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07/17/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emilio Renteria and Brian Carroll scored and the Columbus Crew bounced back from a mid-week loss to beat Red Bull New York, 2-0, on Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
Renteria scored in the 20th minute and Carroll scored in the 48th, as the Crew snapped the Red Bulls' five-match unbeaten streak and opened a five-point lead in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer.
Columbus (9-3-4) was upset by the Kansas City Wizards, 1-0, at home Wednesday, but returned to form in a game featuring the top two teams in the East for its seventh win in nine MLS home matches.
New York (8-6-2) was without recent addition Thierry Henry, who attended the match but was not on the roster. Henry is expected to debut on Thursday in an exhibition against English club Tottenham.
Columbus dominated nearly the entire match and the Crew turned a turnover from New York's Juan Pablo Angel into the opener in the 20th minute.
Adam Moffat took the ball from Angel near midfield, then passed to Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto turned and, from the edge of the midfield circle, slid a through ball between two New York defenders to Renteria.
Renteria took the ball just inside the area and then fired off the fingertips of Red Bulls goalie Bouna Coundoul for his third goal of the season.
New York responded with its first shot four minutes later, but Columbus goalie William Hesmer turned Dane Richards' hard shot from 12 yards around the right post.
Renteria nearly put the Crew in front by two goals, as another turnover helped him get in alone on Coundoul again. Renteria finished well to the bottom left, but the 28th-minute effort was called back for offsides.
New York finished the half with shots on goal from Seth Stammler and Tim Ream, but Hesmer easily saved both. Emmanuel Ekpo ended the half with another one- on-one chance against Coundoul for Columbus, but the New York goalie made his third save of the opening 45 minutes.
New York coach Hans Backe made two changes at halftime, but Columbus was still in control of the match early after the break and doubled its lead within five minutes.
Carroll ran onto a busted free kick just outside the area and struck a curving ball through traffic, off the fingertips of Coundoul and inside the right post in the 48th minute for his first goal of the season.
Renteria put an open header from seven yards well over the bar in the 66th off a cross from Shaun Francis, as Columbus wasted a chance to seal its ninth win.
Ekpo nearly created the third goal in the 75th when he challenged for a cross, but after a collision with Coundoul, the ball rolled wide of the right post.
Columbus' near perfect performance ended with captain Frankie Hejduk being red carded in the 89th minute. He kicked New York's Carl Robinson to get the card, and will miss the Crew's next match against the Houston Dynamo on July 24.
Hesmer made one last save with Columbus down to 10 men and finished with five for his seventh shutout of the year.
New York returns to MLS play July 31 at the Houston Dynamo, when Henry should make his league debut.
<< Brignac belts two homers as Rays top Yankees
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reid Brignac notched his first career multi-homer
game, blasting two and driving in a career-high five in the Rays' 10-5 win
over the Yankees in the second of three games.
Brignac had just three career hom
<< Wainwright strong as Cards blank Dodgers
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Skip Schumaker's run-scoring double in the
fourth inning backed Adam Wainwright's solid performance on the mound, as the
St. Louis Cardinals snuck past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0, in a pitchers'
duel at
<< Tournament host McCarron leads Reno-Tahoe Open
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tournament host Scott McCarron posted a five-under
67 on Saturday to move atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Reno-
Tahoe Open.
McCarron finished 54 holes at 10-under 206 and is one stroke ahead at M
<< Reds shuffle roster to make room for Volquez
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds officially activated
right-hander Edinson Volquez to make his season debut against the Rockies
Saturday.
Volquez, who had been out because of both Tommy John surgery and a 50
Johnson, Paulino lift Marlins in shutout of Nats >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ronny Paulino hit a two-run single in the bottom
of the second inning, and the Florida Marlins posted a 2-0 victory over
Washington in the second test of a three-game series at Sun Life Stadium.
Florida
Pavano tosses another complete game in Twins' win over ChiSox >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Pavano threw his fourth complete
game of the season, outpitching Mark Buehrle to lead the Minnesota Twins to a
3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Target Field.
Pavano (11-6), who had ne
Bautista's homer pushes Blue Jays over Orioles >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista hit a two-run homer in the
top of the eighth inning, lifting the Toronto Blue Jays over the Baltimore
Orioles, 3-2, in the second test of a three-game set at Camden Yards.
Fred Lewis h
Hart and Fielder lead Brewers over Braves >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Corey Hart's three-run double punctuated a
five-run seventh inning, as the Milwaukee Brewers doubled up the Atlanta
Braves, 6-3, in the third test of a four-game series at Turner Field.
Prince Field
Chicago, IL - New Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and star linebacker Brian Urlacher shot down reports of a rift, saying they're simply not true.
"There's nothing between us," Cutler said Thursday, when he reported to training camp. "I just want to put that to rest. There never has been anything between us."
Urlacher added: "I never said what I was quoted as saying and that's it. I have a lot of respect for Jay. I think Jay knows that."
Former Bears receiver Bobby Wade caused a stir when he told Minneapolis radio station KFAN-AM that Urlacher used a profanity while questioning Cutler's manhood during a conversation in Las Vegas last weekend. Wade, who now plays for the Vikings, said Urlacher used a profane version of the word "wimp" during the interview that had to be edited out.
go radio station WSCR-AM also reported that Urlacher had to be restrained from confronting Cutler during organized team activities.
"I wouldn't go face-to-face with Brian, anyway," Cutler said. "No, that's never happened. I've hung out with Brian away from the facility numerous times and we've always gotten along."
Urlacher, noting he was limited by a groin injury, denied the reports in an interview with the Chicago Tribune and did it again when he reported to camp.
"I didn't practice this summer, so I don't know how I would fight the guy if I didn't practice," Urlacher said. "We have no problems. I'm excited about football starting. I'm excited to have him as our quarterback."
Why would Wade say that?
"I don't know," Urlacher said. "Maybe he's jealous because we have a good quarterback now."
Cutler said the first he heard of any friction was when he got a call from Urlacher to clear the air. Urlacher, however, said he had already taken several calls from teammates wondering if the reports were true when Cutler phoned.
"He called me and I said, What's up (expletive), what are you doing?'" a grinning Urlacher said, uttering the same word he allegedly used with Wade. "It's so dumb to me that this even got to this point, but it did and then here we are."
better place after going 9-7 and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. They have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades after acquiring Cutler in an offseason trade with Denver. But there are questions about his attitude following a fallout with Broncos management and new coach Josh McDaniels.
His critics include former Bears coach Mike Ditka and former Indianapolis and Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy, one of Smith's mentors. Smith, however, said Cutler has been a model teammate so far while denying any animosity with Urlacher.
"There's no issue with Jay and Brian, except Brian and Jay are both excited about being teammates for our club this year," coach Lovie Smith said. "No more than that. We can't spend a whole lot of time on something that isn't true. I have talked to the players. Whenever something comes out, you have to address it, but it's a non-issue."
In some ways, Cutler is getting a second chance in Chicago, an opportunity to repair his reputation.
Smith said another quarterback - Michael Vick - deserves one, although he doesn't see it happening with the Bears, who lack an experienced backup. The former Atlanta Falcons star, who served a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring, said Thursday he is getting close to signing with a pro football team.
"A second chance, like everyone in society who has paid their debt to society," Smith said. "He deserves a second chance. As far as we're concerned, we like this team that we have right now."
Particularly the new quarterback.
"Me and Brian have been on a good relationship since I've been here, and I expect it to continue that way," Cutler said.
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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.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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