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Happy 4th of July people.

Yes, it’s that time of the year again when the proud U - S - of - A celebrate its day of independence. And while some of the more patriotic Americans wave their little flags and light up a firecracker or two on the 4th of July weekend, some will watch two men make a fool of themselves by eating a butt-load of hot dogs while they bet on it as if it was the freakin’ Super Bowl.

Since everybody was so into this entire thing last year, (you have ESPN to blame for that…) Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi will once again try to find out who loves ‘em hot dogs the most in the now 94th Annual Nathan’s Hot dog Eating Contest.

This eating contest has become a tradition in New York, gaining international exposure and impressive spectator numbers with 30,000 people showing up to watch the entire thing last year. And with the popularity, the sports betting world has taken notice and bettors look forward to having a little fun with it this year and basically every other year as well.

Online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.COM is offering up a number of prop bets and wagering options for the event, with some very cool betting offers. As you might expect, most of the betting focus surrounds the rivalry between the two top contestants (the only two people who have won the competition the past eight years) Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi.

As it stands, Joey Chestnut is listed as the odds-on at -125, Takeru Kobayashi is next in line, listed at -105, and the Field is listed at +1000. SPORTSBETTING.COM is seeing a little over 60 percent of the action right now on the reigning champ Chestnut.

There was a time when Kobayashi, nicknamed ‘’the Tsunami,’’ was actually a force of nature in hot dog eating contests. He won it five years in a row between 2001 and 2006. But for some reason, he started losing, he lost to Chestnut the last couple of years, relinquishing his title to a guy who literally INHALES hot dogs.

Will 2009 be any different for the Japanese?..

Looks like Yao Ming could be out for a long time.

You read it, because there are rumors that claim that this latest injury hitting the seven-foot Chinese giant coming to the 2009 NBA basketball season is so severe that they’re calling it career-threatening.

Apparently, Yao Ming hasn’t fully recovered yet from the broken foot he suffered from during the NBA playoffs. And while the brand new season is still a few months away, Yao’s recovery is so behind schedule that they are already ruling the big guy out for the entire season, or worse, his NBA career.

‘’At this point, the injury has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career threatening,’’ team physician Tom Clanton said.

‘’One of the things we are trying to get is a consensus opinion on that, to make certain there is no option we are overlooking that would provide an earlier return or would be an option for treatment that he would prefer rather than doing additional surgery.’’

Yao Ming suffered a hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone of his left foot when his Houston Rockets were playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The team initially ruled Yao to be out for eight to 12 weeks but they found out that he could be missing a lot more time after a bone scan revealed that the fracture is not healing properly.

This leaves the Houston Rockets with no choice but to try to salvage their campaign with what they have left for the fourth straight year. However, this time, they’ll do the salvaging even before their campaign officially begins.

Yao Ming missed 21 games back in the 2005-06 season because of an infection in his left big toe. Then he missed 32 games in the 2006-07 season because of a broken leg. During the 2007-08 season, Yao hit the injury list yet again with a stress fracture in his left foot before injuring the same foot again in last season’s playoffs.

To make matters worse, the Rockets have…

Let’s hope some of these guys will live up to the hype.

In case you didn’t know, the NBA just wrapped up the 2009 NBA Draft. And while it’s still a little bit early if any of these picks were the right one or not, we’re hoping none of ‘em will turn out to be a big joke like Milicic did.

And as far as the overall no.1 draft pick is concerned, as expected, the Los Angeles Clippers got Blake Griffin. Griffin should provide the Clippers a brighter outlook for the future. I mean, the guy’s just 20 years old for crying out loud. That gives him a lot of time to develop into an NBA star and help the franchise finally shave that losing mystique off.

Griffin could have been a top 10 pick in last year’s draft but surprisingly, he opted to return to Oklahoma for his sophomore year. Griffin is dominant in the low post and could really help the Los Angeles Clippers inside the paint. He faces constant double teams but he has learned to pass effectively out of them. He is one of the best rebounders in the country, has great athleticism, runs the floor well and he finishes strong around the basket.

Then we have Ricky Rubio, the most talked about guy in the draft. This guy made a name for himself in the 2009 Beijing Olympics Men’s Basketball Finals when he almost helped Spain beat the U.S. for the title.

Taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves as the overall no.5 pick, Ricky Rubio has good foot speed, a high basketball IQ, and great court sense. It’s like he is one step ahead of everybody else on the court. He shoots pretty well from the floor, knows how to flop, can get to the line a lot and shoots about 80 percent from it. He goes hard every time he is on the court. Has great length and quick reflexes to break up passes.

The biggest prize of the draft, LITERALLY SPEAKING, is the seven-foot-three, 267-pound tower of power, Hasheem Thabeet. The problem is, he got drafted by a team that has a knack for giving up on their big guys.

Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies took him and for a…

The United States defeated Spain, 2-nil. How about that.

In case you didn’t know, the United States just qualified for the final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup by doing the unthinkable, holding Spain scoreless en route to a shocking 2-nil victory.

You read it, the United States soccer team just beat a bona fide football-crazy nation, beating Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup semifinals. Oh yeah, Spain is not just a football-crazy country by the way, Spain IS considered as the top-ranked country in the sport and for an American soccer team to go copping their asses like that was, fucking unbelievable, to say the least.

What’s even more shocking is the fact that the Americans were ready to go back home last weekend. Nobody saw that these guys will be able to come up with probably the biggest upset in sports since that United States hockey team shocked the Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

The Americans’ win over the Spain football team enabled the Red, White and Blue to reach it’s first FIFA final since starting play in 1916. Yup, it took them that long to finally stop making a fool of themselves on that pitch.

Jozy Altidore kicked it off with a goal on the 27th minute before Clint Dempsey added another on the 74th minute to help the U.S. become the first country to beat Spain since Romania back in 2006.

‘’It goes to show what hard work and commitment to each other can bring,’’ said U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made eight saves as he frustrated David Villa and Fernando Torres.

‘’Sometimes football is a funny thing.’’

The United States will face either defending champion Brazil or…

After finally winning his very first French Open title a few weeks ago, he’s looking to win the big one.

Fresh off his first French Open title, Roger Federer considers himself the man to beat at the 2009 Wimbledon championships. This year’s Wimbledon will be held from June 22 to July 5, 2009 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as always.

And as far as Roger Federer is concerned, he says he’s looking forward to trying to claim a sixth championship. ‘’I do think I’m the favorite, actually, with all the success I’ve had,’’ Federer said.

A little cocky but judging by the way he’s been dominating the past Wimbledon tournaments, he has every reason to be. Sure, his run of five consecutive Wimbledon titles ended with a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in last year’s final but the guy is still the winner of five of the last six Wimbledon tournaments, and betting against him will still be a very bad idea.

Federer said his back feels OK. He took a six-week break this year because it was bothering him. As for his game, Federer figures he can keep improving, particularly on grass and hard courts, ‘’when I can go for my shots more.’’

We thought Rafael Nadal would be ready for this year’s tournament as this is a must win for him this year if he wants to keep his spot as the world no.1. Unfortunately, he has already ruled himself out of the tournament due to injury.

But aside from Nadal, there will be others looking to beat Federer in England. One of which is Andy Murray, who has good luck against Federer in 2009. Andy has beaten Federer in the semi-finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open.

Aside from his success against Federer, Murray has…