Announcement

**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 04:06 AM

Daily Sports Roundup

Monday, October 20

The Broncos will travel to New England to take on the Patriots in primetime on Monday. Here's a look at that contest and the rest of the schedule in your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

Placing wagers on the Broncos this season hasn't been a lucrative pastime. Denver managed to pick up an ATS win over the Raiders in their season opener, but since then they've managed to go just 0-4-1 against the number. That puts the Broncos at 1-4-1 ATS on the season, a record which stands in contrast to their 4-2 straight-up mark. Last week against the Jaguars the Broncos were defeated 24-17 as a 3-point home favorite.

The Patriots have alternated ATS losses and wins so far this season - they managed to cover the spread twice, in Week 2 against the Jets and in Week 5 (after a bye) against the 49ers. New England was thumped 30-10 on the road against the Chargers last week, as 6-point underdogs. The Pats are 3-2 straight-up and 2-3 ATS on the season.

The oddsmakers opened the Patriots as 3-point home favorites against the Broncos, and that line stayed steady throughout the week. The total for the game is at 48 points.

Other Notable Events

There are four games on the NHL's schedule for Monday night: Pittsburgh at Boston, Dallas at the Rangers, Florida at Montreal, and Colorado at Los Angeles. The 6-1-1 Rangers lead the league in points, thanks in part to the jumpstart they got on the season over in Europe. The 4-0-1 Habs have yet to suffer a defeat in regulation time.

The Rest of the Schedule

The final week of the NBA's exhibition schedule gets underway on Monday night, with Orlando at Atlanta, New York at New Jersey, Charlotte at Phoenix, and Portland at Sacramento. The league's regular season will tip off with games Tuesday, October 28.

News from the Wire

DT Josh Shaw is OUT for Denver on Monday, while TE Tony Scheffler, WR Brandon Stokley, RB Ryan Torain, and RB Selvin Young are QUESTIONABLE. A host of Broncos, including WRs Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, are PROBABLE . . . LB Eric Alexander, DE Jarvis Green, RB LaMont Jordan, T Nick Kaczur, RB Laurence Maroney, WR Kelley Washington, CB Jonathan Wilhite are DOUBTFUL for the Patriots.

A Peek at the Future

Highlighting the Week 8 NFL schedule are Tampa Bay at Dallas, San Diego at New Orleans, Arizona at Carolina, the Giants at Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis at Tennessee. Chicago, Denver, Green Bay, and Minnesota are off next week . . . Games 1 and 2 of the World Series will be played on Wednesday and Thursday night at the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, with the series shifting to Philadelphia for Games 3 through 5 on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night.

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**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 04:07 AM

Six-pack for Monday

-- How about Joe Maddon using David Price to get last four outs of the Rays' 3-1 win? His first pro game was May 22, 2008; he had a whole 14 big league innings before Sunday night.

-- When you saw Price pitching, you knew immediately what the Rays' coaches talked about on the flight home Thursday night.

-- I mean, Rocco Baldelli knocked in the game-winning run!!!! Joe Maddon has to buy a Powerball ticket; everything he does works.

-- Bottom line is, the Red Sox might be happier without Manny, but they're not as good without him.

-- TV people won't be thrilled, but an exciting World Series awaits, and I'll be in Philly Saturday night for Game #3..........

-- Omen: Winning pitcher at All-Star Game: Scott Kazmir, Rays. Losing pitcher at the All-Star Game: Brad Lidge, Phillies.
Series starts in St Pete Wednesday because of that result in July.

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**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 04:07 AM

Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday......

13) The ol' coach Bud Grant always used to say about his schedule, "Its not who you play, its when you play them." Ladies and gents, your second place team in the NFC West, the St Louis Rams, who got a break from the gods, playing a screwed-up Dallas team at just the right time, and crushed the chaotic Cowboys 34-14 Sunday.

12) I mean, what team has brought more distractions upon itself than the Cowboys? They probably would have lost to whoever they had to play this week; luckily for me, they played my Rams. More bad news for Dallas: Roy (safety) Williams is out for the year (arm).

11) Chiefs had three different QBs throw 10+ passes Sunday; don't think I've ever seen that before. Its not a good thing, either. Next up for the Chiefs is Herm Edwards' return to the Swamp to face a team he skipped out on a couple years ago, the Jets.

