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07/29/2010 -
BALTIMORE RAVENS - McDaniel College, Westminster, Md., rookies: July 26/veterans: July 28.
BUFFALO BILLS - St. John Fisher College, Pittsford, N.Y., both July 29.
CINCINNATI BENGALS - Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky., both July 28.
CLEVELAND BROWNS - Browns Training Facility, Berea, Ohio, July 23/July 30.
DENVER BRONCOS - Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Centre, Englewood, Colo., July 26/July 31.
HOUSTON TEXANS - Methodist Training Center, Houston, both July 30.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS - Anderson University, Anderson, Ind., both Aug. 1.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS - Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville, Fla., both July 29.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS - Missouri Western, St. Joseph, Mo., both July 29.
MIAMI DOLPHINS - Dolphins Training Facility, Davie, Fla., both July 30.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass., July 25/July 28.
NEW YORK JETS - Cortland State, Cortland, N.Y., July 29/Aug. 1.
OAKLAND RAIDERS - Napa Valley Marriott, Napa, Calif., both July 28.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS - Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pa., both July 30.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS - Chargers Park, San Diego, July 25/July 30.
TENNESSEE TITANS - Baptist Sports Park, Nashville, Tenn., both July 31.National Football Conference
ARIZONA CARDINALS - Northern Arizona U., Flagstaff, Ariz., both July 30.
ATLANTA FALCONS - Falcons Training Facility, Flowery Branch, Ga., both July 29.
CAROLINA PANTHERS - Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C., both July 28.
CHICAGO BEARS - Olivet Nazarene, Bourbonnais, Ill., both July 30.
DALLAS COWBOYS - Alamodome, San Antonio, both July 29; Dallas, Aug. 7-13; Oxnard River Ridge, Oxnard, Calif., Aug. 14-27.
DETROIT LIONS - Lions Training Facility, Allen Park, Mich., both July 30.
GREEN BAY PACKERS - St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wis., both July 30.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS - Minnesota State-Mankato, both July 30.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS - Saints Training Facility, Metairie, La., both July 29.
NEW YORK GIANTS - U. at Albany, N.Y., both Aug. 1.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES - Lehigh, Bethlehem, Pa., July 26/July 29.
ST. LOUIS RAMS - Russell Training Center, Earth City, Mo., July 28/July 30.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS - Marie P. DeBartolo Sports Center, Santa Clara, Calif., July 30/July 31.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS - Virginia Mason Athletic Center, Renton, Wash., July 29/July 30.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS - One Buccaneer Place, Tampa, Fla., both July 30.
WASHINGTON REDSKINS - Redskins Park, Ashburn, Va., both July 29.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Thrashers re-sign Ladd
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers agreed to terms with
forward Andrew Ladd on Thursday.
Terms of the contract were not announced, per team policy.
The 24-year-old winger came to Atlanta from the reigning Stanley Cu
<< Rangers place Kinsler on DL
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers placed All-Star second
baseman Ian Kinsler on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin
among several roster moves made by the club on Thursday.
The move is retroactive to
<< Canada following a path to gold
Thunder Bay, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Team Canada's quest for gold at the
World Junior Baseball Championship nearly took a detour down a dangerous road.
Luckily for them, Dalton Pompey knows his way around a diamond.
Pompey came off the b
<< Vince Young to avoid discipline by NFL
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young
will reportedly escape punishment by the NFL for his part in a fight at a
Dallas strip club last month.
The Tennessean cited unnamed sources ahead of
Orioles hire Buck Showalter as manager >>
BALTIMORE (AP) -The Baltimore Orioles have hired Buck Showalter to be their manager.Showalter's first game will be Tuesday night at Camden Yards against the Los Angeles Angels.Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail confirmed the hiri
Seahawks sign free-agent G Chester Pitts >>
RENTON, Wash. (AP) -Free-agent guard Chester Pitts has agreed to a contract with the Seattle Seahawks on the eve of training camp.The team announced the deal on Thursday for the starter with the Houston Texans from 2002 until last season.Seahawks ve
Report: Orioles hire Showalter as manager >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have reportedly hired
Buck Showalter to be their next manager.
The Baltimore Sun is one of several media outlets to report the hiring. His
first game as manager will be August 3
Seattle inks Fernandez as third DP >>
Renton, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC signed Uruguay national
team midfielder Alvaro Fernandez, the Major League Soccer club announced on
Thursday.
The 24-year-old Fernandez, who will be Seattle's third designated pl
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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