Dushevina reaches semis in rainy Stockholm

Tennis Betting Lines

08/03/2007 - Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eighth-seeded Russian Vera Dushevina was the lone quarterfinal winner on a wet Friday at $145,000 Nordic Light Open.

Dushevina snuck past Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 on the hardcourts at Stockholm Olympic Stadium.

Three other quarterfinals were either suspended or postponed because of rain on Day 5. German Julia Goerges was leading third-seeded Frenchwoman Emilie 2-0 in the first set when play was called for the day.

Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland was scheduled to meet Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki and Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova was ready to take on France's Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, but those bouts were postponed until Saturday.

Three quarterfinals and both semifinals will be on Saturday's schedule here.

Lasveggas Tennis Betting News

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Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake begins the post-Adu era Saturday night against Houston, which is unbeaten in its last 11 Major League Soccer games. Although phenom Freddy Adu didn't play in Real's last five MLS games

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Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after suffering a spinal cord concussion, Denver Broncos linebacker Warrick Holdman was discharged from Sky Ridge Medical Center on Friday. Holdman was injured during Thursday's morning pr

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Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England notched one of its biggest wins Thursday to secure its spot atop the Eastern Conference, but goalie Matt Reis believes the team needs to continue to separate itself. The Revolution beat Kansas

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Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago will try to continue its resurgence into the Eastern playoff picture when it hosts the Columbus Crew Saturday night at Toyota Park. The Fire, who are primed to climb out of the Eastern Confer

Mariners bring up Jones >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners recalled outfielder Adam Jones from their Triple-A farm club on Friday. Jones, who hit .314 with 25 homers and 84 RBI in 101 games with Tacoma, will be available to play in Friday's

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Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ruben Gotay went 2-for-4 with a run-scoring single as the New York Mets scored four runs in the ninth inning to down the Chicago Cubs, 6-2, in the opener of a three-game set at Wrigley Field. Orlando Her

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Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens signed free agent Patrice Brisebois to a one-year contract on Friday, returning the 36-year-old defenseman to where he spent the first 14 years of his career. Brisebois, a membe

A's place Chavez on DL >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed third baseman Eric Chavez on the 15-day disabled list Friday with lower back spasms. The move is retroactive to July 27. Chavez has not appeared in a game since July 26 and has ma

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Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. waited out a short 45- minute rain delay then went out and captured the pole for Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway. Going out as the first qualifier after the tra

El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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