09/05/2008 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Top-10 player Alicia Molik has announced her retirement from professional tennis.
The 27-year-old Aussie had her career derailed by an inner ear infection in the spring of 2005. The problem, which affected her vision and balance, knocked her out of the sport for almost a year.
After two years of trying to fight her way back to the upper echelon of the game, Molik called it quits this week after battling a series of injuries over the past couple of years.
"It's tiring and it's very draining but I guess it's a number of things culminating," Molik said. "I've spent a lot of time thinking. I did have a huge setback three years ago, with my middle ear problem. It took a while to get back, and since then I've just struggled with a few more things that I never imagined would come along the way. But that isn't the only thing. I think I'm still young enough to focus my energies on something that I feel is again challenging."
In 2004, Molik won three WTA events and a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney. The next season, Molik became the first Aussie woman in more than 20 years to crack the Top-10.
Molik's singles career on the circuit was highlighted by five titles and the aforementioned bronze medal. She was also a Top-10 player in doubles, winning seven titles, including two majors. Molik reached three Grand Slam mixed doubles finals and represented Australia in Fed Cup play for eight years and at three Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008).
<< Torrid Astros head to Colorado for key series
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have had to put together a pair of
lengthy winning streaks to stay in the National League wild-card race, while
the Colorado Rockies are still in the hunt due to a weak NL West.
The Astros and
<< Marlins get chance to end recent woes against Cardinals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been over a month since the Florida Marlins won
back-to-back games. It's been over five years since they posted consecutive
wins over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Marlins start up a three-game set with
<< CC tries to stop Brewers' skid in game two with Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southpaw CC Sabathia can continue a masterful streak in the
National League when the Milwaukee Brewers host the San Diego Padres tonight
in game two of a four-game series from Miller Park.
The 6-foot-7, 290-pound Sabat
<< Cubs head to Cincinnati hoping to end rough stretch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With two injured aces, a season-high losing streak and a
horrid homestand despite having the best record as the host in the National
League this season -- maybe the Chicago Cubs really are cursed.
Chicago will try t
Men's semis on tap for Saturday at U.S. Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The men's semifinals are scheduled
to be staged Saturday at the U.S. Open, where top-ranked Rafael Nadal will
take on sixth-seeded Andy Murray and second-seeded and reigning four-time
champion Roger Fe
U.S. names Davis Cup squad for semis >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The USTA and captain Patrick McEnroe
announced that the defending champions named world No. 8 Andy Roddick, No. 9
James Blake and the doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan to represent the U.S.
in the 2008 Davis C
LPGA changes tune on language requirement >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Facing substantial criticism, the LPGA
Tour announced Friday that it would rescind a recently-announced policy that
would have required players to learn and speak English.
The tour was to call for
Orioles to bring back Trembley in 2009 >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dave Trembley will manage the Orioles for at
least one more season, and maybe more.
The Baltimore Orioles have exercised their option on Trembley for the 2009
season and added a club option for 2010, the
MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds
With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.
Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season. Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money.
This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy. A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:
| Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame) Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma) Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State) Michael Bush (RB, Louisville) Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia) Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville) Chris Leak (QB, Florida) Mike Hart (RB, Michigan) Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State) Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame) Drew Tate (QB, Iowa) Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal) Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn) Chad Henne (QB, Michigan) Kyle Wright (QB, Miami) Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State) Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama) JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU) Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State) Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina) Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech) |
5-2 7-2 7-1 10-1 10-1 12-1 12-1 18-1 18-1 20-1 30-1 35-1 35-1 40-1 50-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 |
For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.
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 won’t 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 doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s 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. Where’s 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, don’t 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 won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m 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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting