Priceperhead.com: offering the top per head sports betting software in the market

In order to find success in the sports betting world, a bookie must use a wagering call center sportsbook which allows him to perform and handle his business in a more detailed and professional way. Priceperhead.com, the leader in pay per head outsourcing, is the most sophisticated turnkey solutions provider when it comes to delivering top of the line deal per player services and affordable per head sports betting software which a bookie's customer truly deserves.

No other price per head call center will supply bookies with all the features that we have to offer for the low deal per player price that we charge. Our bookmaker services are provided to active clients only. Since we charge this wagering call center sportsbook fee on a weekly basis, the customers of a bookie who don’t utilize the outsource bookie solutions of priceperhead.com during the previous week would not have to be added to the total weekly amount to be paid. Therefore, a bookmaker will be paying our price per player sportsbook for real bookmaker solutions only. This is great for sports agents because if the customer of a bookie does not wager on a given week, the sports agent won't have to cover any expenses for bookmaker services granted to him until the player decides to actually place bets.

We at priceperhead.com are certainly proud of our per head sports betting software which was created by our own team of professional technicians who were very detailed when crafting it. Because our goal was to make it useful but easy to use at the same time, and thanks to the efforts of our dedicated team, our price per player shop is able to deliver outstanding management features to the sports agents who have trusted their sports wagering operation to our price per head global sportsbook.

Priceperhead.com would like to thank all the bookmakers who have been a part of our pay per head offshore sportsbook for many years. We’d also like to thank the ones who are just starting to try our sportsbook solutions for bookies for trusting their customers to our outsource bookmaking shop. We are sure that every single one of our current clients is more than satisfied with the solutions we have provided for them. If you want to be a more confident and less stressed bookie, you should also begin to use our services in order to help your business grow. Call 1-888-PPH-SHOP and join now.

Priceperhead.com granting the top football price per head services

If you want to receive flawless pay per head bookie services, then it is time to sign up for an account with priceperhead.com, the biggest turnkey solutions provider within the per head gambling industry. If you are asking yourself why you should use the price per head bookie service of our call center hosting for bookies, then the answer is easy: because we are one of the oldest price per head gambling call center providers. This means that we have an abundance of satisfied customers that you can check with before committing to using our services. We’re confident that you’ll only hear good things as we’ve spent over a decade establishing ourselves as the number one company in the industry.

Our offshore call center is a very respected per head gambling institution because our data processing management features are top notch. When a bookie decides to sign up with the leading pay per head bookie services provider, priceperhead.com, chances are that he will stay doing businesses with our price per head gambling call center for many years. In fact, we have never had an unsatisfied client since we opened our doors.

We, at priceperhead.com, offer the best sportsbook solutions for bookies who are concerned about their lack of success when trying to provide satisfactory customer service to their clients. Once they have opened up an account with us, we will immediately begin to deliver a top price per head bookie service to their customers for a very fair price per head.

Do not over-think your decision about allowing the per head agents at priceperhead.com to handle your players because every day that passes without using our services and bookmaking software means more dissatisfied clients. Onshore agents know that when they have acquired customers who are regular bettors, they must do everything that is in their power in order to keep them happy so they continue to place bets with them. Visit our website and browse the different sections. There you will find more in-depth data about the features and solutions which led to our worldwide recognition as a respected authority within the price per head offshoring industry.

Offer your clients an amazing per head sportsbook call center service by joining priceperhead.com

Hiring a price per head global company is not a decision that can be taken lightly. In fact, the per head sportsbook call center service provider you choose will determine your level of success in the world of sports betting. How can you know if you are choosing the correct price per head sportsbook that can offer you online betting solutions including free price per head web design?

The answer is simple. Simply call every offshore price per head shop that you are interested in and start asking questions. The more natural the answers you receive, the better chance that you’re speaking to a leading per head services PPH price per head in Costa Rica. The longer per head agents take to answer you regarding your questions about the per head sportsbook call center service which they offer, the higher the probability that you’re speaking with an inferior or fly-by-night price per head global sportsbook.

When you call priceperhead.com, which is a price per head in Costa Rica and a leading sports betting solutions provider, you will realize that our price per head global services supplier is more than just a regular price per customer shop. We operate with many features such as free price per head web design for the internet site which will be given to the bookie when he signs up with us for secure voice and data solutions. Bookies will also be given their own toll free number that their players can use to call and make wagers. This gives the bookie a highly professional appearance.

Our customer service representatives will be pleased to talk you through the affiliation process. All you need to do is to dial 1-888-PPH-SHOP in order to acquire a really versatile and useful price per head outsourcing service. Priceperhead.com charges a price per head fee which is extremely reasonable when you consider the plethora of high quality services that they offer. The time to contact us is now. You can call us or you can also email us at info@priceperhead.com in order to receive information on how to sign up for our services. We thank you for choosing us.

Hand your business to priceperhead.com: the best price per head call center in the industry

Finding satisfactory pay per head call center services is not an easy task. Therefore, when a bookie decides to offer pph bookie outsourcing services to his clients, he must look for a price per head call center provider which has been in the sports betting business for a considerable amount of time because he'll be able to search for information concerning the reputation of the pph shop.

Priceperhead.com has established themselves as the leader in pay per head outsourcing because it has offered bookmakers outstanding per head services and price per head call center solutions for many years. Any information out there concerning this low cost price per head shop is surely positive. This useful headcount sportsbook is more than a decade old and the people running it are talented individuals with a vast knowledge of the wagering business. When a bookie finds the best bookie package offers from a great turnkey sportsbook, he will be immediately enhancing his gambling operation with the collaboration of professionals who's only purpose is to deliver satisfaction and efficiency in exchange for a reasonable price per player.

Since this is a praiseworthy outsource sportsbook with a remarkable background and the leader in pay per head outsourcing, a bookie will not have to deal with a brand new turnkey sportsbook where amateurs are running the show. Instead, his clients will enjoy of the many pay per head call center services offered by priceperhead.com, which are delivered by clerks and managers with ample knowledge of the sports betting and customer service areas.

Bookies will also enjoy bookmaking software which will increase their management capability because it comes with many useful tools that were designed with the specific needs of a bookmaker in mind. So, as you can see, many years of experience in the offshore bookmaking business and advanced technological resources sets priceperhead.com apart from pph shops that just wish to take your money while providing unprofessional services. If you don't want to deal with shops that have no experience in the business, call priceperhead.com at 1-888-PPH-SHOP and witness yourself how your sports betting operation will begin to grow instantly.

Priceperhead.com: the leader in pay per head outsourcing

Sports betting is getting more popular everyday and that is why bookies are looking to attract new customers by using the per head services PPH of the leader in pay per head outsourcing, priceperhead.com. If you are asking yourself why you should use our price per head global sportsbook as your per head sports bookmaking data processing shop, then let me give you some information on the superior price per head sportsbook services which are available to all of our clients.

Since we are the leader in pay per head outsourcing, we have a serious commitment to every bookmaker that signs up for a per head services PPH account with our call center per head sportsbook. We treat agents handling small or large amounts of customers the same way. That is what has made of our pay per head offshore company a spectacular option when it comes to offering remarkable per head sports bookmaking data processing solutions.

Our data processing management services include offshore call center attention delivered by expert per head agents and web betting solutions. This allows the customers of a bookmaker to place bets over the internet at any moment and from any computer with access to the net. To go a step further, since priceperhead.com is a call center per head sportsbook that offers modern technologies to its clients, our superior pay per head software company now counts with mobile betting which allows the clients of the bookies to place bets using a text-based interface installed in their cell phones.

The pay per head weekly fee, which is paid to priceperhead.com for pay per head services, also includes the usage of a leading bookmaking software that was created by our internal computer specialists that surpasses the features of other similar software by far. The people at our price per head call center would love to have you as one of their clients, so, if you like our service proposal and wish to find out more about us, call priceperhead.com at 1-866-945-8024 or visit our webpage in order to send us your message concerning the services you would want us to deliver to you and your customers.

NBA Finals Sure to Increase Price Per Head Gambling

The NBA finals start tonight with the Orlando Magic facing off with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers made it through to the 2009 NBA finals with a win over the Denver Nuggets while the Magic had defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lakers battled it out with the Nuggets for six games but it was a tough series with the Nuggets fighting hard to win. The Magic also went six games in order to put the Cavaliers away. These 2009 NBA finals are sure to be interesting with some predicting that it will go seven games before being decided.

During the NBA finals, price per head gambling increases a great deal because of the popularity of basketball. With an exciting final such as the one we are about to witness with the 2009 NBA finals, we can expect price per head gambling to be at an all time high. It is at moments like these when bookmakers are either freaking out because they have so many calls coming in or they are relieved because they’ve moved their players to an offshore outsourcing call center. Those that have not moved their players yet will surely be looking for a price per head bookie service very soon. Most onshore bookmakers move their players to a pay per head sportsbook call center in the slowest season of the year, which takes place between the time that the NBA and NHL playoffs end and when the NFL season begins. There is typically not much gambling action during this time so the transition goes much smoother for both the bookmaker and his players. During the several months prior to the NFL season beginning, players can have a chance to adjust to the new price per head sports gambling system and become confident in its effectiveness before the craziness begins.

Bookmakers can use the slow season to learn the per head agents reports software. There are many reports supplied by a price per head bookmaking solutions company, all of which are very beneficial to a bookie’s business. However, these reports take time to learn and apply to one’s business. That is why it is a great idea to move your players during this slow season.

We can guarantee any bookmaker that he will be way better off when using an offshore outsourcing call center. Just take the NBA finals for instance. Imagine how many calls a bookmaker must deal with at a very popular time such as this. If he has a couple hundred players he will be on the phone all day. Then he must keep track of all the wagers and get back to all his players after the game. Now imagine a price per head bookmaking solutions company doing all this for you while you sit back and collect money. Which is better?

Phone Systems and the Outsource Sportsbook

The simple act of picking up the phone and calling someone seems like a very random act. Most people take it for granted that it can be done at any moment. However, when phones go down, it’s a striking reminder of how reliant we are on technology. Customer service outsourcing is especially reliant on call center phone systems.

