New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez tracked down NFL legend Joe Namath before the game looking for a pep talk and some pointers. He didn’t exactly get what he’d bargained for from Broadway Joe, but what the NFL Hall of Famer told him may have had a more beneficial effect. More importantly, the Jets easily beat the host Houston Texans 24-7.

NFL sports betting enthusiasts who took the Jets as +4 road underdogs cashed their tickets with the outright win. New York improved to 10-8 ATS as an underdog over the past three NFL seasons.

After the game, Sanchez recounted what Namath had told him in his ersatz pep talk:

“What a pep talk. That was Joe Namath, just taking all the credit from himself and throwing it back to me and just saying, ‘Good luck.’ To hear that from a legend like that, it just kind of gives you the chills. It was something special to be a part of, an emotional start, an emotional little pep talk.”

For his part, Namath said he wasnt surprised to see Sanchez have such a solid NFL debut:

“No, I was hopeful and I’m satisfied more than I thought I’d be. His offensive line did a hell of a job, but he did a great job of finding time with his feet, just to move subtly … I don’t doubt even a little bit that he doesn’t have poise at this stage.”

The Jets defense also had a great afternoon. The run defense was particularly stifling, holding Steve Slaton to just 17 yards on the ground. Afterwards, Slaton couldnt believe what had just happened:

“It’s just insane. You work for six months leading up to this first game. You have all offseason to prepare for this game and then to come out and play like that is upsetting.”

Texans coach Gary Kubiak took the blame for his teams poor showing:

“The offensive football team gave us no chance and that starts with me. There’s nobody that can feel anything good coming out of this football game.”

Houston will start from scratch on Sunday as they travel to Nashville to face the Tennessee Titans. The Titans are a -6 home favorite with the total set at 40. The Texans will return home for games the following two weeks against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders. The Jets will play their next two games at home, beginning this weekend against the New England Patriots. New York is +4 home underdog to the Pats, with the total set at 47. Theyll welcome the Tennessee Titans to the Meadowlands the following week.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The bad news for the Baltimore Ravens in their 2009 NFL regular season opener was that their vaunted defense gave up 24 points despite holding a decided advantage in every other statistical category. The good news was that their offense was more than up to the task, answering with 38 points and a franchise record 501 yards. All told, the Ravens opened their season on a winning note beating the Kansas City Chiefs 38-24. Quarterback Joe Flacco threw for a career high 307 yards in the victory.

NFL sports betting devotees who took the +13 points with the Chiefs as a road underdog were hard luck losers as the Ravens managed to cover the pointspread by a single point. The win evened Baltimore’s ATS record over the past three seasons at 18-18, while the Chiefs fell to 14-19 in the same timeframe. The 62 combined points scored easily exceeded the posted total of 37. Despite Baltimore’s reputation as a defensive powerhouse they’ve shown a decided bias to the OVER in recent years, with 22 OVER verdicts in their last 35 games.

Afterwards, Joe Flacco was clearly elated at being given the opportunity to throw the ball more:

“It’s awesome. It’s so much fun. As a quarterback, that’s what you want to do.”

Ravens coach John Harbaugh expressed confidence in his team’s ability to make plays:

“We’re going to throw more if it helps us win games. I think that we will be capable of throwing the ball more ways than we did last year. We have really good players that can make plays.”

Chiefs backup quarterback Brodie Croyle played relatively well in a losing cause. Filling in for the injured Matt Cassel, Croyle put up 177 yards on 16 of 24 passing and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. Cassel is still listed as ‘game to game’ with a knee injury suffered in preseason practice. Despite the solid performance, Croyle was in no mood to talk about his personal accomplishments in the wake of the loss:

“Play well, don’t play well — if you don’t win, you still have the same feeling and that’s where I’m at.”

In his post game comments, first year Chiefs coach Todd Haley gave props to his quarterback :

“I thought Brodie Croyle gave us a chance to win today and that’s all I’ll ever ask my quarterback to do. I got to give credit to Baltimore. They were a throwing machine today. They threw the ball probably a lot more than we anticipated.”

