Argos and Als square off for first in the East
Football Betting Lines
07/28/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their touchdown drought now a memory, the Montreal Alouettes turn their attention to the Toronto Argonauts as the two clubs, tied for the lead in the CFL's Eastern Division, tangle at McGill Stadium on Thursday night.
Even though Montreal finally put the brakes on an unhealthy run of being held out of the end zone, last week the team leaned heavily on the kicking game in order to get them over the hump. Damon Duval tied a career-high with seven field goals as he helped lead the Alouettes to a commanding 37-14 win over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats last Thursday. Duval finished the night with 22 points as Montreal logged its third straight win after losing the season opener to Saskatchewan in overtime, 54-51.
Quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who came up lame late in the first half but returned to action, also had a strong outing as he converted 28-of-38 passes for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns, getting his team into the end zone for the first time in six quarters when he struck in the fourth period.
As for the Argos, they tied their entire win total from a year ago (3-15) when they slipped by British Columbia on Friday night, 24-20, at home at the Rogers Centre. After starting slow and amassing just 10 points through the first three quarters, Toronto got a late boost from quarterback Cleo Lemon and, more importantly Byron Parker who returned an interception 41 yards for the go- ahead score with under two-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation.
For Parker, the pick-six was the seventh of his career, leaving him one shy of the all-time CFL record.
Lemon, who absorbed a nasty hit from Solomon Elimimian but still managed to work his way back into the huddle, converted 19-of-28 passes for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was however, picked off twice and sacked three times in the victory. Running back Cory Boyd posted his third straight 100-yard rushing effort as he gained a game-high 148 yards on 19 carries, his 41-yard burst in the fourth quarter setting up a clutch TD pass from Lemon to Brandon Rideau.
Toronto has played far too many tight games in the early going and, after four weeks of action, are the only team in the league with a winning record that has allowed more points (108) than it has scored (103), and that certainly has to be a concern for the coaching staff as they prepare for a Montreal squad that has finally found an offense after hitting a dry spell.
Boyd has found his way through defenses for the most part, save for the season opener when he was held in check, but that was a game in which all of the Toronto offense was handled by Calgary to begin with. Considering this was an Argos unit that was expected to be the easiest target in the CFL this season, anything positive that goes on from here out should be considered a huge step in the right direction. Boyd currently leads the league in yards from scrimmage with 455 and is first overall in rushing with 431 yards on 66 carries, but he has just a single touchdown to his credit and that's not enough to keep the pressure off his quarterback.
Lemon is not going to be able to elude defenders much longer if his offensive line doesn't work harder to keep him upright. Of the quarterbacks who have started all four games thus far, Lemon is at the bottom of the list with his 59.1 percent accuracy and has one more interception (four) than touchdown (three). As a team, the Argos have the weakest passing attack in the league, while Calvillo and Co. again have the top efficiency rating at 101.7 at this stage.
If Lemon isn't careful this week, he's going to be exposed to a heavy dose of John Bowman who, after leading the team last season with 12 sacks, the most in a decade for a single Montreal performer, already has five quarterback takedowns so far this season. Thanks in part to Bowman, who was named the CFL Defensive Player of the Week after posting four sacks and two forced fumbles in the win over Hamilton, Montreal is easily at the top of the turnover list with a plus 10. No other team in the league has more than a plus-one in turnovers, with Toronto being one of those squads.
Obviously as he showed last week, Parker has the ability to change the complexion of a game with one quick burst to the end zone, but the Argos cannot be waiting on Parker to carry them into the win column yet again, especially with Calvillo finally getting his confidence and beginning to hit his marks as everyone expects of the reigning MVP.
In terms of the all-time series between these two clubs, taking into account regular season matchups dating back to 1946, the Alouettes own a mark of 101-80-3 at this juncture. The teams met three times in 2009 and Montreal claimed each and every meeting by double figures, the last of which was a 42-17 final on November 7 on the road. The Als have in fact won six straight encounters, the last victory for the Argos coming by a 16-9 score on October 20, 2007, which also happens to be the last time Toronto enjoyed a win streak of at least three games as well.
The teams are set to face each other three more times during 2010, with an August 14 date in Toronto and an October 29 meeting at the Roger Centre as well, not to mention a November 7 affair back in Montreal to close out the regular season.
The Argos have been getting by with smoke and mirrors the last few weeks and at some point an opponent is going to make them pay. Expect Montreal and Calvillo to call in that debt and take advantage of a weak Toronto offense on the way to taking the top spot in the division.
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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
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According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
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The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
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