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10/30/2009 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golf legend Gary Player has been awarded the first ever Breeders' Cup Sports and Racing Excellence Award.
The Breeders' Cup Sports and Racing Excellence Award honors an individual who has established a career of excellence in a chosen profession and also maintains a passionate interest as an owner, breeder or participant in the Thoroughbred racing industry.
"I am chuffed at being selected for this inaugural award," said Player from his stud farm in South Africa, "and delighted to accept it on behalf of all horse lovers around the world. If I had to choose golf over horses, I would miss my clubs."
Gary Player Stud Farm is recognized throughout the world for breeding high quality thoroughbred race horses. The farm, which covers 20,000 acres, has been in operation since 1974 and has produced many stakes winners including Pinehurst, World Over, Foreign Source, Kadarko, Foolish Pride, Creator and Superwood.
"Demonstrating that same commitment to excellence which made him the world's greatest international golfer, Gary's outstanding success as a thoroughbred breeder and passionate supporter of horse racing makes him an extraordinary first recipient of our Sports and Racing Award," said Breeders' Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli.
"On behalf of our board, the racing industry and Gary's many fans and followers around the world, we are extremely proud to present him with this honor at the Breeders' Cup."
The Sports and Racing Excellence Award will be presented to Gary Player at Santa Anita Park on Thursday, November 5. The award itself is a Steuben crystal.
<< Semifinals set at Volvo World Match Play
Casares, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Kim, Robert Allenby, Masters
champion Angel Cabrera and Ross Fisher advanced to Saturday's semifinals of
the Volvo World Match Play Championship.
On Friday, the four groups involved in
<< Granderson earns Marvin Miller Man of the Year award
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson
was named the recipient of the 2009 Marvin Miller Man of the Year award.
The award is named for the founding executive director of the MLB Players
Associatio
<< Pujols named Player of the Year by peers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert
Pujols was honored as the Player of the Year in voting among his major league
peers.
Pujols, also the NL's Outstanding Player, had one of his best statistic
<< Chelsea quintet on shortlist for FIFA POY award
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea quintet Frank Lampard, John Terry,
Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien have been included on a 23-
man shortlist for this season's FIFA World Player of the Year award.
England inter
UConn unanimously tops preseason women's poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut women's
basketball team is once again atop the Associated Press poll to start the
upcoming season.
The Huskies, who went 39-0 and won their sixth national cham
McGrew named as full-time crew chief for Earnhardt Jr. >>
Talladega, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hendrick Motorsports on Friday named Lance
McGrew the full-time crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No.88 Chevrolet,
effective immediately.
McGrew, 41, took over crew chief duties for Earnhardt Jr. o
SEC adopts new penalties for criticizing officials >>
Birmingham, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeastern Conference has strengthened
its penalties for publicly criticizing league officials.
Instead of reprimands, such as those given to Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin
and Mississippi State's Da
Eagles RB Westbrook questionable vs. Giants >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian
Westbrook missed practice Friday and is officially listed as questionable for
Sunday's game against the Giants.
Westbrook suffered a concussion in last Monday'
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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