Archive for February, 2006
It’s A Major Wager for Tiger
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
Bodog.com Sportsbook, Casino and Poker has released odds on Tiger Woods taking home 1 or more Major Championships this 2006 PGA Tour season.
With every Major Championship last year being won by different players, this season could once again be the year of the Tiger. While Tiger fell short on every Major last season, you can bet that he plans to once again emerge as the player to beat.
Bodog.com invites the weekend duffers to take a swing at how many Major’s if any Tiger can take home this season. Current odds have zero, and one titles as the favorites at 5/4 and 6/5 respectively, and 4 Majors the extreme long shot at 18/1.
World Baseball Classic tickets are selling like hot potatoes
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
Starting this week, baseball fans will face a difficult choice: Travel to Florida and Arizona for spring training or attend the first World Baseball Classic, an international tournament played largely on American soil that will attempt to become a real world series.
If you choose the latter, don’t procrastinate. Tickets are going fast. The classic will be a quadrennial tournament featuring 16 teams representing baseball-mad countries ranging from Cuba and Venezuela to South Korea and Japan.
Major-league all-stars such as Alex Rodriguez (United States), Ichiro Suzuki (Japan) and Vladimir Guerrero (Dominican Republic) have signed to play for their countries in the event, which will begin Friday and run through March 20 at Tokyo; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Anaheim, Calif.; and San Diego.
San Diego, the host city for the semifinals and finals on March 18 and 20, has already sold most of the seats at Petco Park. Individual tickets for all rounds and locations except Tokyo are available at worldbaseballclassic.com. San Diego is perhaps the tournament’s top destination and could feature blockbuster matchups such as the United States vs. Japan or Cuba vs. the Dominican Republic.
Big Ten Basketball heats up as Illinois colllide with Minnesota
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
Minnesota will attempt to bounce back from a disheartening loss at Wisconsin on Sunday. The Gophers led by a point with five minutes remaining, but Badger foul shooting was Minnesota’s undoing down the stretch en route to an 80-74 defeat. Illinois still has a chance at capture at least a share of the Big Ten title trailing Ohio State by one game entering this week’s play.
Minnesota is 3-5 against ranked teams this season. The Gophers have defeated three straight ranked opponents at home after starting the season 0-5 versus ranked teams. Illinois leads the all-time series 97-57 (not including vacated games). Minnesota leads the series in Minneapolis, 40-37. Illinois has won 14 straight in the series and this season’s earlier meeting in Champaign, 77-53. The last Gopher win in the series was Feb. 3, 1999 (75-63 in Williams Arena).
With one week left in the Big Ten regular season absolutely nothing has been decided. The conference title and higher seeding in the Big Ten Tournament are all at stake this week. It will be the final game at The Barn for five Gopher seniors. Adam Boone, Vincent Grier, Maurice Hargrow, Zach Puchtel and J’son Stamper will be honored after the game.
Cavs eye revenge win vs Pistons
Monday, February 27th, 2006
Revenge is on the mind of LeBron James and the rest of the Celeveland Cavaliers. Whipped by the Detroit Pistons yesterday, the Cavs look to even things up when the two teams meet for the second straight day, this time at the Quicken Loans Arena.
The top-seeded Pistons command the Eastern Conference and own an eye-popping 26-2 record at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Detroit also has a comfortable lead over the Cavs in the Central Division. Cleveland, meanwhile, has dropped three in a row, including last night’s 92-78 road loss to the defending NBA champions.
Detroit, which has won five straight overall, received a huge effort from Ben Wallace on Sunday. The All-Star center had 11 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks and four steals as the Pistons never trailed. Cleveland has dropped three straight since moving a season-high 11 games over .500 with a 105-92 win over Orlando on Tuesday in its first game after the All-Star break.
Gonzaga stakes unbeaten WCC run vs San Francisco
Monday, February 27th, 2006
In the 51 seasons prior to the current season a team had gone undefeated in regular-season conference play nine times. Tomorrow Gonzaga has a chance to do it for the second time in three seasons. The Bulldogs enter the final regular-season weekend of WCC play at home with the 13-0 Bulldogs hosting San Francisco on Monday.
A crucial win will mean the 2006 Bulldogs become the 10th team to run the table in WCC play. Prior to the Bulldogs going undefeated in 2004, nobody had done it since 1992 when Pepperdine ran the table.
Gonzaga is assured the No. 1 seed into the West Coast Conference Tournament to be played on the Gonzaga campus for the first time in its current format. The tourney starts Thursday, March 2, wth four women’s games, while the men take to the court on Friday, March 3. The top two regular-season finishers for the men are seeded into Sunday’s semifinals. Gonzaga put the wraps on a sixth straight WCC regular-season title with Monday’s win at Pepperdine.
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