10) 49ers blocked FG for a TD in second consecutive game, and did not win either game; they didn't even cover either game, even though they were the underdog in both games. They were the first underdog of 10+ points not to cover in 2008. A coaching change awaits.

9) 49ers had 13 penalties for 134 yards; Giants had 11 for 80 yards. Referee had to soak his arm after the game from throwing so many panlty flags. There were six other games Sunday where both teams combined to have less penalties than either the Giants or 49ers.

8) Steelers in the second half at Cincinnati Sunday: five drives, four TDs, 24 plays, 240 total yards. How horrible are the Bengals? Their first five drives Sunday: 15 plays, 3 yards, no first downs.

7) Steelers have won eight visits in row to division rival Cincinnati.

6) Reggie Bush will have his knee scoped, more bad news for Saints team that is off to London to play equally-disappointing Chargers.

5) Bears had 53 rushing yards Sunday, were just 2-9 on third down, but they scored 48 points!!!!!! First time in the long, storied history of the Bears they allowed 40+ points and won. Chicago scored two special teams TDs, but a 48-41 Viking-Bear game is very strange.

4) Dick Enberg/Dan Fouts are great together on TV!!!!! So much so that Randy Cross, the third man on that broadcast team, isn't close to being as annoying as he is on a two-man team. Thats a good thing.

3) Raiders had seven five-yard penalties in the first quarter Sunday. John Madden spent his first off-week in 28 years at Raider-Jet tilt with some former players. Jnaikowski's 57-yard FG in OT Sunday is the longest overtime field goal in NFL history.

Ironic that on the night John Madden took the night off from a game in Tampa, Joe Maddon won the American League across the bridge? It is 21 miles from Raymond James Stadium to the Trop.

2) Kellen Winslow is sixth Cleveland Browns player to have a staph infection since 2005; these things are very dangerous- you can die if they're not detected early enough.

1) What are the odds Wade Phillips finishes 2008 as Cowboy coach? At this point, I'd be surprised if he survives their bye week, which is in two weeks, after they play the Bucs and Giants. Is it his fault??? Hell no, its Jerry Jones' fault, but rich dudes never take the fall.

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**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 04:09 AM

This Day in Baseball

On October 20 in Baseball History...

* 1910 - Philadelphia's Jack Coombs, on one day of rest, had a complete game victory to beat the Chicago Cubs 12-5 and give the Athletics a 3-0 lead in the World Series. Coombs also had three hits and drove in three runs in the game.

* 1935 - Hank Greenberg is named AL MVP by the Baseball Writers. Wes Ferrell is runner-up.

* 1936 - Carl Hubbell (26-6) edges out Dizzy Dean (24-13) for MVP honors in the NL.

* 1960 - Coach Ralph Houk, 41, is named to succeed Casey Stengel as manager of the Yankees. He briefly led the Yankees in 1960 when Stengel was hospitalized.

* 1967 - Charlie Finley names Bob Kennedy the first manager of the Oakland A's.

* 1972 - In the fifth game of the World Series, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds homered on the first pitch of the game from Oakland's Catfish Hunter, and the Reds went on to win 5-4.

* 1973 - Reggie Jackson of Oakland had RBI doubles in the first and third innings to lead the A's to a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets and set up a seventh game in the World Series.

* 1982 - The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 in Game 7 to win the World Series.

* 1985 - After giving up just two hits in eight innings, Royals southpaw Charlie Leibrandt is raked with three two-out hits and loses 4-2. St. Louis has a 2-0 Series lead.

* 1987 - The Cards get all their runs against the Twins in the seventh inning to win Game Three 3-1.

* 1988 - Orel Hershiser pitched a four-hitter and Mickey Hatcher and Mike Davis hit two-run homers to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics and the World Series title in five games. Hershiser became only the third player to win the MVP in both the playoffs and the World Series.

* 1990 - The Cincinnati Reds completed one of the biggest upsets in baseball history, beating the Oakland Athletics 2-1 to win the World Series in four games.

* 1993 - Devon White's two-run triple capped a six-run eighth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays rallied for a 15-14 victory over the Phillies and a 3-1 World Series lead. The 29 runs shattered the Series record of 22 set in Game 2 in 1936, when the Yankees beat the New York Giants 18-4. It was also the longest nine-inning game in series history - 4 hours, 14 minutes.