The Ravens now head cross country to take on the San Diego Chargers in southern California next Sunday. After that theyll return home the following week to take on the Cleveland Browns. Kansas City will host the Oakland Raiders next Sunday before heading to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles the following week. The Chiefs are hoping that QB Matt Cassel will be able to start against Oakland, or the following week at the very latest.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The Portland Trailblazers have needed a big inside presence ever since starting center Greg Oden and backup Joel Pryzbilla went down with season ending injuries. They finally found one on Tuesday as they acquired veteran Marcus Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers received forward Travis Outlaw and guard Steve Blake.

The transaction also served to answer the nagging question about Portland’s point guard situation. Steve Blake and Andre Miller have shared time running the offense, but Blazers’ management apparently felt that Miller was a better fit with superstar shooting guard Brandon Roy.

All three players involved are in the final year of their current contract, meaning that barring anything unforeseen Camby’s career in Portland will probably last only 23 games plus the playoffs. Outlaw and Blake may or may not fit into the Clippers longterm plans-assuming that one of the NBA’s most consistently underachieving teams actually has ‘longterm plans’ in the first place.

Camby indicated that he was excited to be going to the Blazers:

“I think it’s a great situation for myself. It’s a first-class organization that really takes care of their own. I hope I can bring my knowledge of the game, and blend in these last 27 games. I’m really excited to be here.”

He talked about the strange situation of actually being in Portland when the trade went down:

“I only brought one change of clothes. It’s been a real rough, rough 24 hours for me, but real exciting at the same time.”

Camby also said that he’s interesting in staying in ‘Rip City’ longterm:

“Hopefully things work out for myself and work out for the team. Hopefully they have plans for me in the long term.”

Portland GM Kevin Pritchard added:

“We are very excited to bring an experienced big man of Marcus’ caliber to the team and we feel he’ll help us a great deal down the stretch run. He’s a fierce competitor and has been one of the league’s best defensive players for quite some time.”

The 35 year old Camby has long been considered one of the NBA’s best defensive big men. Despite playing on a LA Clippers team well off the playoff pace in the Western Conference, he’s second in the league in rebounds with 12.1 per game.

Ross Everett is a respected freelance writer specializing in travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, falconry and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

You’ll find a myriad of homes around the country and around the world. Some are big, a few are little, and some are merely average. When you are looking for home cinema systems you will find the same thing. This is especially true of the house movie theater systems that come as a package deal. While I don’t normally endorse these purchases, just like all homes are not alike, neither are all people. This means that what may be best for me and my home theater might not be the best strategy for you and your home theater.

My spouse and I definitely recommend listening to any home cinema you are considering before taking the plunge and purchasing. There are many times in life when you get what you pay for. While the majority of us live within some degree of budget constraints you will discover that most of us have certain things we simply will not go ‘cheap’ when purchasing. You should keep in mind that there are great methods for getting outstanding bargains however, with regards to purchasing electronics. One of these ways is by investing in a home cinema package where all the pieces (typically with the exception of the television) are included.

Viewing is believing with regards to value for the majority of us. The best way to find a home theater kit that you are going to be confident about purchasing is to take a look at the kit, take note of the speakers (the first 5-10 minutes of the movie Avatar is a superb test for sound), and check out the system to see how you find the interface. It doesn’t matter how great a system sounds if you cannot figure out how to use it once you’ve taken it from the box. You could also want to look into the price of professional installation if you’re electronically challenged with regards to matters of programming and installation. These kits are also often appealing to those who find the prospect of shopping around for the parts and components tiresome.

Even though it is difficult for me to recognize at times, we were not all born shoppers. For people such as this, home cinema systems that come as a bundle are often life rings tossed out in a sea of shopping among sharks. This convenience for some is worth any price that may be stamped on the box. The good thing is that there is enough competition that prices are typically competitive according to quality.

Now I’m positive you know that box kit home entertainment systems are appealing to many consumers for many different reasons. Individuals who live in small apartments or have very small home entertainment rooms typically find that it makes no sense to purchase a system that will rattle the walls or have the neighbors complaining. Individuals with restricted budgets find that this is an economic way to get everything at once. People who have little time to invest in researching every item they will need find it incredibly convenient that they will not be concerned about missing something important such as a receiver along the way. Nonetheless others find that they like knowing up front what the cost of the entire home cinema experience will be, at least the electronics component anyway.

