Vickers out for season due to medical condition
Autoracing Betting Lines
05/21/2010 -
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR driver Brian Vickers revealed on Friday
that he will miss the remainder of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season due to
his treatment for blood clots in his left leg and both lungs.
Vickers held a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the site of this
weekend's NASCAR Sprint All-Star race. He was joined by Red Bull vice
president and general manager Jay Frye, as well as Steven A Limentani, M.D.,
one of the doctors who is overseeing Vickers medical condition in Charlotte.
The 26-year-old Vickers said he expects to be back in the No.83 Toyota for Red
Bull at the start of next season.
"It sucks; this is what I love to do," Vickers said. "When I was lying in the
hospital, I probably wasn't asking the right questions. Instead of asking, 'Am
I going to live,' I was asking, 'can I race this weekend,' so that tells you
how I kind of feel about racing. This is my life, and this is what I love to
do, and I fully intend on doing it again."
Vickers was first treated with the anticoagulant (blood thinner) medication
Heparin and then Coumadin, also an anticoagulant, during his two-day stay in a
Washington, D.C. hospital this past week. His treatment with Coumadin will
continue for three to six months, but could continue longer based on future
tests. He will not be able to race for at the rest of the season, due to the
risks associated with the medication.
"I can actually race and be on blood thinners; I just can't crash," he said.
"I told [the doctors] that if I promise I won't crash that they will let me
race. The answer was 'no'."
After he returned to his home in North Carolina on Saturday, Vickers said he
was admitted to a Charlotte hospital the following day for further pain. He
was released on Monday.
Prior to his hospitalization in Washington, Vickers said he experienced
shortness of breath and severe pain in his leg, claiming it was the most
excruciating pain he had ever felt.
Casey Mears will drive Vickers' car in Saturday's all-star race, and likely
for the remainder of the season, with possibly the exception of the upcoming
road course races in Sonoma, CA and Watkins Glen, NY.
"It's still to be determined," Frye said. "[Mears] is doing a great job, and
he did a great job last week in Dover, so we don't anticipate any change. With
the road courses coming up, we maybe will do something there. We're very
comfortable with Casey...he's a friend."
Vickers said he plans to spend time in the Red Bull shop and atop the team's
pit box on some race weekends to observe. He will miss some race weekends, due
to advice from his doctors.
In 219 Cup starts, Vickers has recorded two victories and 50 top-10 finishes.
He won the Nationwide Series championship in 2003. Last year, Vickers made
the championship chase for the first time since joining Cup full-time in 2004.
<< Chivas hopes to bounce back at home vs. RSL
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake travels to California to take on
Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer Western Conference clash on Saturday
night.
RSL (4-3-1) is currently on a three-game winning streak after topping t
<< Orioles designate INF Turner, recall Moore
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles designated infielder
Justin Turner for assignment and selected the contract of infielder Scott
Moore from Triple-A Norfolk on Friday.
Turner, 25, appeared in only five game
<< World Cup 2010 Preview: Slovakia set for World Cup debut
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Slovakia will make its first-ever
appearance at a major international competition in South Africa, and although
it is a newcomer to the big stage, don't expect it to be too much in awe.
The tea
<< WTA event in Ponte Vedra Beach folds
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The MPS Group Championships will not
be staged in 2011, as the WTA Tour event has folded because of a restructuring
of the tour calendar.
The WTA wanted the event to shift from April to either Februa
<< Houston, D.C. aim for fresh starts
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After playing four games in 13 days, capped off
by a 3-1 loss at Real Salt Lake on May 13, the Houston Dynamo gets back
into Major League Soccer action when they host D.C. United on Saturday night.
The
Kings assistant arrested on sex-abuse charge in DC >>
WASHINGTON (AP) -Prosecutors in Washington say they plan to raise the sex abuse charge against Los Angeles Kings assistant coach Mark Hardy to a felony.D.C. police arrested Hardy on a charge of misdemeanor sex abuse.The 51-year-old Hardy is schedule
Philly calls again: Collins hired as 76ers' coach >>
The Philadelphia 76ers made Doug Collins their top choice for a second time.Collins was hired Friday by the Sixers, charged with reviving a franchise that went 27-55 last season and has the No. 2 overall pick in next month's draft.A person familiar
NL East: Rest does the trick for Mets' Wright >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last thing that New York Mets third baseman David
Wright has probably wanted to hear lately is a spirited rendition of "Take Me
Out to the Ball Game."
After all, the verse "for it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
NL Central: Reds generating plenty of excitement >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Here's a few words of advice for those attending or
watching games involving the Cincinnati Reds. Don't leave your seat or change
the channel on the television.
The Reds have been the cardiac kids of the 2010 baseball seas
Donald leads by one in England >>
Surrey, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Donald posted his second straight
three-under 68 Friday to grab a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the BMW
PGA Championship.
Donald, who shared third place at this event in 2006, complete
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
NFL Football Trash Talk
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject
would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms.
Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends,
their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the
sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies
your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming
the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like
your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in
defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your
hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say,
will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt
focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea
is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to
make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
|