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09/01/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics have signed free agent guard Delonte West.
Terms of the deal were not released, but the Boston Herald reports it is a non-guaranteed contract for the upcoming season.
West was an original draft pick of the Celtics in 2004, taken 24th overall out of Saint Joseph's.
The 27-year-old veteran of six seasons spent the last two-plus years in Cleveland. He was limited to 35 games in 2009-10 and 64 games a year earlier dealing with a myriad of legal and health problems. He was dealt to Minnesota last July and was subsequently waived.
West's best years came in Boston where he averaged a career-high 12.2 points with 4.4 assists in 69 games during the 2006-07 campaign. He started 71 games for the C's a year prior when he averaged a career-best 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds while scoring 11.8 per game.
In 339 career games, including 221 starts, West has averaged 9.9 points, 3.7 assists and 3.1 boards while connecting on 37.8 percent of his three-point tries.
West also spent a brief stint with Seattle in 2007-08 after being dealt by Boston in the trade that netted Ray Allen from the SuperSonics.
<< Big South announces four-year extension with Stony Brook
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big South Conference announced on
Wednesday a four-year extension of a football agreement with associate
football member Stony Brook.
"Stony Brook has been an outstanding football mem
<< Stony Brook extends Big South contract
Charlotte, N.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ending speculation that Stony Brook's
football program might move to another conference, the Big South Conference
Council of Chief Executive Officers unanimously approved a four-year associate
football members
<< BoSox make moves with roster expansion
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox made several moves for
the September 1 roster expansion.
The club reinstated infielder Eric Patterson and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia
from the 15-day disabled list and recalled pi
<< Rangers reinstate Kinsler, Guzman from DL
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers reinstated second baseman
Ian Kinsler and infielder Cristian Guzman from the 15-day disabled list on
Wednesday.
Kinsler has been sidelined since going on the DL July 29 with a left
Devils GM weighs in on Kovalchuk deadline >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Jersey Devils general manager Lou
Lamoriello issued a statement on Wednesday, addressing the National Hockey
League's decision to extend the deadline on accepting a new contract for free-
agent f
Report: Sharks to sign former 'Hawk Niemi >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks are set to sign former
Chicago Blackhawks cast-off goaltender Antti Niemi to a one-year, $2 million
contract, according to multiple reports in both cities.
The cash-strapped Blackha
Venus reaches third round at U.S. Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Venus Williams was
among Wednesday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.
The third-seeded former world No. 1 Williams got past Rebecca Marino 7-6
(7-3), 6-3 at Ashe Stadium. The po
Padres bring up three from minors >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres made a bevy of roster
moves on Wednesday.
The club selected the contracts of left-hander Cory Luebke and catcher Chris
Stewart and recalled right-hander Ryan Webb from Triple-A Portl
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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