giants as the only perfect team on the schedule this week. New York opened as a 7-point road favorite against the Browns in their Monday night meeting, with the game's total opening at 43 points.

The other three NFC East teams also opened as favorites for their Week 6 games; Washington (-15) hosts St. Louis, Dallas (-6.5) is at Arizona, and Philadelphia (-5) is at San Francisco. Other opening lines for the week: Baltimore at Indianapolis (-6.5), Cincinnati at the Jets (-7), Carolina at Tampa Bay (-3), Chicago (-1) at Atlanta, Miami at Houston (-3), Jacksonville at Denver (-3), Green Bay (-1) at Seattle, Oakland at New Orleans (-7), Detroit at Minnesota (-13), and then finally New England at San Diego (-6).

Watch for all of the above lines to be on the move as bettors get their hands on them.

Other Notable Events

The only games on the Wednesday schedule are exhibition NBA contests, and even though there are plenty of hoops fans out there we wouldn't call that slate very notable.

The Rest of the Schedule

There are actually nine preseason NBA games on the schedule for Wednesday: Charlotte at Orlando, Boston at Philadelphia, New York at Toronto, Milwaukee at Detroit, New Orleans at Indiana, Washington at Memphis, Oklahoma City at Minnesota, Atlanta at Phoenix, and Golden State at Portland. The season begins on October 28.

News from the Wire

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell was removed from the team's playoff roster on Monday because of his hip injury; he was replaced with Gil Velazquez . . .the Canucks traded defenseman Lukas Krajicek and forward Juraj Simek to the Lightning in exchange for defenseman Shane O'Brien and forward Michel Ouellet . . . the Chiefs plan on having Brodie Croyle back as their starting quarterback after their Week 6 bye.

A Peek at the Future

Series-clinching wins on Monday put the Rays and Red Sox into the American League Championship Series; that series gets underway in Tampa Bay with Game 1 on Friday and Game 2 on Saturday. The set then shifts to Fenway Park for Game 3 on Monday . . . the NHL's regular season resumes on Thursday night with four games: Toronto at Detroit, Boston at Colorado, Anaheim at San Jose, and finally Calgary at Vancouver.

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:11 AM

Six-pack for Wednesday

Some NHL knowledge with hockey season upon us........

-- Red Wings had 115 points LY, 11 more than anyone else in NHL but Canadiens scored most goals (262), one more than Ottawa.

-- Coyotes, Kings were only teams that lost more than they won at home; Islanders were 18-18-5 at home, but were outscored by 21 goals at the Nassau Coliseum.

-- Penguins finished five points ahead of Rangers in east; Penguins were 8-1-1 against the other conference (17 pts) Rangers 1-7-2 (4).

-- Coyotes (19-11-2) had best record in Pacific Division games; in non-division games though, Gretzky's team was just 19-26-5.

-- Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, Chicago's Patrick Sharp tied for the NHL lead with seven shorthanded goals each.

-- Florida's Jay Bouwmeester led NHL in playing time, playing in all 82 games, averaging 27:28 of on-ice time per game.

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:12 AM

Wednesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but.........

13) I wish I had this guy's job-- CEO of Lehman Brothers, despite driving his company to bankruptcy, has earned over $300M since the start of the decade. Imagine if he did his job well?

12) Country's financial crisis is far-reaching; the cost of travelling to NCAA championship events increased 23.5% last year, which could lead to teams in March Madness being sent to first-round sites that are closer to home than in recent years.

11) Since the start of the 2003 season, since they last appeared in the Super Bowl, Al Davis' Raiders have won six less games than anyone in the NFL, including the Matt Millen Lions. Now thats inept.

10) Main reason Ohio State always rears its ugly head at the end of every season is their success on the road; Buckeyes won their last 12 conference road games. Its a lame league, but they still win a lot.

9) Daisuke Matsuzaka led major leagues this season, winning seven games where he didn't finish the sixth inning-- he also led the majors in walks, which shortened his appearances.

8) Atlanta Falcons are 3-2, one of pleasant surprises in NFL, while Arkansas Razorbacks lost their last three games by combined score of 139-31. Karma rears its ugly head for Bobby Petrino.

7) Monday's Viking-Saint game was so bizarre, so much fun that it was impossible for Tony Kornheiser to be annoying; there was too much action for him to inject himself into the broadcast.

6) Put it this way, I'd rather listen to three hours of Frank Caliendo's commercials than ten minutes of Kornheiser.

5) If I were a football coach and the other team was punting between the 35's, I'd keep my defense on the field, to guard against fakes. No need to prepare for a punt return if odds favor a punt that wouldn't be returned anyway.

4) Toronto owes AJ Burnett $24M over next two seasons, and he is going to opt out? Hasn't he heard of the financial crisis? I'd be very, very hesitant to pay Burnett more than $12M a season.