It is important to keep in mind that a home theater means different things to different people. Choosing the ideal home theater for you might not necessarily equate to the ideal home cinema for someone else that has grand visions of a cinema themed room with dark rich colors on the walls and muted illumination effects along with blacked out windows for the ultimate motion picture viewing experience.

Don’t get too caught up in the details and remember that it only has to work for you and your needs. Setting up a great home cinema is a terrific way to bring the family together on a regular basis. Purchasing a pre made home entertainment kit or system is a terrific way to begin enjoying the wonderful benefits of a home cinema experience while learning the things you like and dislike about your system. This could be a work in progress for several years to come as you find out more about what you do and do not like.

The goal is to get the best possible home theater for your home. Download Free Movie Once you make the decision to buy a home theater the best thing to do is check out what is available. Downloading a full-length film only takes a few minutes to less than an hour.

The Edmonton Eskimos survived a wild back and forth CFL shootout against the Calgary Stampeders before prevailing 38-35 to take over sole possession of first place in the CFL West. Ricky Ray hit Fred Stamps with a 23 yard touchdown pass with just nine seconds to play to earn the victory, erasing the lead that Calgary had earned with their own TD pass less than a half minute earlier.

After the game, winning QB Ricky Ray said that he enjoyed the wild contest:

“That was a ton of fun. In the CFL you get to play in a lot of games like this, especially against a guy like (Calgary quarterback Henry) Burris, who has done this to us. It’s great to come out on the winning end of a shoot-out like that. It’s a great uplift for the team. It’s a huge win for us.”

With a bye week on deck, Eskimos head coach Richie Hall said that the outcome couldnt have been timed any better:

“Regardless of what happens, we are coming back in first place. Now we have one up on Calgary. It’s going to be a dogfight for all the teams in the West and any chance you get to win, especially a win like this, it’s a real bonus. It’s great for our confidence.”

Calgarys Burris remembered a very similar game last year:

“They got us last year in this situation and of course you didn’t think it was going to happen again or even could happen again. It felt so great to get that late touchdown and with 38 seconds on the clock nobody was even thinking about last year. We had to stop Jackson and we didn’t. And we had to stop Ray and we didn’t. Kudos to Edmonton.”

Calgary returns to action on Aug. 28 in Toronto while the Eskimos will next play on Aug. 29 when they host Hamilton. The two CFL provincial rivals from Alberta will face each other twice more this season.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the NBA’s regular season with the league’s best record, and LeBron James won the Most Valuable Player award in the process. Despite this success, the Cavs will be watching the rest of the NBA playoffs on TV. Cleveland was eliminated by the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, losing game six by a final score of 94-85.

The Cavs had won two of the first three games before the Celtics rebounded to win the last three en route to the series victory. In game six, Boston was priced as a -1′ point NBA betting favorite and easily covered the pointspread. The 179 combined points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 194. Heading into Game 6, Cleveland had taken the money in 8 of the last 12 games held at Boston’s TD BankNorth Garden although Boston had won 10 of 12 outright.

LeBron James didn’t go down without a fight, however, as he put up a ‘triple double’ consisting of 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. Mo Williams added 22 points, but the Cavs received little production from the rest of the roster. For the game, the Celtics’ bench outscored their Cleveland counterparts 24-13.

Kevin Garnett paced the Celtics with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and afterward credited his team’s experience:

“Winning is gratifying. You’re playing the best team in basketball; the challenge is there; you don’t have to dress it up. One thing we don’t lack is confidence. We’re a veteran team and we understand when it’s time to lock in as a group. I think we did just that. I think the experience is taking over.”

LeBron, meanwhile, was in a state of shock:

“The fact that it’s over right now is definitely a surprise to me. A friend of mine told me, ‘I guess you’ve got to go through a lot of nightmares before you realize your dream.’ That’s what’s going on for me individually right now.”

LeBron is eligible to opt out of his contract this summer and there’s no shortage of teams that would love to have him. For now, he’s keeping his cards close to the vest:

“I want to win. That’s my only thing, my only concern. I’ve always prided myself — it’s all about winning for me and I think the Cavs are committed to doing that. But at the same time, I’ve given myself options to this point. Me and my team, we have a game plan that we’ll execute and we’ll see where we’re at.”

The Celtics will now face the Orlando Magic, who have rampaged through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Orlando’s conference semifinal sweep of the Atlanta Hawks was the most dominating 4 game series victory in NBA history, with an average per game margin of victory of 25.2 points. The winner will then advance to the NBA Finals.

