11/05/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly offered left fielder Manny Ramirez the second-highest annual salary in the majors, behind New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti extended the offer at the general manager's meetings to the 12-time All-Star and MVP of the 2004 World Series.
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.
The 36-year-old Ramirez is believed to have been offered a two-year deal worth $50 million with a club option for 2011, according to a few media sources.
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.
<< Davis, Ball State stay unbeaten with blowout of Northern Illinois
Muncie, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nate Davis was spectacular in throwing four
touchdowns and adding one on the ground, as the 16th-ranked Ball State
Cardinals maintained their dream season with a 45-14 drubbing of Mid-American
Confere
<< James dominant as Cavs top Bulls
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James poured in 41 points, pulled down
nine rebounds and had six assists, as the Cavaliers ran past the Chicago
Bulls, 107-93.
James went 13-of-23 from the field and missed just one of his 16 f
<< Bucks edge Wizards in OT
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Jefferson scored a game-high 32
points for the Bucks, leading Milwaukee to its first home win of the year in a
112-104 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards.
Down by 12 heading into the
<< Pierce, Celtics easily handle Thunder
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce dropped a game-high 20
points and pulled down nine rebounds in a 96-83 rout of the Oklahoma City
Thunder at the Ford Center.
Ray Allen had 18 points and nine boards, while Kevi
Martin, Kings top Grizzlies to earn first win of the season >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Martin poured in 33 points and the
Kings finally broke in the win column by holding on to capture their home
opener, 100-95, over the Memphis Grizzlies.
John Salmons tallied 21 points and n
Jackson, Warriors hold off Nuggets >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Jackson scored a game-high 29 points
and dished out seven assists, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 111-101
victory over the Nuggets in Denver's first game since the trade of Allen
Iverson
Romo returns to practice >>
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who has
missed the last three games with a fractured pinkie on his throwing hand,
returned to practice Wednesday and is optimistic to play in the team's next
contest
Bryant, Lakers use late run to down Clips >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant didn't shoot the lights out but
recorded a game-high 27 points as the Lakers put on a defensive clinic in the
fourth quarter to keep the Clippers winless with a 106-88 decision.
Bryant shot 8-
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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.
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