Canada unbeaten – World Lacrosse Championships

Posted July 23, 2010 – 10:00 am in: Lacrosse

At the World Lacrosse Championships, Canada is undefeated, with a perfect 5-0 record, after a 17-6 win over England on Tuesday; Canada is heading into the semifinals.

In the win, the Canadians got two goals apiece from Dan Dawson, Kevin Huntley, Shawn Williams, Corey Small, Zack Greer and John Grant, while, single goals was scored by Kevin Crowley, Jordan Hall, Garrett Billings and Rhys Duch. For Canada, the round robin portion of the tournament, wrapped up the win.

Before a third-quarter rainstorm slowed the action, Canada was dominating England.

In the semifinals, if everything goes according to plan, or at least predictions, then on Saturday Canada will face the United States in the final. The way it appears now, in the semifinals, Coach Dave Huntley’s squad could play Japan on Thursday, although until after the play-in games Wednesday, the Canadians won’t know for sure.

Against England, 11-3 at halftime before the rain came and it was 5-2 after one quarter. In the third, each team scored twice, Canada increased its lead in the fourth quarter, after the rain stopped.

For England, Lewis Ratcliff and Mark Reynolds scored two goals each and Evan Roberts got one each.

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Gambling: Germany’s Loss costs bettor big time

Posted July 10, 2010 – 4:21 am in: Gambling

With the World Cup coming to a close, it’s not unusual to see major bets and casino gambling games on the final matches.

This year was no exception, and one bet was placed on Germany for $631,000 US Dollars. With such a bet, one would think it was a sure thing but the bookies made no effort to disguise their disdain for Germany. It’s not uncommon for huge bets to be present during the World Cup but this particular bet caused quite a stir. It wasn’t alone as several other bids of similar amounts were placed on Germany.

The person who placed the $631,000 dollar bet made it clear that they thought Germany would be Spain in their semifinal match. If Germany had won the game this person would have made roughly 1.2 million US dollars. Other bets had similar odds with the noticeable ones being 14/1 and 13/2. There has never been a bigger bet ever places on a world cup match.

Germany’s energetic style of play made them the pick for the World Cup title as the cup proceeded on. Bookies saw all this money pouring in on bets for Germany and there were intent on doing everything they could to make sure Germany didn’t way. One betting agency, William Hill, was quoted saying “we don’t much mind who wins the World Cup at this stage, as long as it isn’t’ Germany.”

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Argentina vs. Germany: World Cup Preview

Posted July 3, 2010 – 1:08 am in: Soccer

Germany and Argentina features two soccer powerhouses who have a budding rivalry in Saturday’s quarterfinal match.

From the 2006 World Cup in the quarterfinals, Germany eliminated Argentina on penalty kicks in a game that ended with players and staff from both teams clashing. Contentious match between two of the world’s best, a war of words has preceded Saturday’s match, and fans will be treated to a hard-fought.

German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has criticized them for their apparent ability to influence officials and accused Argentina of a “lack of respect” for the game. “You see how they gesticulate, how they try to influence the referee. That is not part of the game. That is a lack of respect. They are like that. We should not be provoked by them,” Schweinsteiger said.

To win Group D, Germany played just well enough, winning against Australia and Ghana but suffering a loss to Serbia. However, they started the knockout stage very well, defeating England 4-1. Their young stars have been tremendous in the tournament. For Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller overcoming doubts that this World Cup was too soon, as they have been magnificent. Ozil has played so well that Werder Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs has stated that he has outshone Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi, who is widely regarded as the world’s best player.

For Germany, Argentina represents a much bigger challenge than any other team they have faced. To win all four of their games, they are one of two teams and they feature the always-intimidating Messi. In addition to Messi, Argentina has joint top scorer Gonzalo Higuain who has scored four goals in the tournament.

Saturday’s match should be something special. The two teams feature some of the world’s best young play and both teams are very evenly matched. As the international soccer giants seek to advance to the semifinals, Schweinsteiger’s words will certainly be in the minds of both teams.

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NFL minicamps: Pittsburgh Steelers

Posted June 12, 2010 – 1:53 am in: Football

The Pittsburgh Steelers offseason started without Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger is under suspension due to off the field issues regarding a recent law suit. He has been the leader of this team for years. The Steelers needed to make the offseason acquisition of Byron Leftwich, as they will have to wait for Roethlisberger to return. He will be cleared to begin working out with the team again though as the offseason progresses.

At the mini camp, Byron Leftwich was present. He is expected by many to be the starting quarterback. Last season Dennis Dixon filled in for Roethlisberger and at camp the Steelers coaches seemed to be very open to giving him more playing time this season until Roethlisberger returns.

