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10/12/2011 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Sunday, October 16. Race: Las Vegas Indy 300. Site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 3:45 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. Television: ABC. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite.
Eighteen points, two drivers and one race to go.
That's the point separation between leader Dario Franchitti and second-place Will Power heading into this weekend's IZOD IndyCar Series season-finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This will be the first time the series has competed at this 1.5-mile track since 2000.
Franchitti is attempting to win his third consecutive and fourth overall IndyCar championship. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver would become just the third person to win three titles in a row on the racing circuit, joining Sebastian Bourdais and Ted Horn. Franchitti would also join drivers such as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears and Bourdais with at least four championships.
"I think with the three we've won right now, I've always felt we had the capability to do it, but having the capability to do it and actually getting it done are two different things," Franchitti said. "I'm very proud of the achievement -- the championships and the Indianapolis 500s [wins]. As far as right now, I'm really just focused on this weekend and trying to make it four.
"The whole organization, the Target team, is very much of a similar thing. All the stuff that was done in the past, that's fun and everything, but this is about trying to get the job done this weekend."
Last year, Power held a comfortable 59-point lead over Franchitti with four races to go. The last four were contested on 1.5-mile ovals. Power finished 16th (Chicago), eighth (Kentucky), third (Japan) and 25th (Homestead) in those races and lost the championship by five points.
"I think the biggest difference for me this year is just I'm a lot further along on ovals," Power said. "I feel as though every time I go into a weekend I have a chance of winning them. Obviously, we're coming from behind this time, but at the end of the day, I feel as though we've done everything as a team to prepare for this race. I think that we're in very good shape.
"Obviously, no one knows what the outcome is, but we know that we've put everything into it this year, and hopefully we can come away with a win."
Power held an 11-point lead over Franchitti heading into last week's penultimate race of the season at Kentucky. Power started on the pole and led the first 48 laps, but during the first round of pit stops, the Team Penske driver made contact with Ana Beatriz while entering his stall, causing damage to his car. He had to pit several times for repairs and ended up finishing 19th. Franchitti finished a very close second to Ed Carpenter, who claimed his first IndyCar win by a margin of just 0.0098 seconds.
There will be more than the series championship at stake in Sunday's 300-mile race at Las Vegas.
Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon has an opportunity to share a $5 million bonus with a lucky fan if he wins at Las Vegas. Wheldon, who has competed in just two races this season, is the only driver eligible for the "GoDaddy IndyCar Challenge" cash award. He will drive the No.77 car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. He was also behind the wheel of that car at Kentucky, starting 28th and finishing 14th in the 29-car field.
Wheldon has a tough task ahead of him at Las Vegas. He will have to start from the rear of the expected 34-car field.
"When you look at the depth of the field, it's going to be incredibly tough," Wheldon said. "I think we all know what this team is capable of and what everybody that's been part of the team has helped do for tracks like Vegas. I feel we'll have a very fast race car."
Nine of Wheldon's 16 career IndyCar wins have come on 1.5-mile ovals.
Las Vegas will also mark the end of Danica Patrick's seven-year career in IndyCar. Patrick, the only female to win a race in the series (Japan, 2008), is moving over to NASCAR full-time in 2012, running a full schedule in Nationwide and a partial one in Sprint Cup.
"There will definitely be things and people that I miss about IndyCar," Patrick said. "I'm especially sure on frustrating weekends [in Sprint Cup and Nationwide competition], I'll think, 'When I came here in IndyCar, maybe it was much easier.' I'm excited about the change, and I'm not afraid of change."
Patrick is currently 10th in the point standings, with her season-best finish of fifth coming at Milwaukee.
<< Roethlisberger, Wilson, Janikowski earn AFC weekly awards
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger, Buffalo Bills safety George Wilson, and Oakland Raiders kicker
Sebastian Janikowski have been selected as the AFC's top players for Week 5 of
the NFL
<< So just how bad was it in Boston?
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maybe we should have seen this coming when Terry Francona
parted ways with the Boston Red Sox just days after the regular season and
didn't seem to mind one bit.
In fact instead of being relieved of duties, Francona just l
<< Stenhouse Jr., Sadler take points battle to Charlotte
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday,
October 14. Race: Dollar General 300. Site: Charlotte Motor Speedway. Track:
1.5-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. 2010 Winner:
Brad Keselowski.
<< Johnson aiming for another Chase win at Charlotte
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday,
October 15. Race: Bank of America 500. Site: Charlotte Motor Speedway. Track:
1.5-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 334. Miles: 501. 2010 Winner:
Jamie McMurra
Lithuania coach Zutautas quits >>
Vilnius, Lithuania (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lithuania coach Raimondas Zutautas
stepped down from his position on Wednesday after his team closed out a
disappointing Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a 4-1 defeat to the Czech
Republi
Valencia's Maduro ruled out four months >>
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia defender Hedwiges Maduro is
expected to miss the next four months after tearing ligaments in his ankle
while away on international duty with the Netherlands.
Maduro was called up to t
Pujols awakens to make his mark on the postseason >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have got to where they
are -- tied 1-1 in the National League Championship Series heading into a
Game 3 matchup in St. Louis -- because of a collective effort. And although
many d
Winter Memories featured in Queen Elizabeth II >>
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winter Memories heads a field of eight three-
year-old fillies for Saturday's 28th edition of the Queen Elizabeth II
Challenge Cup at 1 1/8-miles on the turf at Keeneland. The $400,000 stakes has
a sched
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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.
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