Spanish Duo set the pace in Champions League Odds after Quarter Final First Legs

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What amazing outcomes in the first legs of the 2011 Champions League Quarter Finals this week with three of the four ties effectively already decided? The results ahead of next week’s second legs were:

Inter Milan 2-5 Schalke04
Real Madrid 4-0 Spurs
Barcelona 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Chelsea 0-1 Man Utd

Only the all Premier League tie between Chelsea and Man Utd remains in the balance but it has to be said that United hold all the keys, with the next leg being at Old Trafford and having a 1-0 advantage after putting up an extremely professional performance at Stamford Bridge. That said Chelsea were the last team to beat United at Old Trafford and know that if they up their performance levels from what they showed in the first leg, then, if nothing else they have a chance.

The Quarter Final results have all but set up a mouth watering

NCAA Tournament – Clemson crushes UAB in the First Four

We all knew it. Ok, no, let me rephrase that. Apparently we all knew it except for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee: UAB had neither record nor merit to be in the NCAA Tournament. And sure enough, even though they had to play the Clemson Tigers, who on their own are not exactly on the firmest ground when it comes to receiving a berth for the NCAA Tournament, it was more than evident that they had no business been there. You can make your case for your favorite, but Colorado and Virginia Tech had certainly more reasons to be in the Big Tournament, and perhaps teams like UAB and Georgia should had stayed in the NIT.

Sure enough Clemson didn’t have much trouble sending UAB back to Birmingham and for an early vacation. The Tigers went for a 21-2 run in the first half and never looked back. It was a good win not only for the Tigers but for the UAB detractors. Perhaps what matters most is that Clemson has justly won its first tournament game since 1997. And maybe, and only maybe, they did so not just because they were playing UAB. We’ll have to wait a bit more on that one, and see what the Tigers can put together at Tampa against West Virginia University.  

The Tigers ended their season strong, beating (and perhaps pushing out of NCAA Tournament) Virginia Tech and then wiping out Boston College by 23 points in their first ACC tournament game. That was certainly a very important win when it came to impressing the Committee. Even more, Clemson led North Carolina by 10 at halftime before the Tar Heels put on one heck of a comeback and beat the Tigers in overtime for the ACC’s Tournament semis.

Jerai Grant had a career-best 22 points and 7 rebounds for the Tigers helping Clemson break out of an ACC record five game losing streak in the NCAA tournament. The 18-point victory was the largest winning margin in any of Clemson’s tournament games.

Champions League 2011 Betting Odds See Support For English Clubs After Successful First Leg Ties

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It seems the Champions League Second Round first leg games and results were kinder to the English clubs than the two Spanish clubs left in the competition, despite the Spaniards being the favourites in the Champions League 2011 Betting Odds.

Spurs and Arsenal were particularly well backed in the Champions League Odds as they were, and probably still are, the least likely of the English clubs to progress, Spurs hold a massive advantage over AC Milan following their 1-0 win at the San Siro, they are 16/1 to win the Champions League, the same odds as their rivals Arsenal, who also hold a one goal lead over their opponents but they have to go to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona who are still favourites to win the competition at around 2/1 with most bookies.

Just like their Spanish counterparts Barcelona, Real Madrid also failed to record a win in their first leg tie, the champions League Second favourites who are under the guidance of two times Champions League winner Jose Mourinho, drew 1-1 with Lyon and they don’t quite look ready for Champions League glory, they are 9/2 in the outright betting which puts them just ahead of Chelsea, who look certain to progress to the next round after beating FC Copenhagen 2-0.

Man Utd were the only English team not to win their first leg, they are now 8/1 chances to win the Champions League and any kind of win at Old Trafford will guarantee that. The first leg results mean England have closed the gap on Spain in the winning nationality betting, the unbeaten English sides are now 6/4 to be the winning nationality of the Champions League whilst the winless Spain are 10/11. The Italian sides all lost their first legs and they are way behind Germany now, Italy can be backed at 20/1 with Germany at 14/1.

The Champions League Second Round Second Legs take place over the next two weeks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For the latest odds, bets and football tips, you can’t go past OLBG.co.uk.

NCAA Basketball – Wisconsin serves Ohio State its first defeat of the season

by Stephen Lars on Feb.14, 2011, under Basketball, Sports News

Everything that goes up must eventually come down. There is somewhat of a certain beauty when the big teams go down. It’s not just the disappointment of seeing a brilliant team lose its perfect season, or the fight of the underdog to play against the odds and pull off an impressive win. Yes, there is some sort beauty behind the fall of the perfect; perhaps it is something like the upside of failure.