For gambling agents choosing an offshore sportsbook, it is especially important to consider the phone systems of the various price per head sportsbooks. Outside of the US, phone lines are much more susceptible to problems as the infrastructure of developing countries, where an offshore sportsbook is most likely located, is generally lacking.

The worst possible thing that could happen to a gambling agents client is if they call to place a bet but can’t get through because all phone lines are either busy or down. At our company, we have taken drastic measures to assure that our call center phone systems are NEVER busy or down because this drastically affects the bookie business. How have we done this?

First of all, we have several phone lines. When the first phone line reaches its maximum capacity of callers, the next caller goes to the next phone line. This assures our gambling agents that our phones will never be busy.

Next, we have a variety of different types of call center phone systems including local, voice over IP and satellite phones. If local phone lines are having issues, then the voice over IP lines can easily cover them. If voice over IP lines are having issues then our satellite phones will easily cover us. Satellite phone technology is extremely expensive to buy and use and, therefore, many companies are not willing to invest in it. You should ask any offshore sportsbook that you’re interested in working with if they use satellite phone technology as this is the only way to be absolutely sure that your clients (performing PPH betting) will never have to deal with a situation in which they can’t place bets.

The Technical Aspect of a Pay Per Head Service

We have probably covered everything there is to say about the great benefits you get by outsourcing your bookie services. Anyone working on the sportsbetting field has at least heard about this wonderful business solution and how easy it is to implement it to your client packages, but what about the technical side of it?

The best way to set up your own betting shop online is to make a long hard research: there are several companies out there that just want your money and will promise anything to have you hire their bookie services, but is it really what you need?

As a professional bookmaker you should be aware of companies with crazy low prices or call center sportsbook services flat fee offers, these people may not have the tools, staff or proper hardware to provide the best bookie services you expect to pay for. If the price is cheap, the service probably is too.

Professional bookmaking software needs to have been developed by people who know the needs of a professional bookmaker; also your players need to know they will be able to place their bets anytime and anywhere, that can only be achieved by having top of line servers, back internet pipes and professional staff available at all times. Outsourcing your sports betting system is great as long as your players will get the same or better service than what they are used to.

Providing bookie services also needs to fill in all the needs your players have, as well as the required agent reports availability: daily moves, current lines, balances and more. Is your current deal per head shop providing you with the certainty that all of these needs will be fulfilled?
Hiring a price per head service is easy, finding the one that will actually provide you with everything an old school bookmaker needs and with a newer bookie’s requirements, is another story

Pay per head shops, offering offshore solutions for onshore bookmakers

As it is a very known fact, sports betting is illegal in most states of the USA, so, a lot of bookmakers are working on the dark because they are afraid of getting caught by the law. The sad thing is that bookmaking is a very sought-after service and bookies are just there to provide sports wagerers with real sports betting options in order to satisfy the growing demand.

And thanks to a group of bookies whom decided to start providing their peers with pay per head offshore services is that nowadays any bookie in the USA can feel more secure when dealing with his clients. Pay per head sportsbook services business had exploited during the last decade and therefore, the quality of certain chosen pph shop establishments have continue to increase. I am of course referring to the price per head shops which belongs to the bookies whom started it all, one of those being bookperhead.com.

This important pay per head services provider grants a bookie who is based in the USA the opportunity of interacting with his clients only the necessary, as the pph shop will be in charge of handling all the bets from the bookie's customers and will provide them with general client attention focused on sports betting matter, and for example, the bookmaker only needs to contact his clients when it comes to money matters.

This certainly helps the sports agent in the sense that his clients will be receiving a top service from a third-party pph betting provider while he'll be perceiving all the cash from the bets and most importantly: he will be enjoying of more freedom and privacy. So if you are a bookie who's doing businesses in the USA, you might as well be interested in using pay per head offshore call center services, so give payperheadservices.com a call and set up everything so your clients and you can start to take advantage of the opportunities they offer you.

Line Moving

Line moving is a major part of the sports betting business. It is important to understand line moving in order to understand how this can affect an offshore sportsbook and their price per head agents.

When lines are first set, only players willing to put at least one thousand dollars on the game are allowed in. These players must be pre-registered and it is important to note that they are not allowed to bet on every game. Once the set number of players has bet, the lines are then adjusted before the public has access.

Lines begin moving based on respected betters’ bets. They typically move more based on the person betting and not the amount of money. A large bet from a less respected individual will generally not have much of an influence. As the game gets closer, say one to two hours prior, lines begin to see a lot more action. Sports books need to move lines in order to protect themselves. If they have an influx of people taking a particular side on a game, they need to hedge themselves and they do so by gradually moving the line in the opposite direction. It is generally obvious to see which side of the game the public is betting on from the way the line is moving. The sports betting business has been going on for a long time and price per head agents have learned through experience how lines will move.

Late line moves typically occur due to news of a player being injured. A player’s injury status is often times listed as questionable until the game is quite near. Once their status is released the line will normally adjust to this news. When lines move in a strange direction, it is generally due to insider information.

At our offshore sportsbook, we offer larger agents the ability to move a line themselves. This is a big advantage for them as they can better control their bookie business. They can do line moving using the online bookmaker software provided to them in our agent-package. We offer the most options to price per head agents in the sports betting business.

Starting your own sportsbook

Ever wonder what it takes to start a successful sportsbook service that will not only show good profits but also works legally? Price per head bookmaking services are in fact the best way to conduct these types of businesses and although it is easy to start your own company with them, there are certain things you need know before hiring a price per head service.

Being a bookmaker is not only about taking bets, good customer service is also required like in any other services company and sporstsbooks are no exception. People who enjoy sportsbetting want to know everything: lines, types of plays offered and also want professional sports agents that will help them with their action; nothing can be taken for granted.

Now the success of your sportsbook business can be comparable to the satisfaction your players get: the better the service, the more players you will get. A professional and trustable price per head service knows this and will do anything to provide a high quality service for both the bookmaker and his players.

Think about this: What do you expect from a price per head service? The most common answer to this is that the online sportsbook service is reliable; you need to be able to trust them with your sportsbetting business. They will be taking on the responsibility of handling your business. They also need to be up to date, have good tools, and reports you can check anytime and anywhere.

A good price per head service will also guide you through their options and show you how they handle their business. Sportsbetting needs to be clear and transparent; your players need to know that they can have access all the time, both online and with a professional sportsbook call center. All of this can be achieved by hiring a price per head service that is trustable, answers your questions clear and straight and that treat you with the professionalism you expect, after all you are the one hiring them to run your business.

Pay per head shops, enhancing a bookie's business with real solutions

Solutions! That is exactly what price per head shops offer to bookmakers whom are feeling the stress taking over them because they find themselves with their hands tight when it comes to provide a good service to each one of their clients.

But what type of solutions? Price per head shops will grant a bookie the chance of 'enhancing' his business with powerful tools such as specialized software offered by these pph shops called 'pph software', which shows the bookie the different activities from his clients and it also allows the bookmaker to check on sports betting lines and to take some decisions concerning specific lines he might want or not want to make available for his customers.

PPH shops also offer 'virtual' pay per head services; with this I am referring to the internet, and how a bookie can have his own webpage where his clients can come and sign in with a personal pin and pass in order to place bets over the internet. This ensures the bookie the permanence of different clients whom enjoy the easiness of the web.

Besides the pph software and web betting, a pay per head shop also grants the bookmaker's customers the chance of phone-in a pay per head offshore call center where specialized per head agents will be taking their sports betting wagers. This provides sports agents with a lot of free time that they would have otherwise spent attending to each one of his clients on a constant basis. As you can see, a pph shop offers a good range of pay per head services and solutions which can lead a bookmaker to succeed in the world of sports betting, as if an sports agent is currently not using a pay per head shop, he might end up losing his current clients because the competition is one step ahead.

Does your pay per head shop have knowledgeable bookies behind it?

Most pay per head shops offer professional call center solutions for the smart bookmaker.

This offshore data processing system is backed up by modern software and a human team ready to manage client transactions and questions in an easy, efficient way.

Since the mission of a pay per head shop is to provide wagering solutions, the expertise behind these useful bookmaking software support establishments is what makes the difference between one and the other, as some are newer and use knowledgeable but new-to-the-industry bookmaking professionals, and there are others who count with the services of experienced bookies who know the goods and not-so-goods of the bookmaking business.

I have found out about the best Price Per Head sportsbooks as I was serving as a consultant for a client who wanted to expand his horizons over the internet. He had been making bets with a friend of his, and he was surprised when suddenly his friend told him that he now had the chance of making bets over the internet and also over the phone at any time.

After checking a few websites and calling them, I have to say he was right: The real Price Per Head shops truly know how to provide a top-quality offshore call center solution, and as you might well know, it is great to talk over the phone with a person from a company that is actually offering you a product or service that you really need.

When you contact a pay per head shop, remember that the important thing is to be able to see the experience and knowledge of those behind the company. Ask as many questions as you want: if they have the right answers, you have the right Offshore sportsbook.

Get knowledgeable before start betting on sports

The question about how to win at sports wagering can't be resolved by applying one or 2 words only. It comprehends a broader array of cognition regarding the sport that is at issue.

You should be acquainted that there are all of the time 2 opposing squads playing. You need to base your pick as to who will be victorious and who will turn a loss. Assuming your pick isn't only an issue of the squad's fame. It must include a lot other inside information like the team coach, the central players, and the gross training and skills that each and every member of the squad puts in. You do not want to miss your hard-earned profit, right? Thus, it must be vividly empathized that you should get a firm background knowledge of the sports that you are wagering on. These are among the ways on how to win at sports wagering. Without your concern in the sport that you are gambling on, then you are able to expect that you'll never gain the profit at last.

The line, spread, or point spread wager makes usable a handicap that is addressed toward the favorite squad. Again, if you want to ascertain that you will be pleased at last, you got to concert your time and attempt to guess about which squad you should take to.

Being a wagerer yourself demands that you must center your attention to the techniques, angles, vogues, and other numerical concerns therein. It does not only tell you that you must have the skill in acknowledging these elements but that you must be clued up with the full wagering system too. You see, they are all essential in your intent of calculating about how to win at sports wagering.


Study before wagering. You should allow plenty of time to analyze the game and your moves; otherwise you may lose a big sum of money.

