Dodgers withdraw offer to Manny

Baseball Betting Lines

11/15/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have withdrawn the franchise record-setting offer they made to left fielder Manny Ramirez last week, but the club is still interested in bringing the slugger back.

The offer, a two-year deal for $45 million with a club option for a third year worth another $15 million, would have been the second-highest annual salary in the majors behind New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti extended the previous offer at the general managers meetings to the 12-time All-Star and MVP of the 2004 World Series.

Though the offer expired on Thursday night, as Ramirez and agent Scott Boras were allowed to speak with other teams beginning Friday, Colletti has said he is interested in having Ramirez back in Dodgers' blue.

Boras and Ramirez will now have an opportunity to hear offers of varying length and worth from other clubs. Boras is seeking a longer-term deal, up to six years, for Ramirez.

Ramirez, who is an unrestricted free agent, just completed an eight-year, $160 million contract he signed with Boston in 2001. The Dodgers acquired the slugger from the Red Sox on July 31, and Ramirez led LA to the NL Championship Series before losing to World Series champion Philadelphia.

Rodriguez makes $27.5 million annually based on the 10-year contract he signed in December of 2007, although his yearly salary fluctuates from $32 million for the upcoming season to $20 million at the conclusion of the deal.

Ramirez hit .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBI in just 53 games after joining the Dodgers. He batted .299 with 20 homers and 68 RBI in 100 contests for Boston in 2008.

Vagesinsider Baseball Betting News

<< Yankees offer Sabathia six years, $140 million
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees offered free agent pitcher CC Sabathia a six-year, $140 million contract on Friday. Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner confirmed the offer in a story on the team's Web site. The deal

<< Wallace, Pistons send Lakers to first loss
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rasheed Wallace notched a season-high 25 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons captured a 106-95 win against the Lakers, sending Los Angeles to its first loss of the season.

<< Stoudemire's jumper, block help Suns edge Kings in OT
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amare Stoudemire hit the game-winning jumper with 4.5 seconds left in overtime and blocked the final shot attempt, and Shaquille O'Neal recorded 29 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, as the Phoenix

<< Hamhuis gives Preds overtime win over Ducks
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Hamhuis scored with 2:43 remaining in overtime and the Nashville Predators earned a rare 4-3 road win over the Anaheim Ducks. J.P. Dumont, Ryan Jones and Joel Ward also scored for the Pred

<< Harden leads No. 15 Sun Devils past Delta Devils
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Harden scored a game-high 24 points and doled out 10 assists to lead No. 15 Arizona State in an 80-64 thrashing of Mississippi Valley State in the season-opener for both schools. Ty Abbott added 18

All in the Family: Rooneys agree to keep ownership of Steelers >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Steelers will reportedly be sold to current team chairman Dan Rooney and his son, Art II, the team's president. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, fo

Davydenko rolls Murray; Djokovic next in Masters Cup final >>
Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Murray's sky-high ride to the lucrative Tennis Masters Cup semifinals came to an abrupt end Saturday, as Nikolay Davydenko closed strong in both sets to reach the final at the $4.45 million

No. 17 Miami opens season against Florida Southern >>
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 17th-ranked Miami-Florida Hurricanes will play host to the Florida Southern Moccasins on Saturday night in Coral Gables. While this game represents the season opener for Miami, Florida Southern alread

No. 10 Gonzaga hosts Montana State-Billings in season opener >>
Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs are set to host the Montana State-Billings Yellowjackets in the season opener for both teams. For Montana State-Billings, there is no where to go but up under the guidance of f

No. 14 Tennessee opens season at home versus Chattanooga >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The defending Southeastern Conference Champion Tennessee Volunteers begin their quest for a repeat, as they tip off the 2008-09 season against the visiting Chattanooga Mocs of the Southern Conference. Chatta


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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.








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

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.