08/27/2008 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Sakic has decided to play at least one more season and on Wednesday re-signed with the Colorado Avalanche.
Sakic had been deliberating about whether to return for a 20th NHL season. He has inked a one-year deal, financial terms of which weren't disclosed.
"Ultimately it came down to the fact that I still enjoy playing and competing," said Sakic in a release by the club. "I'm comfortable with my conditioning and my overall health. I'm ready for the start of camp and am looking forward to the upcoming season."
Sakic played in just 44 games last season because of groin problems and subsequent hernia surgery. He posted career lows with 13 goals and 40 points.
The 39-year-old native of British Columbia has spent his entire career with the Colorado franchise. He was selected with the 15th overall pick of the 1987 draft by the Quebec Nordiques and made his NHL debut in 1988.
The Nordiques moved to Denver for the start of the 1995-96 season and, as the Avalanche, the franchise won the first of its two Stanley Cup titles. The other came in the spring of 2001.
In 1,363 NHL regular-season games, Sakic has compiled 623 goals and 1,006 assists for 1,629 points. He ranks eighth all-time on the NHL list in points, 11th in assists and 14th in goals.
"Our entire organization is very excited to have Joe back for another season," said Avalanche general manager Francois Giguere. "As the only captain of the Avalanche, his record of achievement speaks for itself. Having him return is great for our franchise and community, but also for the game of hockey."
In 172 playoff games, Sakic has 84 goals and 104 assists for 188 points. He was the Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP in 1996.
Sakic also won the Hart Trophy as regular season MVP in 2001, earned First- Team All-Star status three times and was selected to 11 NHL All-Star Games.
<< Around FCS: New Name, New Teams For Missouri Valley
Philadelphia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is no truth to the rumor that the name
of the Gateway Conference was changed to protect the innocent.
Patty Viverito is still the commissioner of the newly named Missouri Valley
Football Conference, not
<< Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Dementieva reach third round in Flushing
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic,
former champion and last year's runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Olympic
gold medalist Elena Dementieva were a trio of second-round winners Wednesday
at the U.S. O
<< Bucs trade DE Douglas to Ravens
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded defensive end
Marques Douglas to the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday in exchange for
undisclosed draft picks.
Tampa signed Douglas as a free agent on March 18.
A ni
<< Sharks sign D Vlasic to four-year extension
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks signed defenseman Marc-
Edouard Vlasic to a four-year contract extension, the team announced on
Wednesday. Per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Vlasic,
Dodgers recall DeWitt, designate Ozuna for assignment >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled third
baseman Blake DeWitt from Triple-A Las Vegas Wednesday and designated
utilityman Pablo Ozuna for assignment.
DeWitt, an unlikely starter at the hot corne
Djokovic, Davydenko cruise in Big Apple >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Novak
Djokovic of Serbia and Russian star Nikolay Davydenko were easy first-round
winners Wednesday at the U.S. Open.
A third-seeded Djokovic won his seventh match in his last
Padres send Banks, Corey to minors >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres optioned pitcher
Josh Banks to Triple-A Portland and activated pitcher Bryan Corey from the 15-
day disabled list and sent him to Portland Wednesday.
Banks, 26, was 3-6 with a 4.
Cards purchase Phelps' contract, send Garcia down >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals purchased the
contract of first baseman Josh Phelps from Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, and
optioned pitcher Jaime Garcia to Memphis.
Phelps, 30, has not made a major leag
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 won’t 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 doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s 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. Where’s 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, don’t 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 won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m 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.
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting