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07/24/2010 - Edmonton, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power won the pole for Sunday's Honda Indy Edmonton, while his teammate, Helio Castroneves, qualified on the outside pole to give Team Penske another front row start in the IZOD IndyCar Series this season.
Power rounded the 1.96-mile, 14-turn Edmonton City Centre Airport course in one minute, 0.7126 seconds for his sixth pole of the season and the eighth of his IndyCar career. He started on the pole and won his first IndyCar race one year ago at Edmonton.
"It's awesome to get the car on the pole again," Power said. "All the points count, and I know here it's important to be at the front, because it is tough to pass. If all the strategy goes well, like it did last year, it makes it easier to win. It's a long day tomorrow. We have a good starting spot, and we have to keep going to win this championship."
Castroneves came up short of winning the pole by qualifying 0.0765 seconds behind Power.
"We had a very good lap out there, and I just made a little mistake, and this place is about not making mistakes," Castroneves said.
Team Penske has dominated qualifying in the series this season by winning the pole for nine of the last 10 races. Last weekend at Toronto, Justin Wilson ended Penske's streak of eighth consecutive poles.
Scott Dixon, who won the inaugural 2008 IndyCar race at Edmonton, qualified third, while his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and defending series champion, Dario Franchitti, took the fourth spot.
Power will attempt to win a series record-tying third consecutive race. He won on the street/road courses at Toronto and Watkins Glen, NY earlier this month. The Australian driver currently holds a 43-point lead over Franchitti.
Ryan Briscoe from Penske and KV Racing's E.J. Viso will share the third row.
Rookie Simona de Silvestro, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Wilson and Raphael Matos completed the top-10.
Danica Patrick did not make it out of the first of three qualifying sessions and will start 21st in the 25-car field.
Canadians Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani qualified 15th and 19th, respectively.
<< Suzuki, Cust power A's past White Sox
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Suzuki had three hits, including a home
run, to lead the Oakland Athletics in a 10-2 rout of the Chicago White Sox in
the second of three games at Oakland Coliseum.
Suzuki, who signed a contract extens
<< Bayne claims Nationwide pole at ORP
Clermont, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Bayne won his second consecutive pole
in the Nationwide Series by posting the fastest lap in Saturday's qualifying
for the Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
Bayne turned a lap of
<< Giants place Affeldt on disabled list
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have placed pitcher
Jeremy Affeldt on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain.
The veteran left-hander has appeared in 37 games in relief this season and has
posted a rec
<< New York's Barajas leaves game
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mets catcher Rod Barajas left Saturday's
game against Los Angeles in the sixth inning with a strained right oblique.
The veteran receiver had singled in a run to cut the Dodgers' lead to 2-1 and
was re
Loney's HR in 13th gets Dodgers past reeling Mets >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney hit the game-winning home run
in the bottom of the 13th to lift Los Angeles to a 3-2 win over New York in
the third meeting of a four-game set.
George Sherrill (1-1) tossed a scoreless
Isner, Fish reach final in Atlanta >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded American John Isner advanced to
the final of the Atlanta Tennis Championships after defeating Kevin Anderson
in three sets.
Isner will have an opportunity for his second career title agai
Giants' Velez hit by foul ball >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco Giants outfielder Eugenio Velez
left Saturday's game against Arizona after being hit in the head by a foul
ball.
During the top of the fourth inning, the Giants' Pat Burrell fouled a bal
Houston's struggles continue at Columbus >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew extended their lead atop
Major League Soccer's Eastern table with a 3-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on
Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
Edgar Renteria scored in the first half, and An
(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.
After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.
Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.
Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.
So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.
In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.
For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.
The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.
The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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