Celtic claims 13th-straight league win
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02/11/2012 - Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic continued its stunning run of form Saturday, defeating Inverness, 1-0, at Parkhead to extend its winning streak in Scottish Premier League play to 13 games.
The Bhoys have not dropped points in Scotland's top flight since Oct. 29 when it was held to a 0-0 draw with Hibernian, and it hasn't lost a league match since Oct. 2 when it fell 2-0 to Hearts.
Neil Lennon's men have been on a roll since, winning 13 successive contests to overtake Rangers at the top of the table.
With Rangers also taking three points on Saturday after a 4-1 defeat of Dunfermline, the Premier League table remains unchanged with Celtic leading its fierce rival by four points.
Celtic needed only one goal to dispatch Inverness, and Joe Ledley provided that lone strike in the 16th minute.
The goal was slightly overshadowed by red cards issued to players on both squads, as Celtic's Daniel Majstorovic was sent off in the 60th minute before Steve Williams of Inverness picked up his second yellow card in the 78th minute.
But all that mattered for the home side at the end of the day was three points, which they earned through Ledley's early strike.
Celtic's 21st win of the season gives the club 65 points on the season, while Inverness remains third from bottom on just 26 points.
Rangers 4, Dunfermline 1
Dunfermline, Scotland - Rangers surrendered an early lead at Dunfermline on Saturday but battled back to claim a resounding 4-1 victory at East End Park.
Andy Kirk opened the scoring to shock the visitors in the 16th minute. Rangers responded quickly with goals in the 24th and 39th minutes from David Healy and Lee McCulloch respectively.
Rangers extended the lead and secured the victory in second-half play with goals from Sone Aluko and Salim Kerkar.
The Gers keep pace with league-leaders Celtic, sitting four points of the pace with 61 points on the season. Dunfermline remains in the cellar of Scotland's top tier with 18 points.
Dundee United 5, St. Johnstone 1
Perth, Scotland - Dundee United handed St. Johnstone its second-straight league defeat in stunning fashion, trouncing the fifth-place club, 5-1, at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.
A pair of own goals gifted the visitors the lead as Steven Anderson conceded the opener in the 35th minute before Callum Davidson gave away another in the 61st minute.
Anderson made amends by pulling a goal back in the 66th, but Dundee responded with three more goals through Johnny Russell, Jon Daly, and Milos Lacny.
Dundee moves into the top half of the table on 30 points where it sits five points behind St. Johnstone.
Kilmarnock 1, Hearts 1
Kilmarnock, Scotland - Hearts earned a dramatic point on the road, grabbing a 90th minute goal as it played to a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday.
Paul Heffernan thought he handed Killie the win with a 79th-minute goal, but it was canceled out late on by Suso Santana as the Spanish winger helped Hearts earn a share of the points.
Hearts improve to 36 points in fourth place, while Killie remains in eighth place after drawing its second straight match.
Hibernian 0, Aberdeen 0
Edinburgh, Scotland - Hibernian was held scoreless at home as it played to a 0-0 draw with Aberdeen at Easter Road on Saturday.
Hibs, sitting second from bottom, have managed just one point from it last three Scottish league games.
Aberdeen has fared much better as it extended its unbeaten streak to five games.
St. Mirren 0, Motherwell 0
Paisley, Scotland - St. Mirren and Motherwell played to a 0-0 draw in a stalemate at St. Mirren Park on Saturday.
With its second-straight draw, St. Mirren improves to 28 points on the season, good enough for ninth place in the Scottish Premier League.
Motherwell, unbeaten in its last four, sits third in the league on 42 points.
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Traffor
2007 online football betting Preview
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.
2007 College Football Betting Preview
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.
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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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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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