And the Wisconsin Badgers now all about it. The crowd couldn’t resist much longer and stormed in the court as the home team was working its way up to defeat a No.1 ranked team for the first time since 1962. The Badgers put on one heck of a comeback on the second half to close on a 15-point margin to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes by 71-67.

Playing the underdog is somewhat of an act of sheer faith. Yes, sometimes the spread is so significantly unbalanced that going for the little team is exciting and worth taking your chances. And yet there is a whole other approach when it comes to wagering on sports such as the College Hoops: playing against the team that is breaking all the records.

The Ohio State Buckeyes had had one phenomenal season this year, brining in not only the schools second best ever season starting winning streak. At 24-0 the Buckeyes had only one better record from the season kickoff and it came in 1960-61 when Ohio State went on for a 27-0 start. But then it all went south.

The man of the hour was no other then Jordan Taylor who in 13 minutes was capable of leading the Badgers into an impressive come from behind win over the best team in the Nation. Taylor scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, working Wisconsin to keep the NCAA Division I basketball championship from having a perfect team since Indiana had its flawless season back in the 1975-76 season.

Taylor was the spark that started the 15-0 fire from the Badgers completing 8 straight points, including back to back three’s that really gave Wisconsin that special boost to build up enough momentum to hold back the Buckeyes desperate attempt for a comeback.

For those of you fond of stats and records, the Wisconsin Badgers have joined Florida as the only team to defeat the same No.1 team in the Nation on both NCAA football and NCAA basketball during the same academic year. As a matter of fact this is the first time that a NCAA team has defeated the No. 1 team in both football and basketball during the same season.

The Badgers have been a good team this season. Even though the squads numbers aren’t as impressive as most fans would like, at 19-5 overall and 9-3 in Big Ten conference play, the Badgers have been quite outstanding when playing at home. One must take into consideration that this is the Badgers 17th straight win at home. Wisconsin was sharp from the three point line, hitting 12 of 24 3 to really guide the team into the upset. But by the halftime break it sure didn’t look like the Badgers would be close after such a big deficit.

Taylor worked the Badgers momentum hitting a floater and two deep 3-pointers, then Wisconsin went on another 10-0 run at the end of the game to hold on to their advantage

NBA – Orlando Magic gives the LA Lakers its first defeat on this road trip

by Stephen Lars on Feb.14, 2011, under Basketball, Sports News

Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic have been a bit in the shadows due to the media attention that has been placed on both the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics who are without a doubt the two forces to reckon with in the Eastern Conference. At 35-21 for the season and 20-8 at home game, the Orlando Magic where in a serious need to break the losing streak they had been stuck in.

As a matter of fact, the Orlando Magic had not been able to win one of the last 8 games against teams with at least a .500 average during the season. And one can say without a doubt that this 89 to 75 win at home over the defending champions, the LA Lakers, is one of the most significant wins of the Magic so far this season.

On one side we have to acknowledge that the Lakers were certainly not having their best season ever. Let’s face it, the Lakers where far away from the team that last year played an epic battle against the Boston Celtics for the National Championship. Completing only 33 of 84 shots from the field and 2 of 16 (yes, just two of 16 attempts) from the 3-point line was enough to give the Lakers a whooping defeat.

Kobe Bryant had 17 points and 5 assists while Andrey Bynum closed the match with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Truth be said, that was no matchup for Dwight Howard and company who played an amazing game. Howard had 31 points and 13 rebounds and 3 assists. That was enough for Orlando to open up the gap and get six-point lead during halftime. And it will only get worse for the LA Lakers.

It seems as if finally, after many weeks since the Orlando Magic was able to make a couple of big-time changes to its rooster, that the Magic has a team capable of putting a fight among the Celtics and the Heat in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

By the middle of the third quarter the Orlando Magic had build a 56-47 lead and it was just too much for the Lakers to handle. Now, this is an important win for the Orlando Magic, but it means nothing unless they somehow manage to build up from this important result and keep on going with the momentum. They still have a good deal of complicated games ahead of them, and even though there is a good chance that the Magic would end up in the Playoffs, they must really improve their performance if they want to make their postseason run a bit longer then the usual.