Football odds favorite, Maurkice Pouncey, a center from Florida, took part in the recent mini camp. Pouncey looked good and should be a big help to their offensive line. It looks like he may end up playing in the guard position in the NFL. Leftwich is not known for being a mobile quarterback and will need a good line in front of him to succeed in his time as the starting quarterback.

Some of the biggest news for the Steelers involves wide receiver Limas Sweed. Sweed ruptured his Achilles tendon during mini camp and will be out of the lineup for 4-6 months. It is expected that he will return to the lineup early in the season. He may miss the first few games.

The Steelers have a lot of question marks at this point of the offseason with their quarterbacks, but things look good overall in camp.

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History of Greyhound Racing – U.S

Posted June 1, 2010 – 12:27 am in: Greyhound Racing

Throughout its history, Greyhound Racing in the United States has been an interesting thing. It seems that Greyhound tracks struggled to stay afloat, even in early history. This is best supported by the nature of the sport in the 1920s. Men would move from area to area setting up tracks and have people bet on dogs. Greyhound Racing struggled to survive until it was brought to Florida, even though there was popularity in many of the areas.

Today, Greyhound Racing has its own trials. With local laws also helping in regulation, the racing is regulated on a state to state basis. There are many states that allow the sport, but it seems like many of the states around the country are taking away the support that they used to grant towards the sport.

Recently several states have stopped conducting races. In the past, Massachusetts, Kansas, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon and South Carolina all have had Greyhound Racing, but currently do not conduct races any longer. Massachusetts had a law passed that banned racing, but the majority of the other states simply do not conduct races even though it is perfectly legal to do so.

The current popularity of the sport may be demonstrated by this. In the gambling aspect, the majority of viewers of the sport like. Unfortunately any sport that is so richly entrenched in gambling will have opposition from others in the public. There are many people that are more openly opposed to racing, with recent worries about gambling addiction, coupled with the animal rights movement.

Birmingham, Caliente, Corpus Christi, Dairyland, and Daytona Beach are the more popular tracks to race at today.

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Action underway for Junior World Rugby Trophy

Posted May 31, 2010 – 11:13 pm in: Rugby

In Russia, the IRB (International Rugby Board) Junior World Rugby Trophy is a second tier international rugby competition that is underway. This event has taken place for the third year. In the past two years Chile and Romania have been big performers in the tournament, finishing in the top 4 each year.

In this year’s play, Chile is not involved but Romania is back and playing very strong. Romania has managed to win 2 of 3 and is currently in the second place position of Pool A with 9 points, in their first 3 matches.

So far, Italy has been the story of the competition. Securing a 3-0 record atop Pool A, they have managed to win all of their games to this point. In their three games they have managed to score a whopping 120 points. The total points scored by Papua New Guinea in the entire 3 days played, is lower than this average of 40 points a game. Italy has also surrendered just 19 total points. The highest of all teams, they have 14 points in the standings.

In Pool B, Japan is leading the way. Japan has tied 1 match and won 2 out of their three total matches. In Pool B, they have played solid defense, surrendering the lowest point total of all teams. They have also managed to score more points than any team with the exception of Italy. For Italy, Japan looks to be a formidable foe as time moves on if they can hold off Russia, who is on their tail.

Russia has struggled to score points even though they have won 2 of 3 matches. They have actually surrendered more points than they have scored themselves, despite their positive record. This is a disturbing fact for a team that is hoping to compete in the competition.

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Aston Villa: Sixth for the third year in a row

Posted May 12, 2010 – 4:21 am in: Soccer

Aston Villa ended sixth in the Barclay’s Premier League, and classified to the play off of the UEFA Europa League. However, the team could not take advantage of the bad season Liverpool and Everton had, and they saw Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City took the place of the other two, leaving the Villans with the same place of the previous two years. Aston finished only six points behind the fourth place and from the right to play the Play Off of the UEFA Champions League.
In a season where AstonVilla defeated Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool one time each, the difference between the sixth place and a place little higher were the matches against Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City, 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively: From 12 possible points, Aston only obtained 4 against their direct rivals at the table of positions.
With 13 goals in 36 games, Gabriel Agbonlahor was the Villa’s Premier League top goal scorer, followed by the veteran John Carew with 10. Meanwhile, James Milner played a great season, and his team recognized him with the Player of the Year award. He also won the Goal of the Season award the Villans give, for his goal against Sunderland: a powerful kick from four meters behind the penalty arc that incrusted the ball in the right angle of the goal. You could also get in on action by betting on various sportsbook websites offering world cup betting and club football betting.

