Latest Sports Betting Picks, Tips and News

Because quite frankly, you’ll never know who’ll win it even after the tournament is over.

It has been well documented that doping scandals have always plagued cycling’s premiere event. And these doping scandals can snatch the title away from whoever wins it, like last year when Michael Rasmussen should’ve been the winner but because of him getting tested positive for dope, the 2007 title was then literally handed over to Alberto Contador. Guess what, we already have THREE in the 2008 Tour de France.

Sad huh? The latest of which? Riccardo Ricco. The guy already won two stages of the Tour de France as people are probably starting to marvel his endurance in what is a very very grueling spot. When he was tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, it was all over.

The biggest question now is, who will will don the maillot jaune of best overall rider when the three-week race concludes in Paris? Who will be the next Lance Armstrong?

The list of favorites boils down to just five men; Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo).

But since Cadel Evans is the first guy we mentioned, let’s find out if this dude can win this one shall we?

Cadel Evans has been in the top ten in the last three years, including second in 2007, that’s why he is the hottest pick for the 2008 title. Last year, just 23 seconds separated him from a Tour victory.

This year, his morale has surely been raised, thanks to one of his best spring campaigns in years, with wins in Vuelta a Andalucía (stage), Paris-Nice (Mont Ventoux stage), Coppi e Bartali (overall and stage) and the recent announcement that the Silence-Lotto team would be 100 percent behind him, leaving top sprinter Robbie McEwen to look after himself in the bunch gallops.

Can he win it all? There’s only one way to…

Former Barcelona FC Star Ronaldinho is now a member of Italian football giants AC Milan.

You read it people, Ronaldinho won’t be playing for Manchester City in the coming 2008-09 English Premier League season but instead, will play in the San Siro to join AC Milan in the Italian Serie A.

After spending his last years in the Spanish league dealing with numerous injuries, the (now) former Barcelona superstar, Ronaldinho, is hoping he’ll have a fresh start in the Italian league as he tries to help AC Milan bring the title home to the San Siro.

Ronaldinho, together with another Brazilian footballer, the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year Kaka, will form some kind of combination in AC Milan. Their success, of course, remains to be seen.

For now, the Italian football giants are excited to introduce their newly acquired star. Thursday was the day when they formally introduced the Brazilian football icon to the excited AC Milan fans.

Ronaldinho is happy about the transfer of course. After he realized that he is no longer welcomed in Barcelona, why wouldn’t he?

‘’I can confirm that I strongly wanted to join AC Milan,’’ Ronaldinho said. ‘’It’s true. Many things have happened but in the end I have become a Rossonero player. I am happy to find so many Brazilians but also all the champions that wear the Rossoneri colours.’’

‘’I am really happy. After many years I am here. I am delighted to have arrived to AC Milan and I hope to be able to give a lot of joy to everyone.’’

How can Manchester City compete with…

The Beijing games are almost here.

Of course, we’re still a few more weeks from August 8, 2008, when the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games start. Hopefully, the U.S. basketball team will find the redemption they’re looking for since Europeans started beating them on the basketball courts.

One who’ll also be looking for redemption is swimmer Katie Hoff. She was just a shoo-in to make the 2004 Olympic team. She was just 15 years old then. But something happened back in Athens that made her so eager to redeem herself in this year’s Olympic games.

Her trip for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens was the first international flight she did it without her parents, who couldn’t afford the cost of last-minute travel to the Olympics. Yup, her parents were not around to support her. And to make matters worse for the young lady, her coach, Paul Yetter wasn’t even allowed on the pool deck and couldn’t be with Hoff much of the time.

With all these factors, her losing in the 2004 Olympics in Athens was almost known even before she took the flight. She finished 6th in her heat and 17th overall.

Katie Hoff admitted that she really didn’t get over her disappointment in Athens until she went to Montreal for the 2005 World Championships. And back on July 25, 2005, nearly a year after Athens, Hoff finally found redemption in these international tournaments. She won the 200 IM final in 2:10.41.

‘’When I touched the wall in the 200 IM, the first thing I thought was, ‘OK, I’m good again,”’ Hoff said. ‘’I proved to everyone, especially to…”

Will he or WILL HE?

That is the question lurking around everybody’s mind. But as far as the coming 2008-09 NFL football season is concerned, the Packers believe that the biggest star of their franchise to date won’t suit up, staying retired since making the announcement at the end of last season.

You see, rumors began to come out last week that Brett Favre will postpone retirement for the third straight year and return to the field as football’s ‘’Ultimate Packer.’’ Of course, Favre initially didn’t agree but since we are still a long way from the start of the season, you can’t really blame Packer fans for hoping.

But after the Green Bay Packers made the announcement, confirming that No.4 will stay retired, will their fans still keep on hoping? Current and former team presidents of the Packers organization believes that Favre will remain retired and coming back for his 18th NFL season is not even a plan whatsoever for probably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.

‘’I keep going back to his retirement announcement and how sincere and heartfelt that was,’’ current team president and CEO Mark Murphy said. ‘’I think it’s pretty reasonable that, as an organization, we’re going to move on.’’

The Packers’ chairman emeritus Bob Harlan also added his thoughts on the said Favre comeback. ‘’What I remember about him is he was ready to retire, and that’s how I feel today. I think down deep, that’s exactly how he feels.’’

A few days ago, news broke out about…

The horse racing continues after the Triple Crown series with Del Mar.

Dubbed as ‘’where the surf meets the turf,’’ the 2008 Del Mar race meet opens with the Oceanside Stakes and will close with the anticipated $250,000 Del Mar Futurity, running until September 3.

Del Mar horse racing is the biggest event in California. From an old-fashioned race track started by Hollywood legend Bing Crosby and his high-profile gang in 1937, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club today is among America’s best attended race tracks.

The Del Mar 2008 Race Meet comes a week ahead of the Saratoga 2008 race meet.

The track has a one mile main dirt track and a seven furlong turf course. The track runs during the summer at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and can stable more than a thousand horses.

In early 2007, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club installed a new Polytrack surface for a price of approximately 9 million dollars. On July 18, 2007, Jon Court became the first jockey to win a race on the new Polytrack surface.

The track races, stretching from July to September, presents the following graded stakes races; Grade 1 Bing Crosby Breeders’ Cup Handicap, Del Mar Debutante Stakes, Del Mar Futurity, Del Mar Oaks, Eddie Read Handicap, John C. Mabee Handicap and the…