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02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers will close out a seven-game stretch that head coach Doug Collins dubbed as "Death Row" when they entertain the upstart Los Angeles Clippers tonight from Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers are 4-2 on the meaty schedule against NBA powerhouses Orlando, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio, but dropped a 100-90 decision to the Spurs Wednesday night in the second installment of a three-game homestand. Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, off the bench and Andre Iguodala posted 17 and seven rebounds for Philadelphia, which lost for the second time in eight tries and had a four-game home winning streak cut short.
Jrue Holiday had 15 points and Elton Brand returned from a two-game absence because of a thumb injury to notch 11 points and 13 boards.
"This is a world championship team and organization," Collins said of the Spurs. "Pop is a great coach. They string you out. They get you in pick-and- roll and put three-point shooters on the floor."
Collins' squad is still a solid 13-4 in south Philly this season and will play three straight and seven of eight games on the road after tonight. 76ers center Spencer Hawes was out with a strained left Achilles. He missed 10 straight games, then returned for two and aggravated the injury again. The Atlantic Division-leading Sixers fell to 0-5 when allowing 100 or more points.
Philadelphia has yet to lose consecutive games this season. On Thursday, Iguodala was named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star squad. It is the first All-Star appearance for Iguodala, now in his eighth season in the league and with the 76ers. He is averaging 13 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals this season.
"I could not be more proud of Andre Iguodala for being recognized as an All- Star," Collins said. "Andre has meant so much to the success of our team this season and he is one of the most talented, unselfish players I have ever had the opportunity to coach - the entire 76ers organization, our coaching staff, his teammates and I are thrilled he will be representing us in this year's All-Star game."
The Clippers will continue their 11-day, six-game road trip tonight and are 2-1 on the sojourn following Wednesday's 99-92 loss at Cleveland.
Chris Paul finished with 16 points and 12 assists, while Blake Griffin had 25 points and 15 boards for the Clippers, who had won six of their last seven games entering the game. Caron Butler had 21 points in the loss and Randy Foye started in place of injured guard Chauncey Billups, who is out for the season after suffering a torn left Achilles in Monday's game, and recorded 15 points.
"We came out flat, I couldn't make a shot, we didn't defend well" said Paul.
Paul and Griffin were voted as starters for the West's All-Star team.
New Clippers forward Kenyon Martin made his season debut and scored six points. Martin played for the Xinjiang Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association during the NBA lockout, and was contractually obligated to wait until the end of the Tigers' season before returning to the NBA. He was cleared to play by FIBA, basketball's international governing body last week.
Los Angeles will also visit Charlotte and Dallas on the trek, and is 5-5 as the guest this season. It had a four-game road winning streak stopped in Cleveland and owns a 6-2 record against the Eastern Conference this season.
The Clippers lost both meetings with Philadelphia a season ago and is just 2-6 in the past eight matchups in this series. The Clippers have lost three of four and 12 of their last 14 visits to the City of Brotherly Love.
<< First meets worst when Bulls visit Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two streaks will be on the line this evening at Time Warner
Cable Arena, as the Chicago Bulls go after their fifth straight win, while the
Charlotte Bobcats attempt to avoid matching the longest losing streak in
franchise his
<< Harvard battles Penn in pivotal Ivy League tussle
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 25th-ranked Harvard Crimson will try
to maintain their spot atop the Ivy League standings, as they head to
Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers tonight at The Palestra.
Harvard is enjoying the best
<< Hantuchova advances, Zvonareva retires in Pattaya City
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Daniela
Hantuchova was among the quarterfinal winners Friday at the Pattaya Open,
while two-time winner Vera Zvonareva was forced to retire from her match
because
<< McNeese State-Texas A&M game canceled
Lake Charles, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - McNeese State's scheduled football game at
Texas A&M on Sept. 1 has been canceled, both schools announced.
Texas A&M initiated the cancellation after it entered into an Aug. 30 match-up
with Louisi
Cavs and Bucks clash at the 'Q' >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving probably won't play
again tonight after suffering a concussion earlier this week, but Ramon
Sessions will be there to pick up the slack.
Sessions filled in nicely for Irving the prev
Nets and Pistons finish home-and-home set >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-year center Greg Monroe is starting to heat up for a
Detroit Pistons team riding a season-high three-game winning streak and is
aiming for his fourth straight double-double tonight versus the New Jersey
Nets in the bac
Red Wings shoot for 19th straight home win vs. Ducks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forgive the Red Wings if they are looking past the Ducks
and towards this weekend when they could have a chance at matching the longest
home winning streak in NHL history.
After all, wins over Anaheim at Joe Louis Arena ar
Pacers battle Grizzlies on Beale Street >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The much-improved Indiana Pacers hope to salvage the back-
end of a brief two-game road trip tonight when they square off with the
Memphis Grizzlies on Beale Street.
Indiana is coming off a 97-98 loss in Atlant
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 wont 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 doesnt focus only on your opponents 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. Wheres 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, dont 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 wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im 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.
Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)
"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."
Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins
There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.
Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins
Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.
USC Trojans - 10.5 wins
A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.
Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy
Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.
"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."
Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1
The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.
Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1
If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.
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