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MLB series preview: Yankees and Tigers Showdown in Comerica

Posted May 7, 2010 – 2:49 am in: Baseball

The New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers will be meeting each other for the first time this season at Comerica Park. The Yankees look to continue their hot streak to the season by winning their ninth out of tenth series to open up the year. After Detroit faces Cleveland, they will be looking to beat the Yankees since they were swept by the Twins at Target Field.

On Monday, Yankees will send struggling Javier Vazquez to the mound to face a resurgent Dontrelle Willis. In his last start against the White Sox, he allowed three home runs in three innings. Willis is trying to build on his last start where he got his first victory in over a year.

On Tuesday, the probable starter for the Yankees is Andy Pettitte but he came out of the game Wednesday due to some tightness in his arm. Joe Girardi has listed him day to day and will make a decision closer to the game. Pettitte has been tremendous this year with a 4-0 record and an ERA under 2.10. Detroit will send Rick Porcello to the mound who is struggling so far in his second year with a 2-3 record and an ERA over 7. He will look to bounce back.

The finale of the series, the Yankees probable pitcher is Phil Hughes. Hughes has been impressive so far this season. Hughes is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA. Detroit will be sending veteran Jeremy Bonderman who is 1-1 with an ERA over 5.

Both teams are built similarly and it should be a fun series to watch.

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The Preakness Stakes – Horse Racing

Posted April 28, 2010 – 11:50 pm in: Horse Racing

Horse Racing has been around for centuries and it is a sport with a very rich history of culture and tradition. In America, Pimlico Race Track, found in Baltimore, Maryland, is one the most well known race tracks. Because it is the host of one of the Triple Crown Races, namely the Preakness Stakes, which is one of the reasons it has become so famous in Kentucky Derby Betting.

The Maryland Juvenile Championship, the Rollicking Stakes, the Challedon Stakes, and The Maryland Million among others are the variety of stakes events to which the Preakness Stakes is actually the home. In the sport of horse racing, it is highly regarded sport and it is the second oldest track in the United States, the oldest one being Saratoga.

The idea of the track was contributed by H. Sanford, John Hunter, and Oden Bowie (who was the Maryland Governor at the time) and on October 25, 1870, Pimlico was officially opened. They agreed on an initial purse of $15,000 and began the construction of the course.

The race track was given the name “Pimlico” and the Maryland Jockey Club soon purchased it, as the race track was being constructed. The whole track took up about 70 acres and was completed in time for the 1870 dinner party. The Preakness Stakes was born as the horse who won the first race was “Preakness”, thus the name

Ever since then, this track has seen the likes of the horse Seabiscuit among others and has been a renowned course. The Magna Entertainment Corp handled the track most recently, until it went bankrupt last year. What it is today and future events will only add to that culture which has made Pimlico so famous, all of these different events add to that rich history that make Pimlico.

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Kentucky Derby Horse Preview: Discreetly Mine

Posted April 14, 2010 – 11:39 pm in: Horses

Todd Pletcher is one of the greatest trainers of all times, Based on his awards and credentials. In the Kentucky Derby he has started an impressive 24 horses and has won the Eclipse Award numerous times. Yet there is still a missing piece to his list of accomplishments:  to train a Kentucky Derby-winning horse. Including Discreetly Mine, This year, he has many potential winners.

With $340,000, Discreetly Mine is currently 15th on the graded stakes earnings list. Winning by 1½ length over Tempted to Tapit, His lone graded stakes win came at the Risen Star Stakes (G2). He finished 2nd at the Futurity Stakes (G2) and Champagne Stakes (G1).  Most recently, he was the 4th place finisher at the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.

Seemingly assured to start in the Kentucky Derby Discreetly Mine is one of a handful of Pletcher-trained horses. He is also the trainer for Derby favorite Eskendereya. While topping the leader board in purse earnings in 2004, 2005, and 2006, He won four consecutive Eclipse Awards as outstanding Trainer of the Year.

E. Paul Robsham is the breeder who owns Discreetly Mine. He is the son of Mineshaft and Pretty Discreet. As the grandson of Seattle Slew, winner of the Triple Crown in 1977, Mineshaft was the 2003 Horse of the year.

Discreetly Mine appears to have the earnings and credentials to start With just a few weeks before the Kentucky Derby. With two of Pletcher’s other Derby hopefuls, Mission Impazible and Rule, he was reported to be training at Palm Meadows, Most recently.

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