The treads on how to succeed at sports betting is not that hard if you acknowledge the proper way of discerning the full picture that is posed to you. By exerting a heavy wiseness on all act that you make, you enhance your chances to deliver the goods! Also, it is functional enough to commit on a odds-maker that utilizes trends, feels, angles, and a demonstrated scheme that boils out one succeeder afterwards the other in baseball or any sport. This successively will systematically bring in the winnings for you!

Chinese bookies and pay per head shops

Pay per head shops not only offer their offshore call center services to the English speaking community but also to the Asian bookmakers who are looking to establish a serious business relationship with his clients.

As we all know, the gambling market around China is huge, with a couple of cities which are now Las Vegas-looking and even beyond.

The Chinese are famous for gambling often because they have a strong belief in luck, and when they arrive to a physical casino, sometimes a few of them don't even eat until they faint in front of a Pai Gow table.

Unfortunately, the average Chinese cannot make a trip to their local Vegas casinos in order to bet at table games or place sports wagers, and precisely because the latest can be taken over the phone or over the internet is that a lot of Asian bookies are finding an excellent solution in pay per head shops.

The core of the business for pay per head shops might be based on American bettors, but it is a fact that most offshore call centers are including among their professional teams, more and more Chinese speaking clerks everyday as they know that the more China grows, the more people is able to take a few bucks (or a lot) and place some sport bets.

So, these bookies are smart and are now establishing a demand within the pay per head shop industry for more Cantonese or mandarin speaking people in order to cover the sports betting needs of their clients.

It would be rare nowadays to call an offshore call center and ask for chinese services and not finding them. The owners of PPH shops are experienced bookmakers also, and they are always trying to have an edge when it comes to the most recent market trends, and doubtlessly, asian players are a hot subject which is only going to keep on expanding and growing along the economy of one of the most powerful countries in the world.

The Good, the bad and the ugly of the NHL trade

Now that NHL trade has finalized, it would be a good time to check out who came out with winning and who came losing.

The Calgary Flames is the team that everyone has been talking about, mainly because they acquired center Olli Jokinen and defenseman Joseph Leopold, which had already played with Calgary. Jokinen is a good addition to the team because he can be a strong match up against teams such as the San Jose Sharks or Anaheim Ducks, which have a tough center.

Like always, the New Jersey Devils just keep on bringing the big guns. With the acquisition of defenseman Niclas Havelid and the return of goalkeeper Martin Broduer, this makes the team much stronger and likely to win the Stanley Cup. Keep an eye out for this team.

The New York Rangers received forward Nik Antropov and defenseman Derek Morris. Not to mention Sean Avery. This team keeps on fixing its locker room; keep it with fresh, good players to do the job.

The Boston Bruins added defenseman Steve Montador because of his versatility, toughness and unselfish play. Also, they added veteran forward Mark Recchi, who has playoff experience.

On the other hand, teams that have loses such as the Minnesota Wild are not likely to get in the NHL playoffs. They were able to get back Niklas Backstrom, but it wouldn’t make a difference. They are in 11th place and have a lack of scoring. I don’t think they have mucho left to do.

The Philadelphia Flyers said a lot of things about acquiring good players but ended up with a troublemaker Daniel Carcillo and pick up Kyle McLaren who was with the San Jose Sharks. It’s all talk but no show by this team.

The Colorado Avalance looked like they were gaining their power back, but they traded Leopold to Calgary and in that deal that got a second round pick. It’s pretty bad. They are last in the western conference and it looks like there’s no chance for survival for them.

Well, here you have it. It looks pretty varied this NHL season. Check how they do with these new players and place a future NHL bet. If the teams that did the wrong move one of your favorites, you should reconsider them and fast.

Top quality customer service at Price Per Head Sportsbooks

Since the responsibility of making a bookmaker happy is not quite an easy one, the different management teams at offshore Price Per Head sportsbooks have become professionals in searching for the best people out there in order to handle them the obligation of presenting the best possible image to the bookie and his customers.

The best pay per head shops are located in Costa Rica, Central America, where pph shop owners have found a lot of outstanding human value in Costa Ricans and all they can do.

Costa Rica has invested a lot of resources in Education, creating professionals with different technical skills, plus a wide knowledge of the English language. These are very useful qualities for any outsource call center operation to be run with success.

People hired by Price Per Head Sportsbooks are highly efficient, polite and knowledgeable. Once applied to sports betting customer attention, they are more than qualified to orient and help a client with a bet, or any other matters related to sports bookmaking and the turnkey sports betting software they’re using.

If you make a call to a respectable and serious pay per head shop, you'll find out that no matter where the agents are from, you will obtain top quality service and attention.

A-Rod undergoing hip surgery

Just when you thought the New York Yankees and the Dominican Republic team would be happy, it looks like they are going to have to handle things without their key player, Alex Rodriguez. The third baseman, alongside his agent Scott Boras, confirmed he has a torn labrum in his right hip, in addition to a cyst.

It was said by Rodriguez’s brother, Joe Dunand, the surgery would keep him of the field for ten weeks. But apparently Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said if the surgery is done, it could take four months to recover. There is still a chance that he might be able to play. If so, he would have the operation in the off-season.

In regards to the cyst, it was recently discovered in a MRI exam a few days ago. Cashman said that he hopes the cyst was caused by stiffness that bothered Rodriguez this past season, which caused him to see a specialist.

The baseball injury becomes another delay in Rodriguez’s career, starting off with last months news of admitting using banned substances when he was playing for Texas between 2001 and 2003. This affected the Yankees, who couldn’t get to the playoffs last MLB season after appearing in it 13 times in a row.

There have numerous times where Rodriguez had to be sidelined due to injury. Back in 1999, while playing with the Seattle Mariners, he tore the medial meniscus in his left knee during a spring training agility drill on March 30. He played in the first two games of that season with Seattle, then was put on the disabled list April 7 and missed 32 games until he returned May 14.
Last year, he was also thrown back in the bull pen because of a strained right quadriceps. This was the fifth time he had to be sidelined.

Jose Canseco - This week sing the apocalypse is upon us

If there is flag bearer of the steroid era of Major League Baseball is former baseball player Jose Canseco.

The 1988 American League Most Valuable Player confirmed he wants to help MLB commissioner Bud Selig and union head Donald Fehr to make the game “the great sport that it is”.

The funny thing is that a player who accepted that his 462 career home runs where possible by the use of steroids is now a good option for a league that is trying to put behind an era of usage.

Canseco was the first baseball player to come clean on his issues when he wrote his book “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big”. In this now infamous publication he talked about introducing then Oakland Athletics Mark McGwire to illegal substances.

On his 2008 publication “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball” Canseco tells the story on how he introduced Alex Rodriguez to a steroids dealer, back when they played for the Texas Rangers.

As a side note Rodriguez, now of the New York Yankees, recently admitted to steroid use between 2001 and 2003.

But back to the savior.

Canseco has a point of view of those stormy years better than most; he was a user and also a ringer for others. He might be in a position to do some good and shed that notion that he used baseball as a money making business and his books to make even more dollars.

The Major League Baseball offices are willing to give him the opportunity to help; hopefully something good can come out of this. The problem is that with Canseco you never can tell what might be the end result of this ordeal.

Dwight Howard, the future best player of the NBA

Was it Superman? Not really, it’s Dwight Howard who is arriving to the Magic's court wearing a T-shirt of the famous comic book super hero from which his NBA nickname is taken.

You might think Dwight Howard is not the best player of the NBA right now; but just give the kid some time, he hasn't played at the league for that long, but during the period he's been active in the NBA, he has proven that he has what it takes to be a super star and more.

I can assure you without a doubt that Dwight Howard is going to be as big as Shaquille O'Neal: in fact, he's going to be the Shaq of his generation.

It is easy to believe that Howard hasn't reached his full potential just yet. There are critics who say that he's not even close to getting there. But the NBA betting fans notice his potential every time the Orlando Magic comes out to play, just like they saw it when Howard played for the USA Olympic team, as there is no doubt that he was critical for the team to do so well and bring the gold medal home.

To be honest, most NBA centers aren't just born with the talent for the position; they are simply given the chance to play and only a few do it as outstandingly as Dwight Howard.

Howard entered the NBA as a first overall pick back in 2004, and had to remain at the shadow of players like emerging super stars Dwayne Wade and LeBron James, but then he started to show what he was capable of and gave a big jump in popularity when he began participating at the NBA slam dunk contests.

If you still have doubts about Dwight Howard and his huge potential, just watch a few Magic NBA games; you won’t regret it.

New Coach for the Kansas City Chiefs

St. Louis Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley has accepted the position of head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs this week. According to anonymous declarations the Chiefs’ players are actually very happy with the decision since after dealing with him right before Super Bowl 2009 he showed a very friendly and professional presence and basically called the plays for the high-flying Cardinals offense that shocked the world by not only getting to the Super Bowl, but nearly winning it last Sunday.

Todd Haley will be joining a franchise-worst 2-14 under coach Herm Edwards, recently fired on January 23t. Edwards lost all but two of his last 25 games. The Kansas City chiefs were working with Edwards on a rebuilding project though that made the Chiefs the youngest team during this NFL season.

Maybe the hopes are too high, especially if they are aiming to match the 2008 Chiefs game where they set an NFL record for pass-rushing futility with only 10 sacks, most yards allowed in a game, most points allowed in a game, and biggest lead squandered in a loss all of these under Gunther Cunningham’s supervision, who has become defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.

Another issue that Haley will have to take into consideration for this years NFL season is that the Kansas City Chiefs haven't won a NFL postseason game since Joe Montana was their quarterback in the 1993. In more current matters, Todd Haley will have to deal with two very important issues regarding the Chiefs players: Larry Johnson who was saying that he saw no future for himself in Kansas City after he was benched for violating team rules for three games and suspended for one game by the NFL and a solution for Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle, that has been prone to injury and unreliable.

No more Lucky for the Celtics!

That’s right, Lucky, the until-now mascot for the Boston Celtics was fired from his position, announced the team’s front office in an statement citing the departure of Damon Blust.

The Celtics’ management team said that they truly appreciate the efforts of Blust for bringing smiles and entertain the Celtics crowd as well as his work for the Boston community during the term he served as a member of the team.

