Haqks NCAA Football Betting News

<< Hornets shoot for rare winning streak in Milwaukee
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a long time since the New Orleans Hornets have been able to string back-to-back wins together. Tonight, they get a chance to do just that when they visit the Milwaukee Bucks in the first of a six-game stretch away f

<< Nets aim to snap skid vs. Grizzlies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mired in their second six-game losing streak of the season, the New Jersey Nets look to bounce back tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Prudential Center. The Nets, who also dropped six straight games from Dec. 27

<< Kings try to stop Lin-sanity from spreading in NYC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As the legend of Jeremy Lin grows, so does the confidence level of the New York Knicks. Lin continues to work wonders for the Knickerbockers and will lead his team back to Madison Square Garden tonight in the opener of a f

<< Baffert goes after another Southwest at Oaklawn
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trainer Bob Baffert has decided to start a pair of three-year-olds in Oaklawn Park's Southwest Stakes on Monday led by a Breeders' Cup race winner. The $250,000 mile race is part of the track's Kentuck

Pistons and Celtics clash at TD Garden >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before exiting the New England area for five straight games, the Boston Celtics will take care of some business at home when the Detroit Pistons pay a visit to TD Garden this evening. The Celtics opened a brief two-game ho

Wolves hope to get healthy against visiting Bobcats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a history-making year thus far for the Charlotte Bobcats. Unfortunately, it's not the type of records they'd like to be associated with. Tonight, Charlotte attempts to snap their franchise-record 15-game losing

Maple Leafs aim to end slide in road test with Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to end their longest losing streak of the season when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for tonight's battle at Rexall Place. The Maple Leafs have lost four in a row -- all in regulation -- an

Panthers hope to solve visiting Sens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers are in position to win four in a row for the first time this season, but to do so they'll need to beat the Ottawa Senators for the first time in nine meetings. That's the task for the Panthers tonight

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.