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**pm530** · 12-24-2008, 03:53 AM

Daily Sports Roundup

December 24/25

Christmas Eve has just the Hawaii Bowl on the schedule, while there are five NBA games on tap for Christmas Day. Here's your double dose of the Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, fresh off a 6-6 (and 6-6 against-the-spread) regular season, will travel across the ocean for Wednesday night's matchup with the Warriors in the Hawaii Bowl (with kickoff at 8:00pm ET). Notre Dame was trounced 38-3 by Southern Cal in their last game to finish at .500 on the season.

The Hawaii Warriors were slightly better at 7-6 straight-up (and 6-5-1 ATS) on the season, but they also dropped their last game of the regular season to a ranked opponent. Hawaii got a visit from Cincinnati on December 6 and fell by a final score of 29-24. Greg Alexander passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns.

The oddsmakers like Notre Dame's chances on Wednesday, as they're 1.5-point favorites for the game with a total of 48 points. The Fighting Irish are at 6-5-1 on the OVER/UNDER this season, while the Warriors have a 5-6-1 OU mark to date.

Other Notable Events

It's wall-to-wall NBA action on Christmas Day, with five games on the schedule. That slate gets underway at 12:00pm ET, with New Orleans at Orlando. The Magic head into the holiday contest on a five-game winning streak and as winners of nine of their past 10 contests to sit at 22-6 SU and 18-9-1 ATS on the season. Orlando has also won nine of their 15 home contests ATS to this point.

The 2:30pm ET game has San Antonio at Phoenix, with the Suns a middling 5-5 over their past 10 games. Phoenix hasn't met expectations this season with a 16-11 SU mark, and they haven't been a lucrative betting option at only 11-16 ATS.

The marquee game then begins at 5:00pm ET, with the Celtics and Lakers meeting in Los Angeles in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals. Both of those teams sit atop their respective conference standings heading into the Christmas game, so another Finals meeting might be in the cards. Los Angeles will be returning home after a road trip, and they're 14-1 (6-9 ATS) in their own building.

The evening's slate then has Washington at Cleveland at 8:00pm ET, and Dallas at Portland at 10:30pm ET. The anemic Wizards are the only sub-.500 team in action on Christmas, while the Cavaliers are nipping at the Celtics' heels in the Eastern Conference standings. Both the Spurs and the Mavericks turned in mediocre starts to the campaign, but strong play of late has them turned around.

News from the Wire

Nine teams are still alive in both the AFC and the NFC playoff races heading into the final week of the regular season. In the AFC the Titans and Steelers have clinched first-round byes, and Tennessee has home-field advantage wrapped up. The Colts have secured one of the Wild Card berths, and the Dolphins, Broncos, and Ravens are currently sitting in playoff spots. The Patriots, Jets, and Chargers need things to go their way on Sunday to advance to the postseason . . . Over in the NFC the Giants have clinched the top seed, while the Panthers, Cardinals, and Falcons are all definitely going to the playoffs as well. The Vikings and Bucs are in the driver's seat for the final two NFC postseason berths, while the Cowboys, Bears, and Eagles can still make it to the playoffs with the right results.

A Peek at the Future

Leagues return in full force on Friday, with the NBA getting things going with a 5:00pm ET tipoff between the Bulls and Heat in Miami. Other highlights include Houston at New Orleans, Dallas at Utah, and Boston at Golden State . . . the NHL has nine games on the ice on Friday, including Pittsburgh at New Jersey and Philadelphia at Chicago . . . there is just one college bowl game on Boxing Day, with Central Michigan (-6.5) taking on Florida Atlantic in the Motor City Bowl.