Through his representatives, Damon Blust said that the Celtics relieved him from his duties as team mascot so he could pursue other things. Blust is looking to invest in a school for kids and specialized in fitness and health.

Probably is a wise decision for both ‘Lucky’ and the Celtics, because Damon Blust is thirty three years-old right now, and because the time of an athlete is a short one, he as the rest, is looking to build up a different career which can be practiced during an older age.

Even Blust’s dad was impressed with his son’s sudden decision about leaving the current champions of the NBA, and people in general couldn’t believe either such fast departure from the team.

But there is something for sure, Damon Blust is well appreciated at Boston and well received across the whole nation too, he even was in Conan O’Brien not so long ago and the stories around his talent are numerous.

Blust is a Cincinnati native, but a long-time Celtics fan since the days of Bob Cousy.

Well, the Celtics are losing a great entertainer in Damon Blust, but the search for the new ‘lucky’ is on the march, and the team from Boston is surely waiting to find a replacement for Blust before the Celtics hang their 18th banner on their court’s ceiling this season… or at least that’s what Celtics fans hope for.

Brady, Titans, uncertainty in sports and betting lines

This NFL season has been a strange one. All sorts of things have occurred since it began. Let’s start with the Tom Brady injury and let’s finish with the Titans deception.

If you think about it, that is why most sports betting houses are making so much money, because they know that there is no certainty in sports no matter what the odds are, and because of that, they always try to twist the odds in their favor as much as they can. But this requires an enormous effort; otherwise everybody would have left their day jobs by now as everybody would be rich due to gambling winnings. But that’s not the case; the truth is that sports books base their betting odds on professional sports lines services which are dedicated to know what is going on with every player involved in a game. Even small factors as if he didn’t had a good sleep or if his mom or other member of his family dies are extremely pieces of important data and can twist an odd easily.

After all, it is all about money, and as in everything, if you are ahead, you will always win.
Oh yes, the season, let’s start with betting futures. I am sure there were many people betting for the Patriots to be the champions this year, but their faces went from excited to sad very quick when Tom Brady got injured in the first game of the regular season. There’s another good example: everybody thought the Titans were sure candidates to make it to the Super Bowl this year because of their excellent record until they got beaten by a not-so-good seeded team, I’m sure many people placed bets favoring the Titans, but they lost at the end, and so the people that bet on them.

Steelers vs. Pirates

The Steelers are in the Superbowl, and the Pirates didn’t did much last season, so it is time to see the differences between these teams and see why Pittsburgh’s football team is far superior than its baseball counterpart.

Let’s start with the leadership. The Rooney’s have owned the Steelers since 1933 when Art Rooney bought the team for a small $2500 and have produced quality players steadily every year since they got the command of the team. On the other side of the street, the Pirates have had a total of 5 owners since 1933, 3 of them since 1996, since then, the team have struggled to get good results at the MLB and their best moments came in the seventies and eighties when the team was in the hands of John Galbreath, who ran the team for forty years.

Now with the coaching. The Steelers prefer to hire young coaches whom can bring energy to the team, and they have had success doing it that way as they have only had 3 head coaches since 1971 and have won 5 Super bowls since then, while the Pirates have had 8 managers since the same year and it seems like 96’ was a terrible year for the baseball franchise as they hadn’t enjoyed of any successes since then.

The Pirates doesn’t have any recognizable players that can serve as models to be followed by kids, they had Jason Bay, but now Bay is playing for the Red Sox after a trade, while the Steelers have Big Ben, one of the most recognizable names in the world of sports these days.

No wonder why Pittsburgh sports fans are more oriented to football than to baseball, if they had a better team, I’m sure the competition to fill stadiums will be bigger.

Jim Schwartz, new Lions head coach

After their most disastrous season in their span at the NFL, the Lions have acquired a new head coach. This time the opportunity came for Titans’ former Defensive Coordinator Jim Shwartz, who had been with Tennessee for eight years.

Shwartz is entering the Lions with a four-year deal on his hands, and Detroit is trusting that the 42 year old head coach is going to raise up their defensive level as they finished last in the league this season in points allowed and in yardage also.

Jim Shwartz led the Titans to achieve position #1 in most defensive categories this 2008 NFL season, now he’s faced with a tough scenario heading the Lions, and one of the main concerns for Shwartz right now must be the coming NFL draft and taking the right decision when picking their first round player.

The Lions have struggled with bad draft pickings during the last decade, with only Herman Moore, Calvin Johnson and mainly Barry Sanders as the exceptions, the rest of the players chosen have resulted in waste of talent cases.

Schwartz got his start in the NFL thanks to Bill Belichick, who hired him to do research for him when he was head coach of the Browns back in the middle of the 90’s, after such period, he went into the staff of different college and NFL teams assuming coaching or administrative positions. Such teams include the Ravens, the Titans in NFL and NC Central, Minnesota and Maryland in college.

The newest Detroit head coach clearly knows what he’s facing, "Obviously, a lot of holes," was his answered when asked about the Lions’ roster, and of course it is almost impossible for him to turn Detroit into a team like the Falcons or the Jets, but he can certainly bring improvement and help the Lions to reach a better position than this year’s.

What is the best sports magazine?

Any true sports fan likes to be on top of any information regarding his favorite sports, teams and players, and everyone has their own way to keep track on this information, their sports info weapon of choice, if I may call it that.

Some people are not satisfied with the regular sports news digest and need more and detailed information about the sports they are interested in, these sports enthusiasts collect information from several sources such as Sports Illustrated or ESPN magazine. Actually that we mention Sports Illustrated, this magazine along with Sporting News are basically “bibles” for NFL enthusiasts and USA Today Sports Weekly has done an amazing job filling in details on weekly basis during NFL season.

All of these magazines also seem to be a favorite source for Major League Baseball and NBA as well, even though in both sports the main source is still their on sports news digest, available on their websites.

Now, we all agree that the best information source is the World Wide Web anyways, a there are plenty of great sports blogs available, written by real sports fans and great columnists. Some online magazines also include very interesting sports news on their on, my case, since I like to be informed about every random sports rumor out there I choose websites that update their information constantly such as Fark.com which offers great sports news feeds (and many other subjects) sent by the users themselves, all day long everyday. I also receive a daily digest of sports news everyday from Google news and some other feeds from Sports gurus’ blogs; last but not least, I pay my Sports Channel package subscription religiously.

My point with all of this gibberish is basically that, no matter where you get your sports information from, everyone likes to receive their feeds in a certain way and we have enough sports professionals feeding their knowledge to us everyday, don’t trust everyone but keep your mind open for new choices.

Iverson and the Pistons

Ok so the Pistons have been to the Eastern Conference finals 6 straight times, but have fell before reaching the NBA Finals. This year can be different though; we can see a team that is current trying to find themselves after losing Antonio McDyess and the arrival of All-Star points guard Allen Iverson.

With the help of Iverson, the Pistons took down the Lakers and granted them their first loss of the season. Such victory for Detroit can tell us what we can expect of a team looking an identity. Oh, before I forget… the Pistons also ended with Cleveland’s 8-game winning streak.

But in despite of looking like a bright team, the Pistons know that the Celtics are the team they need to beat in order to forget last year’s Conference Finals, when Boston took them down.

Last night the Celtics beat the Pistons by 98-80, and Rajon Rondo showed that he is real valuable asset for Boston as he finished with 18 points and 8 assists. ``I saw him play like this in the championship last season,'' said Iverson, who finished the game with 16 points.

Iverson arrived to Detroit in exchange of 3-time all-star Chauncey Billups and Antonio MycDyess, whom were traded to the Nuggets in exchange of the 33 year-old 2001’s NBA MVP. Iverson had wore jersey number 3 during his entire NBA career, but even though Rodney Stuckey was willing to give up the number to Iverson, NBA rules said there could not be a jersey number exchange before the season is over, and so we’ll be seeing Iverson wearing #1 this time.

This is the second time the Celtics beat Detroit this season, as Boston beat the Pistons by 88-76 on November 9, when Iverson made his debut with the team.

Maradona wins his first match as Argentina's head coach

Diego Maradona, I guess most people at least know his name, and he, along Pele, are the best soccer players the sport has seeing. Now that his adventures as a player are gone, the natural evolution of his brilliance had to be teaching others to play.

That is why the national soccer team of Argentina has given him the chance to be their head coach, and luckily for him, his first official game as coach turn into a victory.

Argentina beat Scotland on a friendly match on Wednesday at the Stadium where Maradona scored his first international goal back in 1979 on a 3-1 victory.

Maxi Rodriguez gave his country a 1-0 at Hampden Park, but for what was witnessed at the football field, Argentina is far away from being the team where Maradona used to play.

More than a former player turned to coach, Maradona is a symbol, it is the above-standard player most want to become, and that’s the main reason why he was hired, to put some pressure on Argentina’s most talented players and turn the team into one that is able to win a World Cup.

The team presented at Glasgow didn’t have either Lionel Messi or Juan Roman Riquelme as they were being rested.

Motivation is Maradona’s main weapon to coach his national team, and players like Javier Mascherano are aware of the fact that to have the best player his country has seeing coaching the team has brought more compromise and responsibilities to the group.

Currently Argentina is fourth on the South American qualification for the World Cup and Maradona knows that he has a very competitive group that can surely do more and qualify first.

Overall, a great moment for Argentina’s soccer.

NFL Playoffs

Week 12 starts tomorrow and the end of the regular season is getting close, so I’ve created this article about the playoffs, how they are held.

There are 32 teams at the NFL, they are divided in two conferences of 16 teams each, the AFC and the NFC, and both conferences are divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each.

The playoffs takes place after the 16 regular season games are over, and only 6 teams of each conference will advance: the four division champions (Seeds 1 to 4) plus two more teams with the best winning percentages (Seeds 5 and 6).

When the teams are set, the Wild Card Weekend comes. Seed 3 plays the 6^th seeded Wild Card team, and Seed 4 plays the 5^th Wild Card team. Seeds 1 and 2 have the privilege of a bye week during the first round, which automatically grants them a pass to the second round.

Then it’s time for the divisional playoffs, where Seeds 1 and 2 faces the winners of the Wild Card Weekend. The survivors of the divisional playoffs games meet at the Conference championship games, and the winner of each conference advances to the Super Bowl.

