NBA Draft Early Entry Pool Leaves Quite A Wake

By Robert Ferringo

One of the most important days of the college basketball season takes part in May with no ball, no basket, no fans, and no hardwood. May 8 is the deadline for underclassmen to declare their intentions for the NBA draft and the decisions that these kids make have drastic ramifications on the entire college hoops landscape.

Every year there are the top tier players that everyone knows are one-and-done or are leaving early. Below them are the true NBA prospects and those players are the focus of Doc’s Sports NBA Mock Draft. But then beyond that are the NBA wannabes; the players that are making terrible decisions and will be shooting free throws through a smoky cloud in some Turkish gym within five months.

Just like anything in college hoops there are clear winners and losers. The winners are a little bit more difficult to completely nail down when it comes to the NBA early entrants. For instance, is Kentucky a

Early Super Bowl Stunner: The Line

By Robert Ferringo

We now have early Super Bowl 45 odds and I have to say, I’m shocked. And I don’t really get shocked by early Super Bowl odds.

The Packers are -2.5 favorites over the Steelers right now with a total at 45.0. The fact alone that Green Bay is favored made me do a triple-take; the NFC has not been favored in the Super Bowl since 2002, when the Rams were mammoth favorites against the Patriots.

It isn’t even the fact that Green Bay was the No. 6 seed out of the NFC. Pittsburgh was the same seed in 2006 when they were laying points to Seattle. But what surprised me about it was that I figures that the books would know that with Pittsburgh and its ravenous fan base that they would be getting hit with Steelers money for the next two weeks.

I called a friend of mine that is a sportsbook manager in Las Vegas to ask him what the deal was. And he said that not only were the Packers favored, but all of the sharp early money was pouring in on them. Some books were forced from an opening of -2.0 to -3.0.

So there you have it. Perhaps the sharps were as surprised as I was but then accepted that this is what I call an

NCAA Basketball – Villanova holds on to early lead to defeat Syracuse

Villanova got back at Syracuse and gives the Orange its 2nd straight loss. Last time they meet the Syracuse Orange (18-2, 5-2 in the Big East) held Villanova to a 8-of-28 on three-pointers for an overwhelming 18 point win at the Carrier Dome. On this last game, it was time for payback. Guards Maalik Wayns and Corey Fisher worked together for a combined 6 out of 7 shooting from outside the arc in the first half to give Villanova a 40-29 margin on the first half. That was enough to survive Syracuse’s effusive comeback in the last minutes and win the game 83 to 72.

Maalik Wayns scored 21 points, completed 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals to lead Villanova into securing its 8 win in the last 11 games against Syracuse. The Orange had depended mostly on a zone defense to secure a very good record so far this season, keeping teams to a low 28 percent conversion rate from the three point range. Still, it was up to Jay Wright, Nova’s head coach, to guide the Wildcats into braking past the zone-system and clear up an ample margin so early in the game.

Corey Fisher was another key-player for the Wildcats. He scored 16 points, recorded seven assists and four turnovers. Corey Stokes had also 16 points and Antonio Pena 10 and Villanova gave the Syracuse Orange their second consecutive lost, after recording 18 consecutive wins from the very beginning of the season. Villanova scored all but two of its 24 attempts.

For the Syracuse Orange Rick Jackson had 16 points and 15 rebounds, to complete his 13th double-double, and Brandon Triche completed 14 points. This was the second straight game for each squad against a top-10 team. Villanova lost 61-59 at No. 8 Connecticut on Monday, when the Orange lost 74-66 at Pittsburgh after falling behind 19-0.

After missing the loss to Pittsburgh due to a head injury, Syracuse’s Kris Joseph led all scorers with 23 points, 16 in the second half. Villanova made a season-best 11 3-pointers in the win, shooting 45.8 percent (11 for 24) from 3-point range.

Syracuse will now play Seton Hall on Tuesday. They will then hit the road to play Marquette on Saturday. The Villanova Wildcats are 17-2 and 5-1 in the Big East for the season, holding on to quite a good record so far this season. Villanova sits second in the Big East Standings followed closely by Syracuse. The Big East is lead by Pittsburgh, which holds an impeccable 7-0 record on conference play and 19-1 overall record. Syracuse is third in the AP top 25. The Ranking is lead by the Ohio State Buckeyes with an 18-0 season and then followed by the Kansas Jayhawks. The guys from Kansas are 17-0.

Stick around for more coverage on NCAA Basketball. We’ve got all your wagering needs covered. Whether you want to bet on parleys, straight bets, full games or half times, Betias.com is your best choice.

Southwell calls early inspection on Wednesday

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Lingfield's Saturday card hinges on early inspection

Lingfield: will work the track on Friday night to boost chances of racing

  PICTURE: Getty  Lingfield's Saturday card hinges on 6.30am check
 By Paul Eacott 12:27PM 17 DEC 2010 

LINGFIELD'S all-weather meeting on Saturday is subject to an inspection at 6.30am with temperatures expected to fall to -5C overnight and snow forecast.

RELATED LINKS Lingfield Saturdaycard  Clerk of the course Neil Mackenzie Ross said on Friday: "The forecast has been changing over the past 24 hours. Our original thinking was that it would snow mid-afternoon on Saturday, but that has changed and I have called a precautionary inspection for 6.30am.

"At the moment it looks like snow will fall from 3am onwards. It is still freezing as it stands now and temperatures overnight look very cold. The forecast is for -5C and judging from what we experienced a couple of weeks ago it could be much lower than that."

With Lingfield being forced to abandon a meeting on raceday in the last cold snap when snow settled on the track, Mackenzie Ross said the Polytrack will be prepared in a different way in order to give the meeting the best possible chance of going ahead.

"What we plan to do is keep the track moving overnight and in view of the freezing temperatures and snow we will work ita bit deeper tomorrow," he said. "It is uncharted territory but this gives us the best chance of racing."

Find out what the prospects are for forthcoming fixtures in Britain and Ireland with our at-a-glance table

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Leicester to stage early inspection for Wednesday

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Holloway early favourite for monthly award

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Blackpool suffer early ups and downs

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The first two games of the season have taught Blackpool fans what the Premier League is all about – highs and lows.

After their unexpected 4-0 win over Wigan on the opening day, they themselves were the victims of a thrashing at the hands of Arsenal who managed six without reply.

Their second result was more widely predicted than the first, but taken together the two games mean it’s no easier to predict just how Blackpool will get on this season.

True, manager Ian Holloway would have seen any points picked up at the Emirates as a bonus, but the comprehensive manner of the defeat raised question marks.

However, Wigan are the kind of team they need to beat if they want to stay in the division and they clearly have what it takes to get one over on their fellow strugglers.

There are a lot of poor teams around this season – West Ham look unlikely to set the world alight, while a number of other teams will struggle. So if Blackpool can keep up the kind of form that saw them tonk Wigan, and don’t mind taking the occasional tonking themselves, they could hang on for a second season. You can follow their season with Bets Player.

However, they will still face a tough task in staying up and they would do well to learn from what happened with Hull City. They spent far too heavily in an attempt to remain in the Premier League and although they managed to stay up first time around, their eventual relegation plunged them into a financial crisis.

Blackpool then should concentrate on ensuring that if they do go down, they are able to make a swift return to the top flight.