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07/25/2010 - Cooperstown, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Dawson became the second member of the Baseball Hall of Fame with a Montreal Expos cap on his plaque when he was inducted Sunday afternoon.
Others joining the induction party were former manager Whitey Herzog and ex- umpire Doug Harvey, who went in via the Veterans Committee.
J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Bill Madden and Giants broadcaster Jon Miller, the 35th recipient of Ford C. Frick Award, were also honored during the ceremonies.
Dawson joins Gary Carter as the only other person to be inducted as an Expo in the Hall. Carter went into the Hall of Fame in 2003.
The National League Rookie of the Year with the Montreal Expos in 1977 and the league's Most Valuable Player with the Chicago Cubs in 1987, Dawson was a .279 career hitter with 438 home runs, 1,591 runs batted in and 314 stolen bases. In addition to the Expos and Cubs, Dawson also spent time with the Boston Red Sox before ending his 21-year career with the Florida Marlins.
An eight-time All-Star, Dawson underwent 12 knee surgeries during his career but ended up with more than 400 home runs and 300 stolen bases, a feat matched by only two other players in history, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.
Herzog guided the St. Louis Cardinals to the 1982 World Series title and also led the team to the National League pennant in 1985 and 1987. Before joining the Cardinals, he skippered the Kansas City Royals to three straight American League West titles from 1976-78.
Harvey was a National League umpire for 31 seasons and was selected to work the World Series five times. He was also chosen to umpire the All-Star Game on six occasions.
Unable to make his induction speech in person due to a bout with throat cancer, the 80-year-old Harvey, the ninth umpire enshrined in Cooperstown, and the first since 1999, recorded his speech during a previous visit to Cooperstown.
"I've heard you say umpires are a necessary evil," Harvey said. "Well, we are necessary, but we're not evil. We're hard-working and dedicated people, whose primary interest is to make sure the game is played fairly."
Madden, of the New York Daily News, was the paper's Yankees beat writer from 1980-88 before becoming the News' national baseball columnist.
Also Sunday, John Fogerty became the first musician honored at the Hall of Fame induction when his classic, "Centerfield," got inducted into Cooperstown. Fogerty, strumming a baseball bat guitar, sang on stage just prior to the ceremony.
<< Rodriguez leads Houston in blanking of Reds
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wandy Rodriguez spun seven innings of one-hit
ball and received home run support from Hunter Pence and Chris Johnson, as the
Astros shut down Cincinnati, 4-0, to salvage the last of a three-game set.
Rodrigue
<< Ravens rookie Kindle suffers head injury
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens rookie linebacker Sergio
Kindle suffered injuries to his head after it is believed he fell down two
flights of stairs at a private residence in Austin, Texas.
The Ravens released a
<< Kubel's slam powers Twins past O's
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Kubel belted his seventh career grand
slam and Nick Punto had three hits with an RBI as Minnesota blasted Baltimore,
10-4, to conclude a four-game series.
Delmon Young and Jim Thome hit back-to-back
<< Brigman wins in Columbus
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.J. Brigman fired a seven-under 64 on Sunday
to come from behind and win the Children's Hospital Invitational at The Ohio
State University Scarlet Course.
Brigman finished at 10-under 274 and won by a str
Twins put Hudson on DL >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have placed second
baseman Orlando Hudson on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique
strain.
The move is retroactive to July 24. The Twins will recall catcher Jose Mora
Brewers sweep Nats >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey McGehee hit a three-run homer and
Rickie Weeks clubbed a two-run shot, as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a
three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with an 8-3 victory at Miller
Park.
Diamondbacks deal Haren to Angels >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded starting
pitcher Dan Haren to the Angels for starting pitcher Joe Saunders, reliever
Rafael Rodriguez, minor league pitcher Patrick Corbin and a player to be named
later.
Brignac homers as Rays beat Tribe >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reid Brignac hit a three-run homer, as the
Tampa Bay Rays earned a 4-2 decision over the Cleveland Indians in the rubber
match of a three-game series at Progressive Field.
Carl Crawford also knocked in
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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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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