In my opinion, the pressure is mostly concentrated in the AFC East, with the Jets leading 7-3, while Dolphins and Patriots (who will meet this week) are 6-4 and the Bills (whom started with 4 straight wins) are 5-5. So with 4 games ahead, anything can happen here, and I’m sure Brett Favre will surely like to win the division and lead his team on the road to the championship, after all… this might be his last year at the NFL.

If you enjoy betting sports, this information will surely be useful to you, especially when betting futures.

Suns vs Kings preview

Terry Porter is the new coach for the Suns and with a good season start, it looked like Phoenix was the same team than last season, but they slowed down a little, that is why they are looking to continue climbing in the scoring ladder, and they will have a great chance on Friday against the Kings, the team with the worst defense at the NBA.

With Mike D’Antoni, the Suns finished third in the NBA in scoring, averaging 110.1 points per game last season and were first in field goal shooting also.

The reason why the Suns had slowed down in scoring is because Porter is a more defensive coach, and let’s not forget that Phoenix has one of the oldest rosters at the NBA with guys like Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Nash topping the list of veterans.

But I think they will be a different team against Sacramento, as they are back in the list of the league leading in scoring with an average of 100.9 per game. They know it hasn’t being easy, but they know they can stay as one of the best and finish big this season.

And the Kings seems like an easy rival as they are giving an average of 105 points per game this season, and are also allowing a 41 shooting percentage from the three-point range.

I was one of the people with negative opinions about the arrival of O’Neal last year to the Suns, but he’s been with the team less than a full season, and this one of his last seasons at the NBA, so he will likely go well-remembered, that is why he needs to prove people like me that he is a valuable asset for the team and not just a shinny name on the Phoenix roster.

Overall I think the Suns are a good team, and most likely will win this game against the Kings without major problems.

Lakers beat Hornets and are 7-0

If no further injuries on starting players occur, we might as well say that the Lakers have what it takes to be one of the teams on this season’s NBA Finals.

Los Angeles is currently the only team on the league that is undefeated with a current 7-0 record. Their last win came in front of the Hornets, whom got close at the end of the game, but reigning MVP Kobe Bryant made a three-pointer that took Charlotte’s hopes out of the map for good.

Final score was 93-86 with Bryant ending with 20 points (same as Derek Fisher) while teammates Paul Gasol and Andrew Bynum had 14 a piece for the Lakers. On the other hand, Chris Paul, who finished second last year in the voting for NBA MVP, helped Charlotte with 30 points.

As of now, no team has scored 100 or more points against Los Angeles in this young NBA season, the only team that approached to that number were the Mavs on Tuesday on their 106-99 loss against the most notable basketball team in California.

The Lakers are certainly more aggressive this season. They are still probably hurt by their loss at the finals of last year against the Celtics, and I think they will rely on defense a lot to come up with the expected results this year. Andrew Bynum is certainly an important part of that defensive system, and along with the current team-play mentality of the Lakers, it will be difficult for rivals to match their whole performance.

Just a proof of Los Angeles effective defense is their first quarter against the Hornets, as they hold Charlotte to just 17 points, and just another 13 on the second one.

With the loss, the Hornets proved that they are not at their required level just yet, and the Lakers are looking to prove that their good season start is just a glimpse of what is coming ahead.

Titans and Lions, best and worst at the NFL

What has become an outstanding season for the Titans has become a nightmare for the Lions, as these are the two teams on the league whom currently are in opposition to the other, with Tennessee holding a perfect 9-0 record and Detroit with a 0-9 record.

Besides 9 straight victories on the current season, the Titans just broke a franchise record with a 12-straight regular-season wins including their last games of last year. On the other hand, the Lions are close to their worst losing streak at the NFL since 2001 when they lost 12 games in a row. Detroit might even be close to become the first team in NFL history to go 0-16. In fact, the Lions have been defeated 16 times in their last 17 games and currently hold an NFL-worst 31-90 record since 2001.

Now let’s check on the team’s current standings. We got the Titans leading the AFC South while the Lions are last at the NFC North where the Bears are leading with a 5-4 record.

But not only Titans and Lions are far ahead of each other: On the underdogs side we got the Bengals and the Chiefs whom just have a single victory for the season, on the other hand, the Giants have lost one game this season.

Interestingly, the Titans next rival is Jacksonville, a team who just beat the Lions by 38-14 on Week 10, while Detroit will try to come up with their first victory of the season in front of the Panthers, whom are 7-2 and leading the NFC South.

I think Detroit’s offensive coordinator Jim Colletto played an important part on the Lions last defeat since he lined-up veteran Daunte Culpepper (who signed with the team just 4 days ago), instead of giving the chance to rookie Drew Stanton, even though fans and the media had been asking for Stanton to become the Lions starting quarterback.

Now its just a matter of watching the games to come and see when is it that these two teams are going to loose their current winner-loser correspondent status.

Week 10: Broncos beat Browns

Week 10 started early this time with a game on Thursday between the Broncos and the Browns. Denver came up with an important 34-30 victory which is leaving them with a 5-4 record and first at the AFC West. Games on Thursdays will continue for the rest of the regular season schedule.

The Browns are now 3-6 and third at the AFC North. This was the debut night for Brady Quinn as starting quarterback for the Browns, and even though he performed well, the rest of the Cleveland team did not, and therefore the loss was served. Quinn, the former Notre Dame star, waited 25 games to become the main man at the Browns offense, he got the job after Derek Anderson poor performance on Week 9 against the Ravens, on a game the Browns lost by 37-27.

Quinn was more than ok on his debut, throwing two touchdown passes to Kellen Winslow at the first half.

The 25-year old quarterback achieved his childhood dream as he had been a long time fan of the Browns, he even has a picture of himself wearing the #19 jersey for former Browns Bernie Kosar.

Denver entered the fourth quarter of this game trailing 23-13 but Jay Cutler came up as the hero for the Broncos and brought his team back to the game. This meant Cutler’s 5^th career 4^th-quarter victory.

This meant the eight straight victory for the Broncos to the Browns, and without any doubts, we can say that Denver has become Cleveland’s arc-rival by excellence as they have beaten the Browns 3 times in AFC title games.

The Broncos will play the Falcons and the Browns will visit the Bills Ralph Wilson Stadium for Week 11, and with Buffalo’s good season, is hard to believe that Cleveland will come up with a road victory.

Iverson signs with Pistons

The last time the Pistons were champions was back in 2004, failing by little the next year. This meant Detroit’s third NBA title in franchise history, and just last season, they were close to start dreaming again with a championship trophy but were eliminated in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals.

This year, the Pistons are ready to do whatever it takes for another shot at the title, and that is why they had brought Allen Iverson into the team. Iverson is fully aware of his new responsibility with a team that is expecting him to play at a top level in order to be a contender this year.

Allen Iverson has been an NBA scoring champion and part of the first-team All-NBA, and he believes is time to add a title to his career. “I haven't accomplished my No. 1 goal, and that's to win a championship. I'm willing to sacrifice whatever I have to sacrifice to get it done. I've tried it my way plenty of times. I've tried it many ways, and it hasn't been done.” Iverson said.

And exactly that was the mentality of Kevin Garnett when he was told that he will be playing along Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the three whom hadn’t won an NBA championship before last season.

The 33 year-old point guard is arriving to Detroit in exchange for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.

Iverson has been given Billups #1 shirt, and for some fans that comes as a some sort of disrespect for a player that was valuable and decisive for the Pistons recent successes. The question is: will Allen Iverson perform better than Billups? My guess is that he will, as Iverson is truly one of the best players of the past decade and has a lot to give to this, his new team.

Week 9: Steelers beat Redskins

Jason Campbell couldn’t do it against Pittsburgh’s defense as he ended up being sacked seven times during yesterdays Washington’s loss at FedEx field against the Steelers.

Before this game, Jason Campbell had 271 yards without interceptions (249 this season alone). The 26 year-old quarterback is having his best season at the NFL so far since he was picked up by Washington at the 2005 NFL Draft.

Clinton Portis, the NFL’s leading rusher was also stopped successfully by Pittsburgh as he was held to 51 yards on 13 carries.

The game finished 23-6 and it meant a valuable road victory for Pittsburgh, whom is now heading the AFC North with a 6-2 record. This is the first time in three tries this season that the Steelers beat an NFC East team (their latest defeat came against the Giants last week. On the other hand, the defeat is leaving the Redskins at 6-3 and in second place at their division.

Now, the question is: Was Ben Roethlisberger seriously injured on the game? Well apparently Big Ben told the training staff his shoulder "popped out" on a play for a touchdown; Roethlisberger abandoned the field and was sidelined for the second half. The Steelers declined to comment on the gravity of the injury, which was a pre-existent one.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t happy at all to see his starting quarterback going down, as if Big Ben is unable to perform at his best or stop playing, he will clearly be ruining Superbowl plans for a team with the current top defense at the NFL.

Pittsburg will face Indianapolis (whom just win against the Patriots) at week 10 and surely Big Ben will be needed against Payton Manning, The Steelers are hoping he’ll be fine, and chances are he’ll be.

Week 9: Patriots at Colts

So, one of the most interesting games of the season is coming at Week 9 with the Patriots and the Colts, the two teams whom had been the dominant force of the AFC during the past decade.

Now, the spice of such rivalry comes in the clash of all-star quarterbacks Payton Manning and Tom Brady, and the usual questions at sports bars where football fans ask each other about “which of both quarterbacks would you rather have your team”

On both, Patriots AFC East and Colts AFC South, things are pretty tight between the teams (except for the unbeaten Titans of course). And certainly these teams are not the ones we are used to see, these teams are just a mere shadow of such past football powerhouses.

As a clear proof are the Colts, whom are coming to this game with a 3-4 record and hoping that they will be lucky enough to earn a wild card berth in a near future. Something interesting considering that the Colts has won six straight AFC South division titles.

Ok, so the Patriots are playing without Tom Brady, and the Colts are playing with Payton Manning, so some people might think that Indianapolis has a clear advantage over New England, but the truth is that Payton is there for the Colts, but he’s not the same quarterback we are used to use to see, in fact he’s not even in the top five in any statistical passing category, so this is promising to be an almost-even game in terms of quarterbacks.

