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06/22/2010 - Polokwane, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Demichelis and Martin Palermo scored late in the second half, helping Argentina complete a perfect run through Group B of the FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece on Tuesday at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Demichelis scored the opener in the 77th minute and the 36-year-old Palermo added his first-ever World Cup goal in the 89th, as Argentina won for the third straight time in as many games to easily finish atop Group B. Greece was eliminated with the loss.
Argentina plays Mexico on Sunday in the round of 16, while South Korea also advanced from Group B with a 2-2 draw against Nigeria on Tuesday, and plays Uruguay on Saturday in the first knockout round.
Argentina dominated possession in the opening 45 minutes, but outside of a few half chances, failed to put Greece under any real pressure.
Sergio Aguero had a decent chance in the 18th minute for Argentina, but Greece goalie Alexandros Tzorvas palmed the ball wide of the left post.
Juan Veron returned to the lineup after missing Argentina's 4-1 win over North Korea and made his presence felt with a 40-yard blast that Tzorvas pushed high in the 19th.
Diego Milito created a good chance for Argentina in the 32nd, but Tzorvas dove to deflect his cross out of danger.
Maxi Rodriguez had an open look from the right side of the area in first-half stoppage time, then Lio Messi followed with a dipping 20-yard shot seconds later, but Tzorvas was able to save both to leave Argentina scoreless at halftime for the first time through three games.
Greece opened the second half with its first shot when Georgios Samaras played down a long pass to avoid Demichelis in the 48th, then curled a ball just wide of the right post.
Clemente Rodriguez drove a pass into the area that Milito was unable to reach, and Tzorvas easily grabbed the ball in the 57th. Clemente Rodriguez then fired wide left one minute later on a long-range shot.
Messi curled a long shot wide right in the 69th, and Mario Bolatti unleashed a bullet into the mid-section of Tzorvas from six yards to waste Argentina's top chance seconds later off a corner kick.
Demichelis ended Argentina's frustrations with under 15 minutes left after he headed an initial shot into Milito, then hammered the deflection home from the edge of the six-yard box.
Messi nearly sealed Argentina's win in the 89th, but Tzorvas pushed his shot wide and Palermo ran onto the rebound and easily slotted inside the right post to overtake manager Diego Maradona as the oldest Argentine player to score in the World Cup.
<< Carolina signs RW Samson
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes signed right wing
Jerome Samson to a two-year, two-way contract on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old led the Albany River Rats, Carolina's AHL affiliate, and was
tied for second in the AH
<< Lakers' Bynum to have more surgery next month
Los Angeles, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lakers center Andrew Bynum indicated
Tuesday he will undergo surgery in mid-July to repair a small tear in his
right knee.
The 22-year-old hyperextended the knee in Game 6 of the Western Con
<< Danica-mania returns to Nationwide at New Hampshire
Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, June
26. Race: New England 200. Site: New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Track: 1.058-
mile oval. Start time: 3:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 211.6. 2009 winner:
Kyle Busch.
<< Habs re-sign Plekanec to six-year deal
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens have reportedly
given forward Tomas Plekanec to a six-year contract on Tuesday.
The Montreal Gazette cited a report from TSN of Canada that said the deal is
worth $30 million.
Ravens, Hamlin agree to deal >>
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens signed safety Ken
Hamlin to a one-year deal on Tuesday.
Hamlin was released by the Dallas Cowboys in April.
The 29-year-old veteran will provide Baltimore with depth at the pos
Serena, Wozniacki, Sharapova roll; Stosur exits Wimbledon >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams began her quest for a
fourth Wimbledon title with an easy straight-set win over Portugal's Michelle
Larcher De Brito, while third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and former champion
Maria
NHL raises salary cap for 2010-11 season, extends CBA >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League on Tuesday
announced a salary cap increase of five percent for the 2010-11 season, while
also announcing the extension of the current collective bargaining agreement.
The
Alouettes sign former UNH quarterback Santos >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Walter Payton Award winner Ricky Santos
signed a contract Tuesday with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL.
Santos, the former University of New Hampshire quarterback who was named the
FCS' outstanding
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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