3) Los Angeles Angels won one freakin' game in last thirteen playoff games against the Red Sox. Have long felt that teams who got to the playoffs after being challenged during season have edge in October.

2) Detroit Lions are on pace to be the NFL's worst team since Bucs went 0-14 in 1976; in their four games so far, Lions have trailed their games, 21-0/21-0/21-3/31-0. The Rams are 0-4 and fired their coach already, but Detroit makes them look like the '85 Chicago Bears.

1) How does the Minnesota punter still have a job today? For a team that plays the Bears (and Devin Hester) twice a year, for Reggie Bush to run two punts back for TDs (and he stumbled on third that could have easily gone the distance), it is just inexcusable. That said, Vikes still won, thanks to an incredibly mistake-ridden game by the Saints.

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:13 AM

This Day in MLB

MLB

Wednesday, October 8

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This day in Baseball….
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On October 8 in Baseball History...

* 1908 - Later admitting he had nothing on the ball, Christy Mathewson loses to the Cubs 4-2 in the playoff replay of the disputed game on September 23. Three Finger Brown, relieving Jack Pfiester in the first, gets the win.

* 1915 - The Phillies win their first-ever World Series game behind Grover Cleveland Alexander, 3-1. Red Sox rookie Babe Ruth grounds out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of the opener and will sit out the rest of the Series.

* 1919 - Ed Cicotte pitches Game Seven, and the White Sox play like they mean it. Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch drive in two runs each for a 4-1 win to cut the Reds' lead to four games to three in the best-of-nine Series.

* 1924 - Giants rookie third baseman Fred Lindstrom is 4-for-5 with two RBI against Walter Johnson, and New York hurler Jack Bentley (16-5) clouts a two-run homer and earns the 6-2 win. The Giants hold a 3-2 World Series edge heading back to Washington.

* 1927 - Facing elimination at Yankee Stadium, the Pirates are tied with the Yankees 3-3 in the last of the ninth. Reliever Johnny Miljus strikes out Lou Gehrig and Bob Meusel with the bases loaded, but a two-strike wild pitch to Tony Lazzeri allows Earle Combs to score the winning run and capture the World Series.

* 1929 - Howard Ehmke, a surprise starter for the Philadelphia Athletics, struck out 13 Chicago Cubs to win the opening game of the World Series 3-1.

* 1930 - George Earnshaw finishes off the Cardinals 7-1 to win the World Series for the Athletics. He is clearly the pitching star of the World Series with two wins and a 0.72 ERA.

* 1940 - With only one day's rest, Bobo Newsom comes back for the Tigers and nearly has enough to win Game Seven. Cincinnati's Paul Derringer gives up seven hits in the first six innings but sets the Tigers down in order in the final three frames for the 2-1 win, giving the Reds the Series.

* 1945 - Stan Hack's double takes a tricky bounce over left fielder Hank Greenberg's shoulder with two outs in the 12th inning to score runner Bill Schuster and give the Chicago Cubs an 8-7 win in Game Six to even the World Series with Detroit.

* 1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2-0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gave up five hits.

* 1958 - The Yankees win the World Series on Moose Skowron's three-run home run off Lew Burdette in the eighth inning of Game Seven that puts the game on ice, 6-2. Eddie Mathews strikes out for the 11th time, a record that will stand until l980 when it is broken by Willie Wilson of Kansas City. This is Casey Stengel's seventh championship, tying him with Joe McCarthy.

* 1959 - The Los Angeles Dodgers win 9-3 to take the World Series over the White Sox. Larry Sherry wins in relief of Johnny Podres in Game Six.

* 1961 - The Yankees' Whitey Ford set a World Series record for consecutive scoreless innings by extending his streak to 32 innings in a 7-0 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 4.

* 1973 - Rusty Staub's two home runs powered the New York Mets to a 9-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. Pete Rose of the Reds and Bud Harrelson of the Mets scuffled at second base in the fifth inning after Rose slid hard into the base.

* 1986 - Mike Scott equaled a playoff record with 14 strikeouts and threw a five-hitter as the Houston Astros defeated the New York Mets 1-0 in the first game of the NLCS. Glenn Davis opened the second inning with a home run off Dwight Gooden.

* 1988 - Dodgers ace reliever Jay Howell is ejected in the eighth inning of Game Three of the NLCS for having pine tar on his glove and the Mets go on to score five times in the inning on the way to an 8-4 win. Howell will be suspended for three days by the NL.

* 1989 - Oakland beats Toronto 4-3 in Game Five to advance to the World Series for the second straight year. Rickey Henderson, who hit .400 with eight stolen bases, is named Series MVP.