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**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 04:11 AM

National Hockey League – Write up

NHL
Write-up

Monday, October 20

Hot teams
-- Rangers won six of their first eight games.
-- Canadiens won their last four games, allowing eight goals.
-- Colorado won last two games, scoring five goals in each.

Cold teams
-- Bruins started season with 2-2 road trip; this is their home opener, on same night Patriots play on Monday Night Football. Penguins are 2-3 in last five games; this is their first true road game of season.
-- Stars lost four of their first five games.
-- Panthers split first four games, losing only road game 6-4 at Carolina.
-- Kings won their last two games, scoring ten goals.

Series Records
-- Bruins are 8-4 in their last dozen games against Pittsburgh.
-- Visitor won last two Dallas-Ranger games.
-- Underdog won eight of last nine Florida-Montreal games.
-- Avalanche won three of four against the Kings last season; they split their last six visits to Staples Center (2-0 LY).

Totals
-- Over is 8-3-1 in last dozen Pittsburgh-Boston games.
-- Four of five Dallas games went over the total.
-- Under is 8-1-1 in last ten Florida-Montreal games.
-- Over is 10-2 in last dozen Colorado-Los Angeles games.

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**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 04:14 AM

National Hockey League – Trend Sheet

NHL

Monday, October 20

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Trend Sheet
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7:00 PM DALLAS vs. NY RANGERS
Dallas is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Dallas's last 5 games
NY Rangers are 2-5-1 SU in their last 8 games when playing at home against Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of the NY Rangers last 10 games when playing at home against Dallas

7:00 PM PITTSBURGH vs. BOSTON
Pittsburgh is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Boston
Pittsburgh is 4-11 SU in its last 15 games when playing Boston
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Boston's last 7 games
Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home

7:30 PM FLORIDA vs. MONTREAL
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Florida's last 14 games
Florida is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Montreal is 3-5-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Florida
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Montreal's last 5 games when playing at home against Florida

10:30 PM COLORADO vs. LOS ANGELES
Colorado is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Colorado's last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Los Angeles's last 9 games when playing at home against Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 8 games when playing Colorado

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**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 04:16 AM

National Hockey League – Hot lines

NHL

Monday, October 20

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Ice Picks: NHL Bets
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Dallas at New York Rangers (-150, 5.5)

Critics ripped the Rangers for allowing super pest Sean Avery to walk in the offseason, taking his daily sideshow from the Big Apple to Big D, but New York may have the last laugh over the move. By all accounts, Avery hasn’t fit in well with his new club. During practices he’s often wandering around the ice by himself while the coaching staff goes over plays and positioning with the rest of the team and the former Vogue intern has already earned a slap on the wrist for his eclectic game-day wardrobe.

These issues are magnified when the team’s struggling like it has so far this year and it’s not like they don’t have enough to worry about already – like Marty Turco’s 4.70 goals against average.

Pick: Rangers

Colorado at Los Angeles (+115, 6)

Some were ready to write off Joe Sakic when a hernia injury kept the veteran out of almost half the games on Colorado’s schedule last year. It’s pretty clear he isn’t ready to pack it in just yet.

He finished with 40 points in 44 games last year and has eight points in his first five games this season. The 39-year-old is also still logging more than 20 minutes on most nights and quarterbacks the power play, which is clicking again after a slow start.

The Avs are going to need production like that from their captain all year – especially if their goaltending doesn’t improve. Peter Budaj is working on a .824 save percentage through three starts and Colorado doesn’t have much to fall back on with backup Andrew Raycroft.

Pick: Avalanche

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**Udog** · 10-20-2008, 08:49 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Dallas at NY Rangers
The Stars have dropped four of their first five and face a New York team that is 27-8 at home over the last three seasons when the total is listed at 5 1/2. The Rangers are the pick (-155) according to Dunkel, which has New York favored by 2. Dunkel Pick: NY Rangers (-155). Here are all of today's games.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20

Game 51-52: Pittsburgh at Boston
Dunkel Ratings: Pittsburgh 12.537; Boston 10.945
Dunkel Line & Total: Pittsburgh by 1 1/2; 6
Vegas Line & Total: Boston (-130); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Pittsburgh (+110); Over

