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05/07/2010 - Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Motherwell needs a win over Rangers on Sunday to clinch fourth place in the Scottish Premier League and secure a spot in the Europa League for next season.
But if they are successful, they can point to Wednesday's thrilling 6-6 draw with Hibernian as a major reason why.
Hibs entered Wednesday's match one point back of Motherwell for fourth, and after they took a 6-2 lead into the final 25 minutes of the game, it appeared that the Steelmen would need some help on the final day of the season if they were going to claim a European spot.
However, they responded with four unanswered goals the rest of the way, including a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer from Lukas Jutkiewicz.
"We gave ourselves an awful lot to do, but that makes it all the sweeter when we finally did come back," Jutkiewicz said of Wednesday's match.
"Tonight was a really special night. We felt like we could score every time we went forward, but it was unbelievable that we could come back from 6-2 down with 25 minutes left. With the way we came back, and the character we showed to score such a late and dramatic goal, it was probably the most exciting game of my career."
It was also a huge result because Motherwell controls its own destiny, which will be decided at the Ibrox Stadium against the league champions.
Walter Smith's men secured the title with a few games to spare, but after their 2-1 loss to Celtic in midweek, Gers will no doubt be looking to end the season on a positive note.
The two sides have played three times in the league this season, with Motherwell earning a pair of draws at home but getting thrashed 6-1 in their last visit to Glasgow.
Rangers may have no real incentive to win the game, but Jutkiewicz believes that they will be up for it, and that his team is going there with confidence.
"Rangers will be really up for the game," the striker said. "They are getting the trophy and there will be a big crowd, so we know that it will be a really difficult match. But the last time we played Rangers we were terrific and really unlucky not to win, so we will go there with the confidence that we can get a result."
Hibernian will be watching that result closely because they can take over fourth with a win at Dundee United and a Motherwell loss or draw, while Sunday's other match features second-placed Celtic taking on Hearts, with neither side having anything to gain.
Saturday's slate of games includes a pair of relatively meaningless matches as Aberdeen visits St Mirren and Hamilton takes on St Johnstone, but all the focus will be on Rugby Park as the relegation battle will be decided on the final day.
Kilmarnock holds a two-point lead on last-placed Falkirk, meaning that a draw would be enough to keep Killie up, while Falkirk can escape the drop despite spending the majority of the season on the bottom of the table if they can come away with a win.
<< Lyon desperate to get back to Champions League
Valenciennes, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After reaching the semifinals of the
Champions League for the first time in club history, Lyon is eager to return
to Europe's premier club competition, but they must first get back into the
top thr
<< Lipscomb F Hodzic withdraws for NBA Draft
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lipscomb University forward Adnan Hodzic has
withdrawn from the 2010 NBA Draft and will return to the school for his senior
season.
Hodzic had entered the draft on April 8, but did not hire an agent.
"By
<< Montreal to join MLS in 2012
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal will be the home of Major League
Soccer's 19th franchise, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber and
expansion team owner Joey Saputo announced on Friday during a press
confere
<< Penn National joins MID in Maryland Jockey Club
Wyomissing, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn National Gaming and MI Development
(MID) announced Friday morning the establishment of a joint venture to own and
operate the Maryland Jockey Club.
The Maryland Jockey Club conducts thoroughbred
Get on Board with Untested Pitchers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When it comes to wagering on baseball,
gamblers usually shy away from the unknown. It's easy to back the likes of Tim
Lincecum and Roy Halladay, but putting your money on rookies is another story.
However,
Ancelotti hoping for more of the same >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea is just one win away from claiming
its third Premiership title in six years, and with a home contest against
bottom-half side Wigan on Sunday, the Blues will be firm favorites to get the
win.
AL Central: Tough week for Tigers and their fans >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the Detroit Tigers, Thursday's off day could not have
come at a better time.
For starters, the team had just wrapped up a stretch of 20 straight games --
through five cities -- with no rest. That journey came to a halt
NL West: Andre's been a giant for Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the Chicago Bulls needed a shot in the clutch the
entire universe knew who was getting the ball.
Baseball is a bit different and fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers have been
getting their own Michael Jordan-l
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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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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