Ross Everett is ranked among the world’s foremost experts on several topics, including emu racing, sports betting, and sword fighting. He is a consulting handicapper for Oddsbay and in charge of setting daily soccer betting odds . He lives in Las Vegas with several retired circus animals.

Success in the NFL mandates that even when teams aren’t playing their best they need to find a way to win. The Miami Dolphins found a way to win ugly in their NFL preseason battle of Florida on Thursday night. After spotting the Bucs a 6-0 lead, Miami used a late first half field goal and scored the only touchdown of the second half to comeback for the 10-6 win.

A starting QB battle in Tampa was the biggest storyline of the game and veteran Byron Leftwich appears to have gained the edge over Luke McCown. Bucs coach Raheem Morris has indicated that hell be making a decision soon, though he gave little indication as to his preference in postgame comments:

“Obviously you want somebody to jump up and take it. We’ll find out when we go back, look at the tape and evaluate this thing.”

McCown had a rough night and after the game gave a verbose no comment on his status as starter:

“It’s not for me to say. … My part in it is preparing every day, being the best I can be and getting better from my mistakes. As long as I feel like I’m doing that, then I’m OK.”

Leftwich, meanwhile, was 9 of 17 for 100 yards and came up big on several third down completions. He had very little to add after the game:

“Hopefully, I’m the guy. I felt good. I missed a few, but I hit a few also. Luckily for me on the ones I missed, I made plays on the following play to get those first downs.”

Bucs running back Cadillac Williams returned to action after major knee surgery seven months ago. Hes been limited in the last three seasons due to injuries, but looked solid in picking up 54 yards on eight carries:

“The knee is not an issue to me. … I feel great. I’m just loving what I do.”

Dolphins QB Chad Pennington said that its hard to take much away from a strange game like this one:

“It was a very odd game for us, as far as the rain delay, a lot of stoppages of play and things like that We were able to come out get a score before halftime and get a score after the half. We’ll build on that. We’ll be critical of ourselves and make sure we don’t let a win overshadow what we need to do to get better.”

The Dolphins will conclude their NFL preseason play next Thursday against the Saints at New Orleans. Tampa Bay will host Houston next Friday in their final preseason contest.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The Detroit Lions nineteen game losing streak is over. On Sunday afternoon at Ford Field in Detroit the Lions held on for a 19-14 win over the Washington Redskins. The Lions hadn’t won a game since December 23, 2007 and had already tied the second longest losing streak in NFL history. It may not have been pretty, but the streak is now over and the Lions wont have to worry about comparisons to the 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost a record 26 games in their first two seasons as an NFL expansion team.

If you were going to bet on a NFL football game this past weekend, the Lions may not have been the most attractive position. Sports betting enthusiasts who took Detroit as a +6 home favorite were rewarded with the outright victory. It was the Lions first pointspread cover of the 2009 NFL season, while the Redskins have yet to get the money for their backers this year. The 33 points went UNDER the posted total of 39. It was the second UNDER in three regular season games for both teams.

Lions owner William Clay Ford said in postgame comments that he hopes the end of the streak signals a new beginning in the Motor City:

“We not only got the monkey off our back, we got King Kong off our back. I’m hoping that this gets us over that hump and gives us a winning attitude.”

Dominic Raiola has played in Detroit for his entire nine year career, and he too expressed his relief that the streak had come to an end:

“I’ve always watched, but I’ve never been in this situation before. No team has been in this situation before. No one has gone 0-16 and then had to try to win a game the next year.”

Rookie QB Matthew Stafford had the best game of his young career, throwing for 241 yards on 21 of 36 passing with a touchdown and no interceptions. He gave his thoughts on the late game anticipation that preceded Detroit finally putting one in the win column:

“I’m having fun. It’s a great game we get to play. I figured I’d just let the crowd noise tell me what happened. When it got really quiet, I couldn’t take it, so I looked up, and saw them running, and then the tackle, and then I saw the clock was at zero.”