Orlando made a comeback from a six-point home loss to New Orleans on Friday and managed to break a string of eight straight losses to teams with winning records. Since the Magic’s win at Dallas in early January, Orlando has not been able to win a game against teams with winning records. The Lakers on the other hand lost their 4 game winning-streak on the road. They will now have to face Charlotte tonight and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

Bell Looks To Dubai First for Wigmore Hall

Posted by Leigh on November 30, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Trainer Michael Bell is planning an challenging campaign with international flavour for three year old impressive charge Wigmore Hall to commence with an attempt at glory in the Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March.

Fledgling trainer Ed Walker set to have first runners

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NFL – Dallas Cowboys have their first feel-good game of the season

The Dallas Cowboys made a few changes during the week. And it seemed as if that made all the difference. First, they got rid of head coach Wade Phillips, who had managed to bring the Cowboys to its second worst ever season start. At 7-1 and after 5 consecutive losses, it was time to make a change. And that’s when we must give it up for interim head coach Jason Garret. And that’s the start of the second change of the week. Garret managed to turn around this team and guide it to a very significant 33-20 victory in the road against the New York Giants.

On February 8, 2007, the Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, announced that Wade Phillips was coming to Dallas to become the new Head Coach. That year the Dallas Cowboys lost in the first playoffs game. On January 9th  2010, Wade Phillips lead the Cowboys to their first playoffs victory in the last 12 years. The Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild card round, thus earning Phillips’ first playoffs win.

Wade Phillips was expected to bring this team up and into another winning season. But he couldn’t.  A 45-7 lost at Green Bay was enough to set off the panic alarm at Jerry Jones’ office and Wade Phillips was fired.

Jerry Jones is well aware that this is not a complete makeover. There is still a very significant amount of work to be done with the team.  At 7-2, the Cowboys are still somewhat of a disappointment, and even though for the first time in a very long while the Cowboys played like a top-notch team, this latest win is no omen of better things to come.

Let’s be realistic with the expectations we can set upon this team. Yes, they defeated the Giants at home, and yes, they broke their 5 consecutive defeats streak, and sure, the Cowboys ended Eli Manninig’s and Co. 5 consecutive win record. But, if you kept a close eye at what happened in the previous  8 games, you can’t help but to notices that removing Wade Phillips was nothing but cleaning up the top of a iceberg.

Jon Kitna was 13 of 22 for 327 yards, three touchdown passes, one interception and one heck of a game. Kitna was able to complete a 13 yard touchdown passes for Dez Bryant, 71 yard pass to Felix Jones and a 24 yard missile to Miles Austin. In other words, Jon Kitna finally gave up a good game while replacing the injured Tony Romo.

Eli Manning had a good game, but it was just not enough to keep the Cowboys from taking over. Manning completed 33 of 48 for 373 yards, but the two interceptions he suffered, particularly the last one of the fourth period, took away the little chances the Giants had to make an impressive comeback in the fourth quarter.

The sun was finally shinning a bit for Jon Kitna. Depsite the two blackouts in the new 1.6$ billion stadium which deleayed the game for eleven minutes and left over 80,000 fans in complete darkness for a couple of seconds, Kitna won his first game as a starter since 2007. Thats what the NFL is all about.

DUBAI: Meydan hosts first domestic meeting

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Bradburne Picks Up First Victory After Return

Posted by Leigh on October 26, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Mark Bradburne was aboard his first winner after coming back to the track after a serious injury scoring a victory with Pairc Na Gcapall in the Crinkle Birr Handicap Chase at Taunton.

Wootton Bassett Scores First Group One for Fahey

Posted by Leigh on October 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

The Richard Fahey trained Wootton Bassett gave an impressive performance, leading from early in the race to score give the Fahey the first Group One victory of his career as a trainer, in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp.

FRANCE: Baahama lands first Listed prize of career

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First winner for Duffy as Hello Man strikes at Laytown

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First Victory for Jake Jodson While Fallon Hits 100

Posted by Leigh on September 7, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Jockey Jake Hodson will always remember the overcast day at Goodwood as the afternoon he scored his first racing victory aboard Switched Off, in the Bolliger Champagne Challenge Series Handicap at Goodwood.

NFL First Round Quarterbacks Go Bust More Than Boom

By Robert Ferringo

I am a huge believer in sitting rookie quarterbacks and letting them learn. And I don’t see the argument for the other side. There have been players that have been exceptions. Ben Roethlisberger, Flacco, Matt Ryan and Mark Sanchez come to mind. But what did all of them have in common? You guessed it: they were fortunate enough to be drafted by teams that had dominating offensive lines, exceptional running games and outstanding defenses. And what is overlooked is that with the exception of Ryan (who, admittedly, didn’t have a

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