05/11/2008 - Pittsburgh, PA (Hockey Betting) - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn left in the first period of his team's playoff game against Pittsburgh after the puck hit him in the face.
Just 1:51 into the second game of the Eastern Conference finals series, a blast from the point in Philadelphia's end ramped off the stick of Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin and into the right side of Coburn's head.
The Flyers defenseman went down immediately with his gloves in front of his face, and a few small puddles of blood gathered on the ice. Coburn, though, was able to leave the ice under his own power.
Philadelphia is already without star defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who will miss the entire series after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his left leg.
<< Brown keys Oakland's win over Rangers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emil Brown finished with four runs batted
in, including a three-run homer, as the Oakland Athletics avoided a weekend
sweep and clobbered the Texas Rangers, 12-6.
Daric Barton hit a two-run homer an
<< Astros bring out brooms against Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hunter Pence went 3-for-4, drove in two
runs and scored twice as the Houston Astros fought off Hiroki Kuroda's no-hit
bid and rallied for six runs in the eighth inning and an 8-5 win over the Los
Angeles
<< Jazz tie series with OT win; Kobe fights through injury
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deron Williams poured in 29 points and
doled out 14 assists as the Utah Jazz survived a late surge and downed the Los
Angeles Lakers, 123-115, in overtime to knot their Western Conference
semifin
<< Cubs top D-Backs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daryle Ward's two-run pinch-hit double in
the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Chicago Cubs over the Arizona
Diamondbacks, 6-4, to complete a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field.
The start of g
Holm's first career homer propels Giants past Phillies >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Holm's first major league home
run in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in the winning run, as the San
Francisco Giants edged the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, in the rubber match at
AT&
Knost rallies for first Nationwide victory >>
Fort Smith, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trailing by six strokes at the start of the
day, Colt Knost closed with a five-under 65 to come from behind and win the
Fort Smith Classic.
Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links cha
Ibanez homers as Mariners snap skid >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul Ibanez launched a monstrous go-ahead
two-run homer and the Seattle Mariners snapped a five-game losing streak with
a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Ichiro Suzuki was 3-for-4 and scored twic
Garcia pars in playoff to win Players >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Garcia parred the first
playoff hole, the famous island green at 17, to defeat Paul Goydos Sunday and
win The Players Championship.
The win was Garcia's seventh on the PGA Tour, but
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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