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**pm530** · 12-24-2008, 03:54 AM

Six-pack for Wednesday

Starting pitchers who threw the most pitches in a game in 2008

T4) Roy Halladay, Blue Jays-- 130

T4) Jon Lester, Red Sox-- 130

T4) Justin Verlander, Tigers-- 130

T4) Carlos Zambrano, Cubs-- 130

T4) CC Sanathia, Brewers-- 130

T2) Ricky Nolasco, Marlins-- 132

T2) Tim Lincecum, Giants-- 132

1) Tim Lincecum, Giants-- 138

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**pm530** · 12-24-2008, 03:55 AM

Wednesday's List of 13: Assigning a grades to NFC teams......

Cardinals-- C. Will host first playoff game since 1947, but they are struggling bigtime. Has any division winner ever trailed four different games by 28-0 or bigger scores? They really need a playoff win.

Falcons-- A+. Can win division if they beat the Rams and Panthers lose in Superdome; what a great season for Atlanta, using both rookie coach and rookie QB to erase the stench of the Bobby Petrino era.

Panthers-- B. Grade turns into an A if they beat Saints and get first round bye; came thisclose to getting home field edge thru whole NFC playoffs, losing in OT Sunday night. Still dangerous playoff team.

Bears-- Inc-- (will be B-- if they miss playoffs). Since 1990, 22 QBs have started for Chicago, more than any other team. Their OT loss to Tampa Bay (Brian Greise) will sting the most, after all is said/done.

Cowboys-- B--. Another dismal December, but still controlling own destiny for playoffs, heading into very hostile Linc Sunday at 4:15. They've sacked opposing QBs 29 times in their last five games.

Lions- F. Ugh. They're 0-15, heading to Lambeau to face 5-10 Pack, which is on short week after OT loss Monday. Lions have covered their last five road games, but Lambeau has been poison for them, even in the rare years when Detroit was good (before Matt Millen).

Packers-- D. Luckily for them, Favre's Jets look to be in tank, which has to take some of heat off Packer brass. Not too often teams sinks from 13-3 to five or six wins, but thats where Green Bay is now.

Vikings-- B. Will be division champs if they beat Giants, who have nothing to gain by winning Sunday-- Jackson will be starter at QB. Would help if they don't fumble seven times, like they did Sunday.

Saints-- C. Fun to watch, unless you like defense. Were terrible on road this season, with only wins at Chiefs/Lions, and neutral court win vs 7-8 San Diego. Used three different kickers, punters in 2008.

Giants-- A. Defending champs have home field thru NFC playoffs, but they're not same cohesive unit as they were earlier in the season. Prediction here is they go down in first playoff game, and then media can start pointing fingers, one of their favorite pasttimes.

Eagles-- C--. Need Raiders to upset Tampa Bay, which isn't likely, so looks like tumultuous season will end too early. Question becomes if McNabb will be back in '09. They'd be idiots to fire Andy Reid.

Rams-- F. I've been Ram fan since 1966-- this was the worst except for the one year in Anaheim when they lost their last 10 games. They need new, fresh leadership, a new QB, and some damn enthusiasm. It shouldn't be too much to ask pro athletes to play with passion!!!!!

49ers-- C. Next summer, this will be fashionable choice to make run in NFC West, because of their improvement since Singletary became head coach. Beware the fashionable choice in the summer, though.

Seahawks-- F. Announcing the coach is a lame duck is a terrible idea, and its a worse idea when the QB gets hurt. Next question becomes will they draft their next QB in April? Seattle wasn't very good in pre-Holmgren era-- will they regress back under Mora Jr?

Buccaneers-- Inc. (grade will be B if they make playoffs, D if they do not). Monte Kiffin's defense became sieve-like after his son took the Tennessee Vols' job, whether that is coincidence or not. They need a win Sunday, and I think they need the Eagles to beat Dallas.

Redskins-- C--. Coaches change, GMs change, players change, but in December every season, this team seems to sag. When things looked up in October, they somehow lost at home to the Rams, and they've never been quite the same. Need to keep coaches intact for continuity

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Wednesday Trends and Indexes 12/24 (Misc.)

Wednesday Trends and Indexes 12/24 (Misc.)

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