Now, the Patriots are currently holding a better record than the Colts, but New England have come up with victories over underdog teams like the Rams, Broncos and San Francisco, so is still unclear what the outcome of this game can be, though I think the Colts have a certain advantage since the game is at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Lakers beat Clippers for second season victory

The Lakers are coming big this season with the power trio of Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. They are the NBA champion-runner ups and are ready to prove that they already have a reserved spot at the next NBA finals.

Los Angeles first ruin the debut of Greg Oden with the Trailblazers with a victory over Portland, and now they just ruined the debut of Baron Davis with the Clippers on their 117-79 victory against the… you know, the other basketball LA team.

The Lakers defense was a dominant force one more time, holding the Clips to only a 36.7% shooting percentage.

Kobe Bryant finished with 16 points, Derek Fisher had 15, Andrew Bynum finished with 12 and 7 Lakers ended with double digits.

O the other side of the fence, Baron Davis finished the night with 11 points and 13 shots. (David was probably unconsciously looking for Elton Brand over the court with no signs of him).

Sure, Kobe is the dominant man in the Lakers, but we all know that such spot is reserved for Andrew Bynum (it cost 80 million dollars to the Lakers to keep him on the team), and now that Bynum will be playing along with Pau Gasol, they will become a power duo among the trio.

Now that Bynum is active on the team, Gasol has moved to Power Forward while Bynum is set to be a more defensive man for now.

Now the competition is on the small forward position with Lamar Odom as the clear man to assume the position, but Vladamir Radmanovic and Luke Walton are also ready to play it, we’ll have to wait and see who is going to remain as full time starter.

All in all we can expect a lot from the Lakers, and with two wins in a row, they are surely motivated at this season opening.

Celtics begin 08/09 season with victory over Cavs

So yesterday the NBA season began officially with the game between the Celtics and the Cavaliers, on which the current champions received their respective NBA title 92-diamond rings as “we are the champions” blared through the whole TD Banknorth Garden which was packed with 18,624 fans.

Sure, Kevin Garnett was the most emotional player when the Celtics won the title against the Lakers, but yesterday that seat was reserved for Paul Pierce, the oldest of the “big three” who has been a part of the team since they were just another NBA team, not a clear contender as they are now since the arrival of Garnett and Ray Allen.

The Celtics raised their banner number 17 for their first championship since 1986.

Boston inaugurated the 08/09 season with a 90-85 come-from-behind victory over Cleveland as the Cavs were leading by 50-43 at half time.

When the game was over, James Posey was not missed. Even though he was an essential piece for the Celtics in the past season, Boston looked very complete without him.

Apart from trading Posey, the Celtics also lost veteran P.J. Brown (retired), and did not add any significant players instead of them, but with a power trio like the one they have, I see no reason why they had to bring extra talent.

Oh sorry, yes, they add Tony Allen as a replacement for Posey, but he still needs to prove himself, so… more on Allen later.

Of course Paul Pierce is still the man. He leaded the Celtics with 27 points, while Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen finished with a combined 19 points. Rajon Rondo helped with 14 and Leon Powe ended with 13 points.

The Celtics have very good chances to make it to the finals one more time, and surely Pierce, Garnett and Allen will try to prove that they didn’t came to Boston just for a single championship.

Rays won second World Series game and tied it to 1-1

At least the Rays got one out of two possible wins at home, as the first game of the World Series was for the Phillies, and now the series is moving to Citizens Bank Park for the next 3 games.

The Rays will have some time to rest before flying to Philadelphia for game 3 which is on Saturday. Tampa Bay defeated Philly by 4-2 at Tropicana Field. Two runs in the first inning have given the advantage to both teams, Phillies on the first game and Rays on the second.

Tampa Bay scored one more in the second inning and the final run came in the fourth, while Philly scored one run in the eight inning and their last on the ninth.

James Shields is credited with the Rays victory as he didn’t allow a run in 5 and 2-thirds of work. "There's no doubt. This is the World Series. This is what we dreamed of doing as kids. And you know our crowd tonight was electric, and I mean it's exciting, it's an exciting time in our lives and we're trying to enjoy the moment." The starting pitcher said.

Shields teammates call him “Big Game James” as he’s the man who has leaded a young team to practically their best run at the MLB. At 26, James Shields is the oldest man in the rotation for the Rays.

Shields was chosen as the 466^th pick at the 2000 MLB draft and is an specialist at the strike zone.

It’s a tough task for the Rays now that they will be playing 3 straight road games, but nothing is impossible for a team that is currently at a peak performance level.

I think the Rays will beat the Phillies at their own patio and will come home with a World Series title under their arm.

Kobe and Bynum

Yesterday Kobe Bryant got his right knee injured on an exhibition game against the Bobcats which the Lakers won by 102-98, and as of now the extent of the injury is unknown.

Kobe went after a rebound when he bumped into Josh Powell, at that moment his knee was hyperextended. He immediately made some signs to the bench indicating that he was injured and left the court with 3:08 minutes remaining on the second quarter. He finished with 4 points in 14 minutes.

Bryant didn’t make too many comments when asked on the injury, "It's sore, it's sore. I'll have more for you guys.” He said.

Today he will be re-evaluated in order to determine the near future of the current NBA MVP.

So when Kobe Bryant isn’t able to help his team, there is another name it comes to mind: Andrew Bynum, who is the near the date of his contract extension and is the most important man after Kobe at the Lakers.

Los Angeles and Bynum haven’t reached any terms yet, and rumor has it that both sides numbers are not even close, with Bynum demanding an all-star salary while the Lakers are still thinking how is Andrew Bynum really worth for the team.

Kobe Bryant is entering the 30’s and Bynum is surely the future of the team, so why are the Lakers not treating him like the franchise player he is?

With Bryant on the team, Bynum has a more defensive roll but when Kobe retires, the team will depend on the 20 year-old center.

If business are good between Andrew Bynum and the Lakers, we can expect to see a team that will surely be more dangerous than last season with a trio made of Pau Gasol, Bynum and Kobe Bryant.

Bills are 5-1 with victory over Chargers at Week 7

When the season was about to start, nobody would believe that the Bills will be leading the AFC East with a 5-1 record entering Week 8, but they certainly are the current best team on such division.

Yesterday they proved their excellent shape as they beat the Chargers by 23-14. The Bills were coming from the team’s bye week and Trent Edwards had enough time to recover completely from a concussion caused by a sack from Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson and so he looked like the accomplished quarterback he usually is and led his team with a touchdown and 261 yards.

The win came as a surprise for Bills personnel, “It's a big win for us, they're a team that, quite frankly, I think everybody thought would come in here and beat us pretty soundly” Bills head coach Dick Jauron said.

Next week the Bills will be facing the Dolphins, while the Chargers (3-4) will play the Saints.

Oklahoma City Thunder

It’s sad times for Sonics fans as their team has vanished from their city and has evolved into the brand new Oklahoma City Thunder.

The team with a new face at the NBA is setting its hopes mostly on rookies, as they signed UCLA guard Russell Westbrook at the past NBA draft, and are keeping on the team reigning rookie of the year Kevin Durant and a member of last year’s all-rookie team forward Jeff Green.

The team moved to Oklahoma City last season as they were unable to work out the terms of the construction of a new arena in Seattle.

Well, the Sonics finished 20-62 last year, the worst in the NBA Western Conference, so this season they have the chance to show that they not only have a new uniform but a new attitude too.

Eli Manning Ok to play 49ers on Week 7

Eli Manning got slightly injured by Browns tackle Shaun Rogers on New York’s first loss of the season on Monday, but the 27 year-old quarterback says he’s fine and will play against the 49ers next week

"There is no severe injury, nothing that would cause any reason to miss any time, any practice or be worried about playing in a game." Manning said.

Eli Manning had a truly bad performance against Cleveland. He threw three interceptions, one of them returned 94 yards for a touchdown by Eric Wright.

3 other Giants were injured on Week 6: Gerris Wilkinson with a mild knee sprain, James Butler with a biceps injury and Antonio Pierce with an aggravated quad, their status is unknown.

Red Sox one game away to say goodbye to the postseason

The Red Sox are in a predicament, they must win two in a row in order to stay alive in their series against the Rays. And it doesn’t look impossible as Boston did the same last season when they came back from a 3-1 deficit against the Indians and won the ALCS, then advanced to the World Series against the Rockies and won it too.

But this year is much different, the Rays are fired up by an outstanding season, and in case Boston can remain alive and win the divisional championship, they still have the Phillies in front of them.

And while the Red Sox are more or less the same team than last season, Tampa Bay is not, they are a younger team ready to come up with their first World Series title.

The odds are favoring the Rays, but the Sox still have the magic and are the reigning champs, so the next game on the series for the American League Championship will be one not to be missed.

Cardinals upset Cowboys in OT

Are the Cowboys a truly dominating force? Well with 2 defeats in 3 weeks, questions are rising over this matter.

The last upset for Dallas came in the hands of the Cardinals and delivered by two of Arizona’s most unheralded players: Sean Morey and Monty Beisel.

The game was into over time when Matt McBriar got his point blocked by Morey, then Beisel picked up the ball and scored a touchdown that gave the Cardinals a well-deserved 30-24 victory over the Cowboys.

In despite of having 4 victories just as the Redskins and Giants, the Cowboys are third at the NFC East, and will play the Rams on Week 7 on a game they can use to climb some positions at their division.

Texans with first win this season

The Texans are still unbeaten against the Dolphins since both teams had their first meeting. 4 victories for Houston in total since the franchise was created back in 2002.

Before yesterday’s game, the Texans were 0-4, and the Dolphins were expecting to improve their record, but it seems like Houston has denied Miami fans the taste of a victory against them. Now the Dolphins are 2-3 and still at the bottom of the AFC East.

Houston won by just a single point as the final score was 29-28, and this victory is probably what they needed to bring some confidence into the team. Now they have the chance to come up with a second straight win at Week 7 since their next rival is the Lions, a team that is at the bottom of the NFC North with a 0-5 record after their 12-10 loss to the Vikings on Week 6.

Since we are now at the middle stage of the season, I don’t think the Texans will do much, but they still have the option of prove themselves that they are not one of the worst teams at the NFL.

