United fails to lure Brazilian starlet
Soccer Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gremio has rejected a request from Manchester United to take rising star Douglas Costa on trial.
The 18-year-old attacking midfielder is one of the brightest talents in South American football and has been linked with moves to England, Italy and Spain in recent months.
United are reported to be at the head of the queue to sign the Brazil Under-20 international but the player's club side, Gremio, have turned down a request from the Premier League champions to take a closer look at Douglas on a two- week trial.
"We have said to them that this will not happen," said club president Duda Kroeff. "Douglas is not at the stage where he would go through such a situation."
Douglas is reported to have a $33 million buyout clause in his contract despite playing only a handful of first-team games for Gremio.
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned struggling pitcher Ian Snell to Indianapolis of the International League on Thursday. Snell has made 15 starts this season, compiling a 2-8 record with a 5.36 earned r
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Catania, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Argentinian goalkeeper Mariano Andujar has
returned to Serie A after joining Catania.
The 25-year-old former Palermo shot-stopper has joined Rossazzurri from
Estudiantes. Andujar made 21 appearanc
<< Santana outshines Carpenter as Mets edge Cards
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Santana was solid on the mound, and Nick
Evans' two-run double in the fourth inning was the difference, as the Mets
edged St. Louis, 3-2, in the finale of a four-game set at Citi Field.
Fernando Tat
<< Bayern dismisses Lucio reports
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich President Franz Beckenbauer
has categorically dismissed rumors linking Lucio with a departure from the
Allianz Arena.
The Brazil defender's future in Germany has been thrown into do
<< Ordonez, Santiago power Tigers to sweep of Cubs
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Armando Galarraga got his first win in nearly
two months and the Detroit Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago
Cubs with a 6-5 win at Comerica Park.
Galarraga (4-7) threw six innings and gave u
Released defensive backs Patrick Body, Ronyell Whitaker, Jasper Johnson and Nick Kordic, wide receiver Terry Firr, offensive linemen Jean-Francois Morin-Robeerge, Matt O'Meara and Thaddeus Coleman, running back Joe Smith, defensive linemen Monte
San Jose waives Denton, Gray >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes placed defender Eric
Denton and midfielder Kelly Gray on waivers Thursday.
Denton appeared in 10 matches this season and had an assist. In 2008 he started
26 games at left back.
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St. Louis to host WPS All-Star Game >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Women's Professional Soccer announced
Thursday that The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo., will be the site
of the 2009 WPS All-Star Game on Aug. 30.
The league will employ a unique format
Brazil advances to play U.S. in Confed Cup final >>
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Alves scored in the 87th
minute, helping Brazil edge South Africa 1-0 on Thursday in the Confederations
Cup to set up a rematch with the United States in the final.
Alves, who entered
Dundee aims to keep Gomis >>
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dundee United manager Craig Levein is
hoping to hold off interest in Morgaro Gomis this summer.
Gomis, 23, is under contract with the Terrors until 2011, but has been the
subject of interest fro
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW 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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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
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