08/25/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristie Kerr's playoff victory Sunday at the Safeway Classic moved the American to sixth in this week's Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings.
Kerr jumped up two places thanks to her first victory since last year's major triumph at the U.S. Women's Open.
Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, Yani Tseng, Suzann Pettersen and Paul Creamer rounded out the top five once again this week.
Kerr came in sixth, followed by Ji-Yai Shin and Karrie Webb, who both dropped one spot to accommodate Kerr's ascension.
Helen Alfredsson, who lost to Kerr in the playoff, continued her resurgence. The Evian Masters winner climbed up five places to No. 9 this week.
Seon-Hwa Lee, Jeong Jang and Inbee Park all fell one to spots 10-12. Angela Park rose two to 13th, while Maria Hjorth and Eun-Hee Ji each dropped two rungs.
Momoko Ueda, Jee Young Lee and Yuri Fudoh stayed pat in 16th-18th. Hee-Won Han jumped up four to 19th, while Morgan Pressel slipped one to round out the top 20.
Sophie Gustafson, who also lost in the playoff, picked up nine places to No. 30.
<< K-Rod captures AL weekly honor
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez has been
selected as the American League Player of the Week for the period ending
August 24.
Rodriguez picked up three saves last week, including his 50th of the sea
<< Pirates obtain C Diaz
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired catcher
Robinzon Diaz from the Toronto Blue Jays Monday as the player to be named in
the August 21 deal that sent infielder Jose Bautista to the Jays.
The 24-year-old
<< SEC - Florida Really the Team to Beat?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everywhere you look, it's Georgia this and
Georgia that. The whole world is suddenly in love with the Bulldogs, and both
polls even have them in the number one spot.
Mark it down: They will not defeat the
<< This Week in Golf - August 28th through August 31st
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP, TPC
Boston, Norton, Massachusetts - It's week two for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and
Vijay Singh, by virtue of his playoff win at The Barclays, is the leader in
the race for
Logano replacing Stewart in No.20 Car in 2009 >>
Huntersville, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Gibbs Racing named 18-year-old Joey
Logano as driver of the No.20 Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009.
Logano will replace Tony Stewart, who is leaving JGR at the end of the season
to serv
Cincinnati Bengals 2008 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals' summer has already gone much better
than the organization's spring.
It was April when the Bengals looked to be on the verge of becoming the
"Bungles" all over again.
The beginning of the month sa
Pittsburgh Steelers 2008 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The honeymoon period for Mike Tomlin lasted nine games.
The first-year Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and his team found themselves at
7-2 soon after passing the halfway pole of the 2007 NFL season, and
suggestions that th
Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Davenport win at U.S. Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Olympic gold medalist Elena
Dementieva of Russia and former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and
Lindsay Davenport of the United States were among the winners on the first day
of acti
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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