Parker's INT return for TD lifts Argos over Lions
Football Betting Lines
07/23/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Byron Parker's 41-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Toronto Argonauts came back to defeat the British Columbia Lions, 24-20, at the Rogers Centre.
Parker's pick was one of four turnovers registered by the Toronto (3-1) defense as the team logged its third straight win since opening the 2010 campaign with a 30-16 setback at Calgary on the first of July. With their third win, the Argos also matched their entire victory total from all of last season (3-15).
Toronto quarterback Cleo Lemon completed 19-of-28 passes for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also surviving a couple of interceptions. Running back Cory Boyd added a game-high 148 yards on 19 carries as the Argos logged their first win over BC since posting a 22-16 triumph at home back on October 11, 2004, snapping a 10-game series losing streak in the process.
Travis Lulay, who was making his first CFL start at quarterback with Casey Printers being held out due to a nagging quad strain and a sore right knee, finished the night 26-of-40 for 330 yards for the Lions (1-3), but he too was intercepted two times as the squad bowed for the third time in as many outings.
For the first time in CFL history a pair of teams clashing on the gridiron were owned by the same person in David Braley.
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. Wilson threw eight shutout innings and Michael Young homered in the opening frame as Texas edged the Angels, 1-0, in the second installment of a four-game series. Young and Nelson Cruz each had two
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Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Andy Roddick and John Isner were a
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Championships.
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Friday's game 1-0 win against the Angels after seven innings due to a sprained
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In the bottom of the seventh, Treanor h
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Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Gonzalez capped a four-run second
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series
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Citizen
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Donnie Murphy had the game-winning pinch-hit single in the ninth to cap a wild back-and-forth 7-6 Marlins win to open a three-game series with the Braves. Billy Wagner (5-1) was called on to protect a
Hornaday Jr. picks up first win of the season at ORP >>
Clermont, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. snapped a 22-race winless
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Hornaday Jr.,
Bruce, Reds get by reeling Astros >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Bruce doubled in the go-ahead run in the
eighth inning to lift the Reds to a 6-4 win in the opener of a three-game
series with the Astros.
Joey Votto was 3-for-4 with a home run, walked and scored
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Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker made his
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versus Washington.
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Yankees rough up Royals >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with a three-run
double in the first inning, as the New York Yankees roughed up the Kansas City
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Alex Rodriguez, who h
Horse Betting
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
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