* 1995 - Edgar Martinez drives home the tying and winning runs with a double to left field to rally the Mariners to a 6-5 win in the bottom of the 11th inning to win the Division Series. Martinez bats .571 with 10 RBI against the Yankees in the five-game series. Ken Griffey, Jr., who beats the relay throw home to score the winning run, hits five home runs in the series.

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:14 AM

Major League Baseball – Notes

MLB

MLB World Series Odds Updated

Four teams are one series away from appearing in the 2008 MLB World Series.

The Boston Red Sox eliminated the Los Angeles Angels in four games and is now favored to win the World Series. Oddsmakers have Boston at +185 with Tampa Bay +295, Philadelphia +325 and Los Angeles Dodgers +345.

One online sportsbook has a prop on whether the Tampa Bay Rays will win the World Series with yes available at +295 or No at -525.

Tampa Bay won the American League East and will have home field advantage over the Red Sox, but Boston is favored at -135 to win the American League Championship Series. Tampa got here by taking care of the Chicago White Sox in four games.

In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers were big underdogs over the favored Chicago Cubs but Los Angeles swept the tough luck Cubs 3-0. The Dodgers come in to the National League Championship Series as underdogs once again but much smaller. The Philadelphia Phillies are -115 in the series. The Phillies took care of the Milwaukee Brewers in four games.

On Thursday the Dodgers and Phillies will kick start the series. Philadelphia sends Cole Hamels to the mound to face Derek Lowe. The Phillies are -135 in game one with the total set at 7.5.

There are many intriguing stories for the 2008 MLB World Series, but none better than Manny Ramirez and Joe Torre taking on the Boston Red Sox.

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:16 AM

Major League Baseball – Long Sheet

MLB
Long Sheet

League Championship Series

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Thursday, October 9

LA DODGERS (87 - 78) at PHILADELPHIA (95 - 71) - 8:15 PM
DEREK LOWE (R) vs. COLE HAMELS (L)
Top Trends for this game.
LA DODGERS are 87-78 (-5.4 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
LA DODGERS are 87-78 (-5.4 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field this season.
PHILADELPHIA is 131-98 (+16.0 Units) against the money line in night games over the last 2 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 50-37 (+12.0 Units) against the money line when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
PHILADELPHIA is 4-4 (-0.1 Units) against LA DODGERS this season
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL this season . (Under=+0.6 Units)

DEREK LOWE vs. PHILADELPHIA since 1997
LOWE is 4-1 when starting against PHILADELPHIA with an ERA of 2.84 and a WHIP of 1.128.
His team's record is 4-3 (+0.7 units) in these starts. The OVER is 5-2. (+3.1 units)

COLE HAMELS vs. LA DODGERS since 1997
HAMELS is 1-0 when starting against LA DODGERS with an ERA of 2.57 and a WHIP of 0.857.
His team's record is 1-1 (-0.1 units) in these starts. The OVER is 1-0. (+1.0 units)

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Friday, October 10

The ALCS long sheet should be updated with Top Trends, we will post when available.

BOSTON (98 - 68) at TAMPA BAY (100 - 66) - 8:35 PM
DAISUKE MATSUZAKA (R) vs. JAMES SHIELDS (R)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
TAMPA BAY is 10-8 (+3.5 Units) against BOSTON this season
9 of 18 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL this season . (Over=-0.2 Units, Under=-1.4 Units)

DAISUKE MATSUZAKA vs. TAMPA BAY since 1997
MATSUZAKA is 2-3 when starting against TAMPA BAY with an ERA of 3.75 and a WHIP of 1.333.
His team's record is 3-5 (-5.5 units) in these starts. The OVER is 5-3. (+2.0 units)

JAMES SHIELDS vs. BOSTON since 1997
SHIELDS is 2-4 when starting against BOSTON with an ERA of 5.23 and a WHIP of 1.234.
His team's record is 2-6 (-4.0 units) in these starts. The UNDER is 4-4. (-0.8 units)

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:17 AM

Major League Baseball - Short Sheet

MLB
Short Sheet

Thursday, October 9th

National League Championship Series
Best of Seven
Game One
Series Tied, 0-0
TV: FOX
LA Dodgers at Philadelphia, 8:15 ET
Derek Lowe (R) vs. Cole Hamels (L)

Lowe:
Dodgers 0-4 at Philadelphia
Dodgers 25-12 Under playing with double revenge

Hamels:
Philadelphia 31-16 after allowing 2 runs or less
Philadelphia 8-2 Under at home vs. Dodgers

Friday, October 10th

American League Championship Series
Best of Seven
Game One
Series Tied, 0-0
TV: TBS
Boston at Tampa Bay, 8:35 ET
Daisuke Matsuzaka (R) vs. James Shields (R)

Matsuzaka:
Boston 6-16 on turf
Boston 1-8 at Tampa Bay

Shields:
15-3 TSR at home
15-4 TSR off a win

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:18 AM

Major League Baseball – Trend Sheet

MLB

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Trend Sheet
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Thursday, October 9

8:22 PM LA DODGERS vs. PHILADELPHIA
LA Dodgers are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of LA Dodgers's last 9 games
Philadelphia is 4-1 SU in their last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 04:19 AM

Major League Baseball - Tips & Trends

MLB

We will update when projected scores are available.

