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07/21/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sal Zizzo, a 23-year-old U.S. youth international, is now a member of Chivas USA following a weighted lottery which took place on Wednesday.
The Goats had the third best chance (16.28 percent) of landing the former UCLA product, who will play in his native California.
Zizzo started all five matches for the USA at the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, where he helped the Americans reach the quarterfinals of the competition.
He had been playing in Germany with Hannover since 2007, but he was limited to just eight appearances in the Bundesliga because of knee problems, and he became available after his contract expired this summer.
The California native played two years at UCLA before turning professional with Hannover after the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in July 2007. Zizzo made his senior national team debut later that same summer on August 22 against Sweden.
Four teams opted out of Wednesday's weighted lottery in which the percentage chances for winning the rights to the player were determined by each team's record over its last 30 regular season games. The New England Revolution, Chicago Fire, Toronto FC and Columbus Crew did not participate.
By virtue of winning the lottery, Chivas USA will not be eligible to participate in another lottery for the rest of the 2010 season.
<< Ottawa inks Foligno for two years
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators signed forward Nick
Foligno to a two-year contract on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Buffalo native slumped in his second full NHL campaign,
recording just nine goals and 26 poin
<< Report: Alabama DE Dareus declared ineligible
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus has
reportedly been declared ineligible in the wake of alleged improper dealings
with sports agents.
According to the Tuscaloosa News, it is standard for a player
<< Twins to reinstate Casilla from DL
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will reinstate
infielder Alexi Casilla from the 15-day disabled list prior to Thursday's game
against Baltimore.
Casilla has been on the DL since June 1 with bone chips in his r
<< Melzer advances at Hamburg as more seeded players fall
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer was
among the second-round winners Wednesday at the German Open Tennis
Championships, while more seeded players fell out of the tournament.
Melzer advanc
Astros add Figueroa among host of moves >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have claimed pitcher Nelson
Figueroa off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies.
The team also claimed infielder Anderson Hernandez off waivers from the
Cleveland Indians. To make r
Thunder sign G Ivey >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed
free agent guard Royal Ivey.
As per team policy, no details of the deal were announced.
The 28-year-old Ivey split last season between Philadelphia and Milw
Ducks sign D Syvret >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Danny
Syvret to a one-year contract on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Syvret has two goals and three assists in 49 career NHL games
with Edmonton and Philadelphia. His
MacArthur a free agent after Thrashers reject contract decision >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forward Clarke MacArthur is reportedly a free
agent after the Atlanta Thrashers walked away from an arbitrator's decision on
Wednesday.
According to TSN of Canada, the 25-year-old, a restricted free agen
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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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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