Crafton tops in truck qualifying at Martinsville
Autoracing Betting Lines
10/29/2011 -
Martinsville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Crafton will start on the pole for
Saturday's Kroger 200 Camping World Truck Series race after setting a new
track qualifying record at Martinsville Speedway.
Crafton turned a lap at 96.352 mph for his second pole of the season and the
sixth of his truck career. Jack Sprague previously held the track record at
96.327 mph, set in 2008.
Ron Hornaday Jr.'s lap at 96.224 mph earned him the outside pole. Hornaday is
the defending race winner.
Denny Hamlin, driving Kyle Busch Motorsports' No.18 truck, qualified third,
while Johnny Sauter and James Buescher rounded out the top-five.
Kevin Harvick, Todd Bodine, Justin Lofton, Timothy Peters and Austin Dillon,
the current points leader, qualified sixth through 10th, respectively.
With three races to go, Dillon holds just a three-point advantage over
Buescher. Sauter trails Dillon by 14 points, while Hornaday is 16 markers out
of the lead.
Jennifer Jo Cobb and Charlie Vest failed to qualify.
The 200-lap race at Martinsville is scheduled to start just after 2:00 p.m.
(et).
<< Cowboys waive RB Choice
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys waived running back
Tashard Choice on Saturday, more than 24 hours prior to a key NFC East contest
in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
The 26-year-old has been bothered by shoulder
<< Kvitova, Azarenka to meet in Championships final
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Wimbledon champion Petra
Kvitova and fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka will meet in the final at the
season-ending $4.55 million WTA Championships.
Kvitova battled back from a set d
<< Martinsville qualifying washed out, Edwards on pole
Martinsville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Persistent rain at Martinsville Speedway
forced NASCAR to cancel Saturday's qualifying session and therefore set the
starting field for the Tums Fast Relief 500 -- the seventh race in the Chase
for the
<< Rangers holds off Aberdeen to remain unbeaten
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goals from Kyle Lafferty and Nikica
Jelavic handed Rangers another win in league play on Saturday as the club held
off Aberdeen for a 2-1 win at Pittodrie Stadium.
Lafferty put Rangers on the boa
<< Mets name Tom Goodwin first base coach
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets named Tom Goodwin their
first base coach Saturday.
The 43-year-old Goodwin spent the past four seasons in the Boston Red Sox
organization.
Goodwin played 14 seasons in the big
Donald to miss HSBC Champions >>
Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Luke Donald announced on
Saturday that he will skip next week's WGC-HSBC Champions to be with his wife
for the birth of the couple's second child.
Donald won the PGA Tour money title
Van Persie fires Arsenal past Chelsea >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A hat trick from Robin van Persie inspired
Arsenal to a 5-3 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, handing the
Blues a second successive defeat.
Chelsea dropped a 1-0 contest at QPR last week
Gomez leads Bayern to 4-0 win over Nurnberg >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mario Gomez scored twice to remain atop the
Bundesliga scoring chart, and Bayern Munich cruised to a 4-0 win over Nurnberg
on Saturday at the Allianz Arena.
Gomez scored in the 2nd and 69th minutes to inc
Toussaint leads Michigan over Purdue >>
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fitzgerald Toussaint carried the ball 20
times for 170 yards and two touchdowns, as the 17th-ranked Michigan Wolverines
cruised past the Purdue Boilermakers, 36-14.
Denard Robinson completed 9-of-14 pass
Kings activate Doughty from IR >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings activated
defenseman Drew Doughty from injured reserve on Saturday.
Doughty suffered an upper-body injury during a 3-2 overtime win at
Philadelphia on October 1
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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NFL Football Trash Talk
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.
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