Game 53-54: Dallas at NY Rangers
Dunkel Ratings: Dallas 10.553; NY Rangers 12.364
Dunkel Line & Total: NY Rangers by 2; 4 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: NY Rangers (-155); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: NY Rangers (-155); Over

Game 55-56: Florida at Montreal
Dunkel Ratings: Florida 11.037; Montreal 13.572
Dunkel Line & Total: Montreal by 2 1/2; 5
Vegas Line & Total: Montreal (-215); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Montreal (-215); Under

Game 57-58: Colorado at Los Angeles
Dunkel Ratings: Colorado 11.423; Los Angeles 12.536
Dunkel Line & Total: Los Angeles by 1; 6 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: Colorado (-130); 6
Dunkel Pick: Los Angeles (+110); Over

**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 11:55 AM

National Hockey League – Long Sheet

NHL
Long Sheet

Monday, October 20

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PITTSBURGH (3-2-0-1, 7 pts.) at BOSTON (2-1-0-1, 5 pts.) - 10/20/2008, 7:05 PM

Top Trends for this game.
PITTSBURGH is 5-14 ATS (-9.1 Units) in road games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 22-17 ATS (+42.2 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 112-83 ATS (+14.3 Units) in all games over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 4-4 (+0.6 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 4-4-0 straight up against PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.8 Units)

DALLAS (1-3-0-1, 3 pts.) at NY RANGERS (6-1-0-1, 13 pts.) - 10/20/2008, 7:05 PM

Top Trends for this game.
NY RANGERS are 18-5 ATS (+11.5 Units) in a home game where where the total is 5.5 over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 26-12 ATS (+13.0 Units) in road games after 3 or more consecutive overs since 1996.
DALLAS is 11-4 ATS (+15.4 Units) in road games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 29-23 ATS (+52.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
NY RANGERS are 2-10 ATS (-8.5 Units) in non-conference games over the last 2 seasons.
NY RANGERS are 57-86 ATS (-67.6 Units) in home games after allowing 4 goals or more since 1996.
NY RANGERS are 59-79 ATS (-54.8 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
DALLAS is 1-1 (+0.0 Units) against the spread versus NY RANGERS over the last 3 seasons
NY RANGERS is 1-1-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
1 of 1 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.2 Units)

FLORIDA (2-2-0-0, 4 pts.) at MONTREAL (4-0-0-1, 9 pts.) - 10/20/2008, 7:35 PM

Top Trends for this game.
FLORIDA is 15-35 ATS (+53.5 Units) after shutting out their opponent in their previous game since 1996.
FLORIDA is 73-114 ATS (-46.9 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
FLORIDA is 5-3 (+3.0 Units) against the spread versus MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
FLORIDA is 5-3-0 straight up against MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
6 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+4.7 Units)

COLORADO (2-3-0-0, 4 pts.) at LOS ANGELES (2-2-0-0, 4 pts.) - 10/20/2008, 10:35 PM

Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 85-123 ATS (-39.9 Units) after a non-conference game since 1996.
LOS ANGELES is 12-40 ATS (+66.7 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 3 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 5-19 ATS (+25.4 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 4-4 (+1.8 Units) against the spread versus COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES is 4-4-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
6 of 8 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.9 Units)

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**pm530** · 10-20-2008, 12:01 PM

National Hockey League - Short Sheet

NHL
Short Sheet

Monday, October 20st

Pittsburgh at Boston, 7:05 ET
Pittsburgh: 21-8 SU when playing 5 or less games in 14 days
Boston: 5-12 SU at home after having lost 2 of their last 3

Dallas at NY Rangers, 7:05 ET
Dallas: 1-6 SU after a game where both teams scored 4+ goals
NY Rangers: 18-5 SU at home where where the total is 5.5

Florida at Montreal, 7:35 ET
Florida: 19-10 SU after scoring 2 goals or less in 2 straight games
Montreal: 4-9 SU at home off a home win scoring 4+ goals

Colorado at Los Angeles, 10:35 ET
Colorado: 35-19 SU when playing their 3rd game in 5 days
Los Angeles: 9-25 SU after playing a game with 7+ total goals

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Announcement

Monday Trends and Indexes 10/20 (NHL, Misc.)

Monday Trends and Indexes 10/20 (NHL, Misc.)

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