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Tips and Trends
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Thursday, October 9

Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies [ FOX | 8:22 PM ET]

Dodgers: Derek Lowe has been the best pitcher in baseball since the middle of August, allowing more than one earned run just twice in his last 10 outings. One of those times came last time out at Chicago in Game 1 of the NLDS, but he still earned the win after going six innings and giving up two runs and seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Lowe has had a tough time on the road overall this season with a 5-6 mark and 4.42 ERA, but he does own a career mark of 4-1 against the Phillies with a 3.02 ERA.

Dodgers are 10-4 in their last 14 road games.
The UNDER is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.

Key Injuries - OF Andruw Jones (knee) is OUT.

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD

Phillies (-135, O/U 7.5): Cole Hamels was simply outstanding in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Brewers, limiting the Brewers to just two hits in eight scoreless innings while walking one batter and striking out nine. He has also pitched well against the Dodgers in two lifetime starts, going 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA. Hamels has allowed more than two earned runs just once in his last 11 starts, pitching at least six innings 10 times during that stretch.

Home team is 8-0 in the last 8 meetings.
The UNDER is 7-1 in Philadelphia's last 8 games following a win.

Key Injuries - NONE

PROJECTED SCORE: TBD

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**pm530** · 10-08-2008, 05:10 PM

Major League Baseball – NLCS - Preview/Pick

MLB

Thursday, October 9

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Hot lines: NLCS Preview / Pick
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Dodgers vs. Phillies: Series preview and pick

Los Angeles Dodgers (+101) at Philadelphia Phillies (-111)

I was hoping the Phillies would be favored by a bit more than this, but I guess the Dodgers caught everybody’s attention with their sweep of the Cubs.

The lineup that Los Angeles put on the field in Game 3 against Chicago bears very little resemblance to what it looked like less than three months ago, and I think people are starting to realize that.

From May 6 through July 31—that’s the period after Rafael Furcal got hurt, and before they traded for Manny Ramirez—the Dodgers hit .244/.303/.359. They averaged 3.66 runs per game; for comparison, the Padres had the worst offense in the majors this year, averaged 3.93 R/G.

The Dodgers may have won just 84 games during the regular season, but this is a different team; this team, as presently constructed, would’ve run away with the NL West, probably winning 90-95 games.

We were able to take advantage of this in the first round, when the Cubs were favored by an outrageous amount against LA, but this price seems about right. After all, the Phillies do have home-field advantage, and Cole Hamels going in Game 1.

Both teams have excellent bullpens; the Dodgers probably have the edge in the rotation since Philadelphia can’t match their 1-2 punch of Lowe and Billingsley.

That, I think, is where the value will lie in this series.

As was very clearly seen in the opening line of Game 2 of the Cubs-Dodgers series—the Cubs opened as ridiculous -170 favorites—people clearly don’t yet understand just how good Chad Billingsley is. Maybe it’s his age (24), or the fact he had a win-loss record of just 9-9 in mid-July, because the Dodgers couldn’t score any runs for him.

Not only is Billingsley one of the best young pitchers in the league, he’s one of the best pitchers, of any age, in baseball. People may realize that a couple weeks from now, but I don’t think they have yet, and there should be some value in backing him in Game 2.

For the series overall, I really do think it’s a tossup; it’s almost impossible to predict a series like this when the two teams are so evenly matched. I’ll go Dodgers in 7, behind a strong 1-2 punch in the rotation and a couple big hits from their Hall of Fame left fielder.

Pick: Dodgers

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**BettorsChat** · 10-08-2008, 05:55 PM

They Need More Points:
Play an NFL team that is off 4+ losses and giving up more
than 27 points per game if they are at least a 7-point dog today.

Record Since 1983:
64-40 ATS (61.5%)

This week’s application:
Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams

Continuing the Heartbreak:
Play against any NFL road favorite coming off back-toback
straight up losses in games that saw them favored.

Pointspread Record Since 1980
: 26-10 (72.2%)

This week’s application:
San Francisco 49ers (play against Eagles)

Announcement

Wednesday Trends and Indexes 10/8 (MLB, Misc.)

Wednesday Trends and Indexes 10/8 (MLB, Misc.)

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