Carter and Orlando stay hot with win over Hornets

Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2010 - Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter scored 34 of his season-high 48 points in the second half, rallying Orlando to a second straight victory, 123-117 over the New Orleans Hornets.

Carter scored nine during a 19-0 rally in the second half of Sunday's 96-89 win at Boston. The veteran was on fire again in the late going against the Hornets. He finished the game 19-of-27 from the field, including 6-of-10 from three-point range. Carter missed just four of his 17 field goal attempts in the second half.

Dwight Howard powered his way for 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Magic, who won for the sixth time in seven games. Orlando rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half.

Peja Stojakovic scored 29 and pulled down nine rebounds for New Orleans, which has lost four of five. David West and Darren Collison each chipped in 27 points for the Hornets, who had a four-game road winning streak stopped. Collison also had nine assists.

Wmonster Basketball Betting News

<< Muse, Boston College top BU in Beanpot final
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Almeida picked up the game-winning goal early in the third period, as Boston College held off a late Boston University rally to post a 4-3 victory in the championship game of the 58th annual Beanpot

<< Bryant sidelined for second straight game
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant missed Monday's game against San Antonio due to a sprained left ankle. It's the second straight game Bryant has sat out. He was also absent on Satur

<< No. 25 Pitt breezes past Robert Morris
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ashton Gibbs scored a game-high 20 points, and 25th-ranked Pittsburgh crushed non-conference foe Robert Morris, 77-53, at Petersen Events Center. Jermaine Dixon added 18 points for the Panthers (18-6), w

<< Duke uses balanced attack to dismantle UNC
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keturah Jackson and Bridgette Mitchell each scored 12 points in a balanced attack for eighth-ranked Duke, which crushed 18th-ranked North Carolina, 79-51 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Krystal Thomas added

<< Richards caps Flyers' comeback win over Devils
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Richards tallied the game-deciding power-play goal late in the third period, as Philadelphia recovered from a two-goal deficit to top New Jersey, 3-2, at Wachovia Center. James van Riemsdyk a

Jayhawks capitalize on turnovers to top Texas >>
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Morris posted 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists, as No. 1 Kansas overcame a poor shooting performance by clamping down defensively on the 14th-ranked Longhorns to earn an 80-68 Big 12 victory

Stewart, Yip help Avs upend Blues >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Stewart had a goal and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche downed the St. Louis Blues, 5-2, at Pepsi Center. Brandon Yip had two goals while Paul Stastny added a goal and an assist for the Avalanche

Lombardi's career night propels Phoenix over road-weary Oilers >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matthew Lombardi had a career-high five-point night with a pair of goals and three assists, as Phoenix blew out Edmonton, 6-1, for its seventh win in eight games. Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 33 shots for t

Lady Vols rally to beat Vandy >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelley Cain scored a career-high 19 points and No. 5 Tennessee came back from an eight-point deficit to top Vanderbilt, 69-60, to sweep the regular season series. Glory Johnson, Angie Bjorklund and Aly

James, Westbrook take home NBA weekly honors >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for the period ending Februar

Horse Betting

(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.

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

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.