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12/29/2011 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first of the year also means the beginning of the Triple Crown trail to the Kentucky Derby. The first stakes on that road is Sunday's Gulfstream Park Derby, a new race on the calendar.
The 1 1/16-mile event worth $100,000 has attracted a field of 11 three-year- olds for the main track. Post-time for the Gulfstream Park Derby is slated for 4:45 p.m. (et).
Topping the field is Spectacular Bid Stakes winner Ancient Rome. Trained by Tony Dutrow, the colt has drawn post seven with Joe Rocco Jr. again getting the riding assignment.
"I honestly don't know what to expect," Dutrow said. "Ancient Rome certainly has the talent, and if he can get the distance, he's going to be a useful three-year-old this year. It's all about experimenting here."
In the Spectacular Bid on December 3, Ancient Rome pressed the pacesetter and was able to put his nose on the wire, covering the six-furlongs in 1:08.95.
"He's always shown that toughness," Dutrow said. "That's one thing we know for sure about him. I would anticipate coming out of those sprint races he would be out on the lead or at least with the pacemakers.
"He's by Roman Ruler so we're looking at that when thinking about the stretch out. His daddy has produced a Belmont winner (Ruler on Ice) so we'll just have to wait and see."
Owned by Michael Dubb, Ancient Rome was second in his first start with Jeremy Rose in the saddle at Delaware Park. In his second career race, the colt, with Rocco riding, won by 7 3/4-lengths at Delaware as the 3-10 favorite. He has earnings of $92,000.
Here is the full field in post position order: King Kid, Corey Lanerie; Reveron, Fernando Jara; Gold Megillah, Edgar Prado; Nachas and Joy, Rajiv Maragh; Casual Trick, John Velazquez; Silver Menace, Javier Castellano; Ancient Rome, Joe Rocco Jr., Politicallycorrect, Elvis Trujillo, Ravelo's Boy, Jeffrey Sanchez; Rex's Last Tour, Daniel Centeno and Yourhonorandglory, Kendrick Carmouche.
<< Thoroughbred Times honored with Media Eclipse Award
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For its coverage of this year's Breeders' Cup
World Championships, Thoroughbred Times has received the Media Eclipse Award
in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category. The honor was for "Breeders' Cup -
On the
<< Bordeaux set to add Brazilian defender Mariano
Bordeaux, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bordeaux agreed to sign Brazilian defender
Mariano Ferreira Filho from Fluminense, and he will complete his switch to the
French club pending a physical and official signing of a contract.
Mariano, 25, wil
<< Philly-NYC rivalry adds to Classic excitement
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long before there was an NHL or even a
Stanley Cup, the rivalry between the cities of Philadelphia and New York
existed.
New York is the obvious heavy in the matchup; a gigantic, world-class
metropolis th
<< ESPN and HRTV recognized with Media Eclipse Awards
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Media Eclipse Award in the Television -
Live Racing Programming category has been given to ESPN for its live coverage
of the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic. This is the third straight year that the
network
Wings place Holmstrom on IR >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings placed forward Tomas
Holmstrom on injured reserve and recalled forward Gustav Nyquist from Grand
Rapids of the AHL.
Holmstrom has been sidelined with a groin injury since Mo
Brady limited in practice by shoulder injury >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was
limited in practice Thursday because of a left shoulder injury, although his
exact condition remains unclear.
Brady had missed practice Wednesday, but the team
Lions ink RB Harris to extension >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Grey Cup champion British Columbia
Lions locked up a key part of their championship puzzle on Thursday, inking
running back Andrew Harris to a contract extension.
Terms of the deal were not disc
Browns' Shurmur still won't rule out McCoy >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur says he still
hasn't ruled out quarterback Colt McCoy for Sunday's season-finale against the
Steelers.
McCoy has missed the last two games because of a concussion he suffered
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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