Trent Edwards says he's fine

Last week Trent Edwards got sacked by Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson. And after he left the game injured, everybody thought it was a bad time for the Bills, who were coming of winning 4 straight games. And they had good reasons, as this game meant the first defeat for Buffalo this current season.

A writer from the Billsinsider.com saw Trent the other day at the Home Depot and the 24 year-old quarterback told him that he was fine and would play against the Chargers on week 7.

Since week 6 is Buffalo’s bye week, the Bills and Edwards have enough time to play San Diego, a team which is considered one of the best but that hasn’t delivered the quality of football expected by critics and fans alike. So just at this point, is when the Chargers need to prove that they are made of something more than good talks, and the Bills will surely look to keep up with a season start that is probably their best in years.

Same Ol' Pacman

The Cowboys are truly dependant of Pacman Jones since Pro Bowl cornerback Terrence Newman got injured, and that is the only reason why the 25 year old cornerback has his position secured.

Jones got in trouble again, and there is no need to explain in detail what will happen if he gets handcuffed again, in simple words, he will be banned permanently from the NFL.

Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones hit his bodyguard Tommy Jones yesterday at the Joule Hotel and police were informed, but no charges were pressed and so Pacman walked a free man from the situation.

Since Jones got drafted in 2005 he’s been arrested 6 times and has been involved in 12 incidents involving law officials.

Oden is back, Blazers win their first preseason match

Just in 20 minutes Greg Oden proved the Blazers that they had made the right decision on picking him at the 07’ NBA draft.

Oden finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in an exhibition game against the Kings which the Blazers won by 110-81. This is Oden’s first game after he lost the entire 08’ season due to knee surgery.

When he was leaving the court of the Rose Garden, Greg Oden received a well deserved standing ovation from Blazers fans.

"The guys told me, especially Joel Przybilla, just to take a deep breath and go out there and play basketball, that's all it is. I'm not as good as I was but I'm going to get there." Oden said after the game.

Both Portland and Sacramento gave their reserves plenty of work, as Kevin Martin and Brad Miller were absent for the Kings, and Steve Blake and Brandon Roy were absent for the Blazers.

MNF: Vikings 30 / Saints 27, both are 2-3

With the result from yesterday’s Monday Night Football, both the Vikings and the Saints are 2-3. It was a pretty closed game between both NFC franchises which finished 30-27.

The Saints are truly a better team than in past NFL seasons; they had the chance to come up with a victory at home against a Vikings team whom were employing a veteran quarterback in Gus Frerotte instead of Tarvaris Jackson.

But all their efforts weren’t enough against Minnesota, "All for nothing because you didn't win the game, all over stupid stuff,'' quarterback Drew Brees said.

Now the Saints have an easy rival on the Raiders at Week 6, and that is their chance to improve their record to 3-3 and continue with their efforts of making a long run this current NFL season.

MLB postseason new standings

National League:

The Cubs basically didn’t have a chance against the Dodgers, whom swept them in 3 games to advance to the NL finals.

Now is the chance for Los Angeles to measure their strengths against the Phillies, whom beat the Brewers in four games by 3-1.

American League:

Chicago fans have only one team on the playoffs run, as the White Sox remain alive after 2 straight defeats to the Rays and a single 5-3 victory from yesterday.

The Angels are also hopeful after their 5-4 win to the Red Sox, this series is 2-1. Tonight Anaheim’s luck will be decided when they face Boston at home on game 4 of the series.

MLB playoffs standings

Let’s go through a fast recount of what it has been the four series of games at the MLB playoffs.

At the American League, the current World Series champions, the Boston Red Sox, are leading their series against the Angels by 1-0, while the Chicago White Sox are down 0-1 against the Rays. When the season was starting, the Rays looked like the team to beat the Red Sox in order to take the title away from them, and that possibility is stronger than ever, while Chicago fans are probably seeing their only chance of watching one of their two pro-baseball teams advancing, as the Cubs are in a very difficult position with one two straight home losses to the Dodgers at the NL.

At the National League, we have the Phillies leading their series against the Brewers by 2-0, while the Dodgers are hoping to come up with one more victory over the Cubs in order to advance to the Conference championship.

I guess an all-Chicago final will not be possible, but watching the Rays against the Red Sox and the Phillies against the Dodgers is still quite interesting.

The World Series game this year: I think the Red Sox will have to deal with the Phillies in order to keep the title in Boston.

Chargers and Dolphins on week 5, what can we expect?

Well we can expect a Miami team coming rested from their bye week and confident due to their previous 38-13 victory to the Patriots on week 3.

We can also expect a San Diego team fueled by LaDainian Tomlinson, whom showed a great character on the Chargers 28-18 victory over the Raiders, in despite of coming from a recent injury.

Another incentive for the Chargers is their bad record against the Dolphins in recent matches, as they have lost six in a row to Miami.

The Chargers are also looking to improve their 2-2 record, with two straight losses followed by two straight victories.

Both teams are coming strong to this game, but if you are to be it, take the Chargers at -7.

Josh Howard apologizes

It seems like Josh Howard has had a real bad time the past five months since his Star Spangled Banner incident. While the song was playing, Howard said he didn’t celebrate it because he was black, and soon after those words came out of his mouth, he started living a nightmare that has last until the present day.

Everything came to the public light by a youtube video of the incident.

But on Monday, the Mavericks small forward took the first step and called himself an idiot in order to try to repair his damaged reputation.

"This is not the way I carry myself, not how I want to be portrayed. I'm sorry to everybody I've offended. I'm upset with myself and the way I've acted." He said.

Cubs favorites over Dodgers

The playoff series between the Cubs and the Dodgers starts tomorrow, with the Cubs being favorites as they have home advantage for the first two games of the series of five.

This will surely be a close series with a Carlos Zambrano vs. Manny Ramirez rivalry that makes it more interesting.

Now, the Cubs haven’t won a world series in 100 years, and this season they are motivated to achieve big things, and they have proved it by making it this far.

Currently, the Cubs are considered the best team at the National league and I think Chicago will beat the Dodgers in 5.

Favre throws 6 touchdowns against Cardinals

Finally the Jets are getting something back for the money they paid the Packers for Brett Favre, as the veteran quarterback finished with 6 touchdowns in the 56-35 victory for New York against the Cardinals on week 4.

This is the first time Favre throws for 6 completions at the same game on his whole NFL career.

Now the Jets are 2-2, same for Arizona.

It seemed like the chemistry between Broadway Brett and wide receiver Laveranues Coles was being built up slowly, but the story was different on week 4, and now we can expect to see better football from the Jets at week 6 (week 5 is their bye week) against the Bengals.

Beavers upset No.1 ranked Trojans

One of the biggest surprises of the present college football season came yesterday when the Beavers upset the Trojans by 27-21. Congrats if you bet Oregon State!

The hero of the night for the Beavers was tailback Jacquizz Rodgers, who ended up carrying the ball 37 times for 186 yards.

This meant a loss against an inferior conference rival for the Trojans, and is leaving Oregon State at 2-2 and USC at 2-1.

This is not the first time that the Beavers ruin the party for USC, as they ended up with the Trojans 38-game winning strike in 2006 on a game which OSU won by 33-31.

It also meant the Beavers second win to the Trojans in their last 3 meetings.

It seems like the Pac-10 is struggling this year, going 0-5 against mountain teams, and OSU beating the number one ranked USC is the best of examples.

Donaghy sentenced

Tim Donaghy had to say goodbye to his freedom yesterday at 13:30 pm, when he reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Florida, where he is to serve a total of 15 months for the game-fixing federal charges imposed to him for fraud at the NBA.

Along with him, co-conspirators James Batista and Thomas Martino where charged the same amount of time to be served at different penitentiaries.

Donaghy officiate a total of 772 NBA regular season games and 20 playoff games before getting accused of making phone calls to Batista and Martino in order to change the point spread on games he was a referee in.

Red Sox to the postseason, Yankees out

The Indians had 7 victories in a row before their game against the Red Sox last night, and Boston needed a win to make it to the playoffs; so one of the off-season acquisitions, Jason Bay, threw a single against Cy Young award favorite Cliff Lee at the fifth inning to give the Red Sox their pass to the postseason.

Bay, along other two newcomers in Mark Kotsay and Paul Byrd have been essential this season for the Red Sox, as with the departure of some all-stars like Manny Ramirez, Boston needed to fill with new talent those empty spots.

The 5-4 victory for the Red Sox meant something else: The Yankees saying goodbye to the postseason, the first time since 1993. “It feels unfathomable,” said an NY fan.

Trojans vs Beavers

Back on September 13, the Trojans defeated the two-time runner ups Ohio State, and on Saturday, they have another hard task coming: to defeat Oregon State, who now are working with former USC defensive coordinator Mike Riley, a man who knows the Trojans very well.

But even though the Trojans are carrying with a tough schedule this season, guys like linebacker Rey Maualuga and quarterback Mark Sanchez are the hope of USC, and with a 2-0 record and a game less against the 1-2 Beavers, the odds are favoring the Trojans.

Now, apart from Riley’s knowledge of the Trojans defensive playbook, the game will be at Reser Stadium, one of the toughest places for Pac-10 teams to play.

I think the Trojans will win this game, but if you are to bet it, take Oregon State as this might end up being a tight match.

Good defense gave Eagles victory over Steelers

The Philly classic took place yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field and Ben Roethlisberger is still all-bruised from the hits he received by the Eagles defensive line.

Final score was 15-6 with the victory for the Eagles; now the two teams are 2-1.

Roethlisberger received 8 sacks just in this game, which adds it to the 4 he received on previous Houston and Cleveland games.

On 06’, Big Ben received 46 sacks, on 07’ he ended with 47 (which is the highest two-year total in the Steelers history), and just in 3 games this year, he’s at 12 which might be an indication that things will not be better this year for him.

My picks for NFL Week 3

With one more victory, we might start considering the Panthers as favorites to win their division, so I’ll take Carolina at +4 over the Vikings.

Dolphins at Patriots? I take Miami +13

Cowboys at Packers? I pick Dallas at -3

Steelers at Eagles? I pick Philadelphia at -3

These are my top four games for week 3. On the second game, there is no doubt that Chad Pennington is more experienced and an overall better quarterback than Matt Cassel, on the third one, Tony Romo has the ability to throw neat touchdown passes to T.O. or to Pacman Jones while Aaron Rodgers is still lacking the necessary experience to beat teams like Dallas, and on the fourth, the Eagles hold a historically advantage against the Steelers, and with Donovan McNabb being injury-free and Big Ben with a shoulder injury, Philadelphia still are the favorites on this city-rivalry.

