Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
03/16/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When people find out you're a golf writer, in the last few months, the inevitable question varies in form, but mostly sounds like this:
"What's up with Tiger?"
Hard to answer, but the smarter fans always wanted to know when he'd come back. That question was answered on Tuesday with Woods' announcement that he will be in the field for the Masters in a few weeks.
It's been my contention all along that he wouldn't miss Augusta. Perhaps I'm a tad jaded in my outlook on life, but I couldn't see Tiger missing a major championship.
Score one for the bald guy.
"The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it's been awhile since I last played," Woods said in his statement on Tuesday.
I wouldn't use the word "need" when it relates to a golf tournament and you being, there considering the degree to which you publicly humiliated your wife. Maybe both the word choice, and the timing of the comeback, were Ari Fleischer's doing.
(Also, the Masters is the safe choice because it's a very controlled environment with regard to the media.)
Some pundits with purer souls than my own believed Woods would sit out at least the Masters. Maybe they were swayed by his "performance" in his press/friends-and-family gaggle, but I never saw it that way.
Some believed he should sit out the Masters just to show how serious he was about building the family structure. So the rationale there is, just as a show, sit out the Masters so people will believe you are serious about repairing your life. If you really wanted to repair your family life, that would be good too, but just sit out the Masters and then everyone will believe you're serious.
Why bother? Tiger is a professional golfer and professional golfers don't miss major championships, especially a guy who plastered pictures of Jack Nicklaus on his wall as a kid. The goal is that major championship record.
There's no timetable for this. Hey, you cheated on your wife, that costs you the Masters. Or you're delinquent in child support, you must skip the Masters and U.S. Open.
No one but Tiger, perhaps Elin and maybe his therapist know what's really on Tiger's mind. But remember that not even one month ago, Woods uttered these words:
"I do plan to return to golf one day," Woods said on Feb. 19. "I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year."
So we went from maybe this year to six weeks? That happened quick. He must have gotten a whole lot better in that month. According to some reports, Woods was out of therapy the next week. To some, it might ring a tad disingenuous.
Maybe it's time to stop giving Woods the benefit of the doubt. He skipped probably four events he would've played if he hadn't gotten caught. While I'm sure Woods wouldn't mind having another Sarazen Trophy on his mantle for the CA-Championship, it's nothing compared to that green jacket.
I'm no marriage counselor and quite frankly it's Tiger's business when he feels he's ready to come back, but, that press joke a few weeks ago didn't show a guy who seemed ready to get back to the rigors of major championships.
Was he blowing smoke there? Yes, and it's clear that his focus has never totally left the world of professional golf. It's refreshing that he went to therapy, for whatever the reason. And, everyone should root for reconciliation with his wife if it's still possible, but let's not lose sight of the big picture as Woods sees it.
There's no sense in a token skipping of the Masters to show contrition to the skeptical masses. Woods won't be missing anything that truly mattered to him, and since his motivations will be questioned at every turn anyway, Woods might as well play Augusta.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- CBS has to be a tad excited about this announcement. Ratings will be other worldly.
- I think an underrated aspect of this whole Woods saga is how galleries will respond. I imagine after some spectators partake of a few cocktails, Tiger may hear some gentlemen saying some unpleasant things about Perkins parking lots and the volume of waitresses there. All earned, by the way.
- My apologies, Ernie Els. My column contending that you have a good run left in the tank was going to be fantastic.
- Movie moment - How do guys in the Star Wars movies have British accents? Luke grew up on a desert planet, some characters come from an ice planet, and the other grew up in a flat in Liverpool?
<< Lightning F Malone has surgery
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning announced on Tuesday
that forward Ryan Malone underwent a minor procedure on his left knee.
Malone, who has compiled 21 goals and 44 points in 65 games for the Bolts, is
slated to m
<< Stoke's Pulis OK with Tuncay's angry exit
Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has
drawn a line under the new controversy surrounding Tuncay's angry reaction to
being substituted in the goalless draw with Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Turkey fo
<< Hertha plans to stick with Funkel
Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hertha Berlin President Werner Gegenbauer
has no plans to fire under-pressure coach Friedhelm Funkel.
Hertha are five points adrift at the foot of the Bundesliga after the weekend
defeat to Nurnberg afte
<< NHL or MMA: What got Vs. back on DirectTV?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After months of haggling over carriage
fees and other points of contention too boring to rehash, Versus is finally
back on DirecTV.
DirecTV dropped Versus a month before the NHL season began due to an argu
Bayern's Ribery puts contract talks on hold >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The future of France international Franck
Ribery is once again a matter of conjecture after he told Bayern Munich that
he was unwilling to open new contract talks with the club until the end of the
season.
Portsmouth could exit administration soon >>
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portsmouth's administrator, Andrew
Andronikou, believes the troubled club could come out of administration within
eight weeks.
Andronikou has revealed his hopes for a swift a takeover at Frat
AC Milan hopes to have Beckham again next season >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan Vice President Adriano Galliani hopes
David Beckham returns to the San Siro for a third spell next season, even
though the England international ruptured his Achilles tendon during the
Rossone
Falcons release CB Hill, add S Giordano >>
Flowery Branch, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Falcons have signed safety
Matt Giordano and released cornerback Tye Hill.
Hill, a former first-round pick of Rams in 2006, had seven tackles and an
interception in eight games for
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.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting