11/19/2008 - West Palm Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2009 LPGA Tour schedule was released by tour commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens on Wednesday and there is plenty of change coming next year.
The tour released the dates of 31 official events, down from 34 in 2008, and the Solheim Cup. Several unofficial events will have their dates released at a later time. Players will compete for nearly $55 million in official money in '09.
The season again begins in Hawaii with the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, which starts February 12. The first change on the schedule is that the second Hawaii event to open the season, the Fields Open, is off the docket.
In all, there are three events that won't return in 2009 and the Ginn company will only sponsor one event as opposed to two in '08. Also off the schedule are the SemGroup Championship and the ADT Championship.
Two weeks after the SBS Open, the tour heads to Asia for two events. First up is the Honda LPGA Thailand. That event was on the 2007 schedule, but was not played in 2008.
The following week is the HSBC Champions, which again will take place in Singapore. The tour returns to North America, but stops in Mexico for the MasterCard Classic before returning to the Unites States with the Phoenix LPGA International.
That event was sponsored for the last several years by Safeway, but they will only run the event in Portland in 2009.
The season's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, will take place April 2-5. Women's world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa will defend her title at Mission Hills.
The next two events, the Ginn Open and the Corona Championship, exchanged slots on the calendar and there is a week off between the Kraft Nabisco and the Ginn in '09.
The first East Coast swing starts May 7 with the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill. After heading to Clifton, New Jersey and Corning, New York, the tour shifts to Illinois for the LPGA State Farm Classic, which will be played six weeks earlier than in 2007.
That will be followed by the McDonald's LPGA Championship, the season's second major. Yani Tseng won that crown in 2008.
After a week off, the tour returns to New York for the Wegmans LPGA, which will be contested three weeks earlier than this year. The Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic follows and will be played a week earlier than 2008.
The U.S. Women's Open is slated for July 9-12, two weeks later than this year. Inbee Park will defend her title on The Old Course at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Following a two-week break, the tour heads to Europe for the Evian Masters and the Women's British Open. Ji-Yai Shin will defend her Women's British Open crown at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
Two weeks later, 12 of the top American golfers will face 12 of Europe's best in the Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest Farms in Illinois.
The following seven events are all in different places on the schedule. The week after the Solheim Cup is the Safeway Classic, which is a week later than this year.
The Canadian Women's Open follows the Safeway and is being contested three weeks later than in '08. The tour heads to Arkansas for the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship, which was pushed back two months from '08.
The Samsung World Championship and Longs Drugs Challenge were both pushed up two weeks from this year, while the Navistar LPGA Classic will be played a week later than this year in Alabama.
The tour remains in Alabama for a second straight week with the Bell Micro LPGA Classic, which will be contested a month later than in '08.
A week later, the tour moves back to Hawaii for the Kapalua Classic before heading to Asia for three more events.
The final two events will be the Lorena Ochoa Invitational and the Stanford Financial Tour Championship.
Stanford Financial, which sponsored the Stanford International Pro-Am the last few years, takes over as sponsor of the Tour Championship. That event shifts from Florida to Houston, Texas.
<< Bucs put RB Graham, LB Hayes on IR
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed running back
Earnest Graham and rookie linebacker Geno Hayes on injured reserve Wednesday,
ending their seasons.
The Bucs also signed running back Noah Herron and linebac
<< Iverson and Pistons welcome King James to Motor City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first of many battles between Central Division rivals
Cleveland and Detroit is on tap this evening at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Wednesday's showdown between the Cavs and Pistons is the first of four
meetings during t
<< Mavs face banged-up Rockets in Houston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Mavericks will try to extend their season high
winning streak to three games when they close out a three-game road trip
tonight against the Southwest Division-rival Houston Rockets.
Dallas is 2-0 so far on the t
<< Bulls resume trek at Portland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls continue a torturous seven-game road
swing Wednesday when they face the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden.
The Bulls fell to 0-4 away from home this season when Los Angeles' Pau Gasol
score
NCAA announces future Final Four sites >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA Division I men's basketball
committee has announced five selections as hosts for the Final Four starting
in 2012 and running through 2016.
New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas-Arlington-Fort Wo
Wolf Pack loan Murray to Charlotte >>
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Hartford Wolf Pack loaned defenseman Chris
Murray to its ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, the American Hockey
League club announced.
A second-year pro out of the University of New Hampshire, Mu
Manning, Harrison, Washington selected for AFC weekly honors >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning,
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and New York Jets return
specialist Leon Washington have been selected as the AFC's top players for
Week 11
Hill, Ross, Rackers earn NFC weekly honors >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco 49ers quarterback Shaun Hill,
New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross and Arizona Cardinals kicker Neil
Rackers have been selected as the NFC's top players for Week 11 of the NFL
season.
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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JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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