Giddy up: Spurs begin Rodeo Road Trip in Memphis
Basketball Betting Lines
02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Antonio opens up its annual Rodeo Road Trip tonight in Memphis against the Grizzlies.
Since 2003, the Spurs have been forced on an extended trek for much of February since the AT&T Center hosts the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. The Spurs has consistently posted winning records during the excursion, including an NBA-record longest single road trip winning streak (eight games, achieved in 2003).
Things might be a little tougher this time around, however, since San Antonio is just 3-8 as the visitor so far.
This year's version of the Rodeo Road Trip will be a nine-game affair that includes tonight's stop on Beale Street as well as games in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Detroit, Toronto, in LA vs. the Clippers, Utah, Portland and Denver before the team returns to the Alamo City for a Feb. 29 date with Chicago.
"We got to find a way to win on the road. That's the bottom line," Tim Duncan said. "We're going to have enough opportunities coming up soon."
San Antonio heads into the trip on a hot note, winning four straight, including Saturday's impressive 107-96 win over the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
Tony Parker exploded for a season-high 42 points and added nine assists to become the Spurs' all-time assists leader in that one. The French star moved past Avery Johnson as the franchise's leader with 4,477 helpers.
Duncan added a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds and rookie Kawhi Leonard scored 15 points on 3-of-3 shooting from long range for the Spurs, who are now a gaudy 13-1 at home and lead the Southwest Division by a pair of games.
Memphis, which is opening a five-game homestand tonight, has been struggling a bit recently, losing for the sixth time in eight tries on Sunday, a 98-80 setback in Boston.
"I can't even put a finger on [what's wrong with the offense)," point guard Mike Conley told the Grizzlies' website. "We are missing shots we normally make and they are good looks, lot of them good looks."
Rudy Gay had 21 points and seven rebounds in Beantown to pace the Grizzlies, who wrapped up a three-game road trip with a 1-2 mark. O.J. Mayo finished with 15 points.
"We didn't get back on defense," said Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins. "They had 26 fastbreak point on us and that was huge."
Memphis, which is 7-3 at home on the season, will also face Minnesota, Indiana, Utah and Houston on its residency.
The Spurs have already topped the Grizz twice this season, including an 83-73 win on Beale Street last week. Matt Bonner hit five three and Parker dished out 12 assists in that game to help San Antonio snap a five-game skid in Memphis, which included three defeats in last season's first-round playoff loss to the Grizzlies.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash 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.
NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams
It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.
We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.
Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.
Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.
Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.
NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.
The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.