Detroit will try to start an actual winning streak next weekend as they take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. The Bears are 11 point favorites in that contest. Detroit will host the Pittsburgh Steelers the following weekend before a road trip to Green Bay and game against the Packers on October 18th. Washington will host Tampa Bay next Sunday, with the Redskins a -7 home favorite. They’ll play at Carolina on October 11th and then return home for a game against Kansas City the following weekend.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on NFL football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

It was just a week ago that the Saskatchewan Roughriders blew a 22-0 first half CFL lead to the Edmonton Eskimos en route to a 38-33 loss. On Sunday afternoon, it looked for a moment like history was repeating itself. The Riders led 23-0 at halftime before the Hamilton Tiger-Cats came roaring back with 16 third quarter points. Hamilton would tie the score at 23-23 early in the fourth quarter before the hosts pulled it out with a late touchdown and field goal to win 33-23.

After the game, Roughriders coach Ken Miller talked about the importance of not blowing another big CFL lead:

“We didn’t want to do that again, “In the first half in particular it was sensational. In the third quarter we gave up some points … but overall our defence played pretty good.”

Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille indicated that there was no moral victory in coming close:

“You’ve got to play 60 minutes to win in the CFL, you can’t play 30 minutes.”

An important component of the Roughriders victory was their improved rushing attack. Wes Cates becoming the first Roughrider to rush for more than 100 yards this season as he finished with 117. After the game, Cates spoke of his accomplishment:

“It was not as much for myself but more for the naysayers. Yeah I needed a big game like that to stop the rumours and stop people from talking bad about me.”

Saskatchewans defensive line also starred, completely shutting down the Hamilton rushing attack. The Roughriders limited the Tiger-Cats runners to a mere 31 yards on the ground.

Both Hamilton QBs struggled against the Saskatchewan defense. Kevin Glenn came in after the first quarter and finished the game 12-for-27 with 183 yards. starting QB Quinton Porter was 1-for-5 for only three yards before he was yanked.

The Tiger-Cats now have a bye week in which to try and regroup before they return to action August 29th on the road against the Edmonton Eskimos. Saskatchewan will head east to take on the CFL best Montreal Alouettes on Friday night.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The often maligned Indianapolis Colts defense matched the ferocity of their Jacksonville Jaguars counterparts play for play, and one touchdown pass from Peyton Manning proved to be enough to earn victory by a 14-12 margin in the NFL season opener for both teams. The victory was Manning’s 118th in a Colts uniform, tying the legendary Johnny Unitas for the franchise lead. Unitas, of course, was the personification of the franchise during their years in Baltimore.

NFL sports betting enthusiasts who took the Jaguars as +6 road underdogs were rewarded with the pointspread cover. Indianapolis dropped to 11-16 ATS over the past three years when favored. The 26 combined points went well UNDER the posted total of 45. Despite their reputation as an offensive juggernaut, the Colts have actually trended to the UNDER over the past three seasons, with 19 UNDERs in their past 35 lined games.

After the contest, Manning displayed his characteristic humility when asked about tying the franchise mark for wins and particularly comparisons to the iconic Unitas:

“I’ve never felt comfortable with comparisons with him. I think he’s kind of in his own category. But I am proud of those wins.”

Manning was more concerned about the welfare of receiver Anthony Gonzalez:

“I askedRashean Matthis what happened and he said, ‘I didn’t even touch him . He has worked so hard in the offseason, I just hope it’s not a season-ending injury.”

Colts coach Jim Caldwell won his first game at the helm of an NFL team, and was pleased with the effort of the defense:

“Obviously, the defense played well and came up big at the end. We thought it would be a grind, and it was. I think our team certainly played tough, played hard, played with a lot of energy.”

Jacksonville wasnt overly discouraged after the contest either, pleased with the intensity and their effectiveness in shutting down one of the NFLs best offenses. Maurice Jones-Drew gave props to the Indy defense after the game:

“They just did a great job in the red zone stifling our offense. My hat’s off to them. But we have to learn how to finish.”

Quarterback David Garrard also paid respect to his opponent’s pass rush:

“I thought, ‘Here we go again, we have a great chance. You love to be in that situation. We were trying to get the ball to Maurice, but you’ve got to slow those pass rushers down. We did what we could do.”

The Jaguars will open their 2009 NFL home slate on Sunday as they host the Arizona Cardinals. The Colts will head to south Florida for a game against the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Theyll return to Indy for a date with the Arizona Cardinals on the following Sunday.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.