NFL week 2 standings

We are two weeks into NFL regular season and with the current standings, here are top 5 teams according to performance (they all are 2-0):

Lets, start with the Cowboys, whom look unbeatable on offense, on second place we have the Steelers whom had played their first two matches against very competent teams and have beat them easily, on third we have the Giants with their known good defense, on fourth the Packers with a new quarterback who is delivering 253 yards and two touchdowns per game, and finally the Broncos whom aren’t ranking higher in the list because they lack defense, but offensively they are just as good as anyone at the NFL.

Week 3 is coming and this rankings might change, check back soon for more updates.

Reliant Stadium damaged by Ike

There were two games set for yesterday’s Monday night football week 2 schedules, one was Cowboys-Eagles, which finished with a 41-37 Dallas victory, and the other was Texans-Ravens, which couldn’t took place as Hurricane Ike seriously damaged Reliant Stadium, the home for the Texans since their inception in the NFL back in 2002

The stadium, which cost it $352 million, suffered critical detriments including 5 missing pieces of its retractable roof and pieces of debris which fell inside the arena.

"The damage is pretty bad; there were roof panels that were gone. And my first question was, 'Where did they go?' A lot of the roof damage just came right down into the stadium." Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the supervisor of the county's hurricane cleanup efforts said.

Texans game against Baltimore got postponed for November 9, a date on which the Texans were set to play against the Bengals, whom are also being affected Cincinnati’s game schedule.

Chargers are 0-2

To see the Chargers going 0-2 is kind of unexpected.

The reason? They are allowing too much yardage during the first half stages and playing outstandingly by the final 30 minutes of the game, which at the end isn’t enough.

“We have to learn how to put four quarters together and not just two like we are doing,” LB Shaun Phillips said.

Before the Chargers, there were only two other teams at 0-2 with playoff chances: Vikings and Jaguars, but San Diego is the only one whom can be considered a Superbowl contender.

Chargers second loss came in the hands of the Broncos (whom are 2-0) by 39-38. Denver’s victory came on the final minute thanks to a 2-point conversion pass from Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler to Eddie Royal with only 24 seconds on the clock.

735 left for Shaq at the NBA

Many are thinking that the time for Shaquille O’Neal to retire has already come, but the Suns Center said that he will wait until the end of his current contract with Phoenix to say goodbye to the NBA for good.

Shaq said that he will retire in 735 days, exactly at the end of the 2009-2010 season.

Money is something Shaq is certainly not concerned about, as he’s currently making $20 million per season, and is considered one of the wealthiest players at the NBA.

Among Shaq’s achievements we can mention 4 NBA championship rings, one season MVP title (2000), rookie of the year (92-93) and 14 NBA All-Star.

When asked what are his plans after retirement, Shaq said: “My basketball career will be over in 735 days, and being an educated man, I’ve always had thing to fall back on. So one of my options is law enforcement.”

Angels win AL West title

This is the fourth time in five years that the Angels clinch the MLB American League West Title, but it surely tastes better as they have been struggling against injuries (including some to key players) all this current season, and they have been forced to use every bit of talent among their 40-man roster in order to remain competitive.

They clinch the title yesterday when they beat the Yankees at Angel stadium by 4-2, and the celebration went on for hours: "Look at these guys, swimming and dancing and going crazy, and it's lasted a long time, these guys don't want to go home” said Torii Hunter, the Angels center fielder referring to his team mates.

With the victory, the Angels clinched a spot for the postseason and are leaving them with plenty of time to prepare for what is coming.

Week 2: Cowboys vs Eagles

With the Colts and Patriots being more vulnerable than last year, chances are that the Cowboys are going to make it to the Superbowl, why? Well because they have the best quarterback after Tom Brady and Payton Manning, and Brett Favre might lead the Jets to a good season, but New York still has a lot to prove in order to become a contender, while the Cowboys are more solid than ever, plus the arrival of Pacman Jones is adding a lot of offensive power to Dallas.

And again, the rivalry between the Eagles who finished last season 8-8, and the Cowboys, who finished last season 13-3 is on again, with Philly having a truly strong offensive also.

So for week 2, this is probably the most interesting game, with both teams coming at 1-0 and playing on Monday, is truly a match not to be missed.

Bears beat Colts 29-13

Lost at first game in new stadium? Yes, starting quarterback not fully recovered for the season? Yes, playoff contender? Not so sure.

The Bears astounded the Colts by 29-13 on the first game at Indianapolis new arena, the Lucas Oil Stadium, and such loss might be an indication that the Colts will not be doing so good this season due to Manning’s vulnerable condition.

This is the first time since 2004 that the Colts would not be starting their regular season schedule 7-0.

The secret for the Bears victory was their defense, with guys like Jason McKie and Lance Briggs performing outstandingly, "we wanted to establish a new line of scrimmage, stop the run, put pressure on Manning. Everyone was flying around all over the place." defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek said.

So the teams with probably the better quarterbacks at the NFL, the Patriots and the Colts would have a tough season with their main guys injured or not in shape to play at their accustomed level, now it seems like the Jaguars are the team to look up at the AFC south.

Who is Ocho Cinco?

Well let’s begin by saying that he born Chad Johnson, but just recently switched his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco in order to wear his moniker at the back of his shirt without claims. Neither Bengals coach nor did team mates seem to like his pay-me-attention attitude.

Now the league, the announcers, the media, and everybody in between would have to refer to Chad Johnson as Ocho Cinco, and websites like ESPN, NFL.com and others have already switched the Johnson for the 85.

But apart from being a little bit self-centered, Ocho Cinco is an outstanding player, he’s being to the Pro-Bowl five times and named an NFL all-pro 3 times.

He began his football career with Oregon State and was recruited by the Bengals at the 2001 NFL draft as the 36^th overall pick, he’s played with Cincinnati for 7 years straight since then.

Ocho Cinco is surely going to help the Bengals a great deal, but I guess he needs more competitive players around him to make Cincinnati a contender.

NFL nicknames

While some NFL players are more than satisfied with their given nicknames like Bengals Chad Johnson, whom officially changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco at Broward County, Florida, in order to have ‘Ocho Cinco’ at the back of his jersey (kinda odd but true), others like Adam Jones, does not want to be reminded of his turbulent past when he was called ‘Pacman’ so the Cowboys corner back asked fans and teammates not to be called that.

Besides Johnson and Jones, here are some of the most famous nicknames at the NFL:

1. Big Ben: Ben Roethlisberger from the Steelers.
2. Iron man of the NFL: Brett Favre from the Jets
3. Bus: Jerome Bettis (former Steelers running back)
4. The Playmaker: Michael Irvin (former Cowboys wide receiver)
5. Ageless wonder: Darrell Green (former Redskins cornerback)

Browns aiming to make it to the playoffs

The Browns had a great season last year finishing with a 10-6 record, but could not make it to the playoffs.

Of course those were just signs of what Cleveland has to offer this current 08/09 NFL season, and coach Romeo Crennel knows that his team has enough potential to compete against the Steelers for the division title, though they know that they are still a bit weak on their defensive end, and will have to correct certain past mistakes in order to make it further this season.

The Browns have a though rival for their first NFL regular season game, as they are playing against the Cowboys a team that is coming with great expectations for this NFL season as they are expected to finish 13-3, but Derek Anderson knows that his chance is coming against Dallas, and if he doesn’t perform as expected, he might be replaced by Brady Quinn, and that might be enough motivation for him to help the Browns to come up with their first victory.

Ewing with the Knicks? Yes, not Sr. but Jr.

Patrick Ewing Jr. just got traded to the Knicks, his father’s former team in exchange for the drafting rights to center Frederic Weis.

Ewing Jr. was first acquired by the Kings from Georgetown on this year’s NBA draft, but was immediately traded to the Rockets on a multi-player deal that included Ron Artest.

Patrick Ewing Jr. shares some interesting facts with his father: they both played for Georgetown in college, and now both are tied to the Knicks, also, Ewing Jr. was with the Rockets, a team that destroyed his father’s chances of wearing an NBA championship ring as Houston beat them in the 1994 series for the title.

"Coming to the Knicks, and hopefully being able to contribute, means a lot to me, it has been my dream to play for this team. My goal is to show the coaches I can play and do all that I can to help the team win some games." Ewing Jr. said.

Before playing at the NBA, Patrick Ewing Jr. was chosen as the top reserve of his college football conference.

Ivanovic out of US Open

As of now Ana Ivanovic is still the number one ranked female tennis player in the world, she gained this recognition after winning the French Open a couple of months ago.

But, yesterday she got eliminated from the US Open, a competition she was expected to win, and the woman who took her down from her throne was an 188^th ranked Julie Coin.

On one side, Coin played above her rank and on the other, Ivanovic showed a poor performance, "Obviously if you would ask me at the moment if I'm playing like No. 1 probably not, but I can't judge too much on that because I really haven't had chance to practice," the Serbian said.

Ivanovic is not too far from losing her number one spot, as other 4 women are true contenders to overtake her, including world No. 2 Jelena Jankovic, No. 4 Serena Williams (both by reaching the semifinals), No. 5 Elena Dementieva and No. 6 Dinara Safina (both by reaching the finals).

Favre vs Pennington

To make room for Brett Favre on the Jets, the NY team released Chad Pennington, who immediately signed with the Dolphins, now the old rivalry between the two franchises is taking a different approach since Pennington will surely try to prove the Jets that they made a bad mistake when they let him go to get the services of a quarterback who doesn’t have too much time left at the NFL.

Well, Favre is old, but he’s still competitive, and Pennington is less experimented but he has the youth, so both quarterbacks are going to play their wild cards when the right time comes with different modus operandis but with the same willing to prove that they are better than the other.

The only aspect Favre and Pennington share is the fact is that they are just getting to know their respective new teams and that might be the main factor that could play against them.

On the numbers, the Jets have an edge on the mutual rivalry, as they are 45-39-1 in their all-time series.