2004 NEC Invitational Betting

PGA Tour Golf, NEC Invitational Betting
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Th Aug 19 – 3:00 pm EST (ESPN)/19:00 GMT
Fr Aug 20 – 3:00 pm EST (ESPN)/19:00 GMT
Sa Aug 21 – 2:00 pm EST (CBS)/18:00 GMT
Su Aug 22 – 2:30 pm EST (CBS)18:30 GMT
This week’s event, played on the par-70 South course at Firestone,will
feel like a stroll in the park after Whistling Straits last week.Tiger
Woods heads a competitive field, and will go off favourite onthe back of
his outstanding record here (3rd, 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 4th), buthe was
playing less badly last year and still got beat by six shots.It is surely
only a question of time before he snaps out of his current dearthof
victories, but the man who looked most likely to come on for lastweek’s
run is Phil Mickelson. Winner of the 1996 World Series of Golfat
Firestone, Lefty has finished solo second, tied for fourth, tiedfor
eighth, tied for ninth and tied for 23rd in his five NEC Invitational
starts since. After taking a month off before the USPGA he willbe a lot
sharper this week.

Next month’s Ryder Cup holds the key to thefinal two picks this week.
Stewart Cink will be on a massive high after getting the call-upfrom
Captain Hal Sutton this week, and he is highly likely to raisehis game as
a result of the pressure being lifted. His form at this venueis not bad
either – two results within the top-13 places – whilehis 17th place last
week brought his current tournament run of top-20’s to six,three of which
were top-6 finishes. He may not be the most accurate of driversbut lapses
off the tee are not overly punished here, a remark that also appliesto
this week’s final pick, Fredrik Jacobson. The Swede needsa good showing
this week, or in next week’s BMW International Open, to climbthe one place
on the world points list to earn an automatic spot in the EuropeanRyder
Cup team. Last week’s performance from Chris DiMarco showedhow this can be
a powerful motivational tool for any player, and this could bejust the
incentive that Jacobson needs. What’s more his putting (7thin putts per
round stats) will be a major asset this week on greens that havea
reputation for being super slick.

Nigel’s Three Off The Tee … Mickelson@ 15/2, Stewart Cink @ 40/1, Fredrik
Jacobson @ 66/1. Each way ¼ odds, 1.2.3.4.5. Bet this tournamentIn-Running
throughout.

NFL
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With the preseason games well under way, now would seem a goodidea to take
a look at how the teams are shaping up for the new season, andtheir
position in the betting. This week we start with the race forthe AFC
Championship and the divisional titles. Don’t forget, Sportsbook.com’s NFL/NCAAF
bonus will once again be in operation this season, offering youup to an
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AFC East
********
This season’s New England’s look a far better team thatwill try to defend
its title than the one that failed to make the playoffs afterwinning Super
Bowl XXXVI. Their line-up remains virtually intact, apart fromguard Damien
Woody, and they look to hold all the aces under coach Bill Belichick.The
Bulls will bring a new offensive scheme to the table under newcoach Mike
Malarkey, but will that be good enough? Buffalo may have beensecond in
total defense last season, but were only 30th in total defenseand 30th in
scoring. You see the problem? The key to the Jets success thisseason will
be their health. Chad Pennington enters his fifth season in NewYork and he
still hasn’t started an opener. He is a very accurate passerin the short-
to medium-range mold of Tom Brady and is clearly the leader ofthe offense,
so they will be counting on him. Expectations are not high atMiami after
the departure of Ricky Williams, but now the pressure is off theycould be
dangerous!

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AFC North
*********
As has been the case the past few seasons, the worry for Baltimorehas been
on the offense. Defensively they finished 3rd in the League andthey
produced 47 sacks, but can their offense go? All will hinge onthe fate of
running back Jamal Lewis who rushed for over 2,000 yards despitehaving
eight-man fronts facing him almost every time he carried the ball.It is
worrying that his legal problems could end his season before itbegins,
with his court date fixed for November 1st. This could have aserious
affect on his games before that date, and could serious jeopardizehis
availability for the games in November and December. The Bengalswere a
respectable 8-8 last season, but may find things tough this seasonwithout
the services of Corey Dillon and the benching of of quarterbackJon Kitna,
after the best season of his career, in favor of untested ex-No.1 pick
Carson Palmer. Cleveland also have questions to be asked on offence,while
Pittsburgh just couldn’t run the ball last season, and finished31st in the
NFL in rushing, gaining only 1,488 yards.

AFC South
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Indianapolis and it’s high-powered offense should take anotherdivision
title, although questions still remain on defense. The Colts posted79
points in two playoff tilts against Denver and Kansas City, butwere
clamped down in the AFC Championship against New England, 28-14.In Peyton
Manning they have arguably the best quarterback in football, buthe’s 2-8
against New England and hadn’t won a playoff game until lastseason. So
even with a 3-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio and never havingmissed
a NFL start, it won’t be enough until he wins it all. Tennesseehave lost a
lot of free agents including solid veterans Jevon Kearse and EddieGeorge.
Their rookies second-year players will have to step up quickly,or the
Titans could be in for a long season. The Jaguars were 5-11 lastseason,
but it’s how they finished not how they started that is givingthem hope
for the new season. Quarterback Byron Leftwich showed some poisein his
debut season and a sound defense should only get better. The Texanswill be
hoping for a clean bill of health this time round but are still0-8 against
divisional foes Indianapolis and Tennessee.

AFC West
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The Chiefs return 21 of 22 starters to a team that went 13-3 ayear ago, so
they have to be favored in the AFC West and are widely viewedas an offense
that will challenge the Indianapolis Colts for point-scoring supremacythis
season. The return of their former head coach Gunther Cunninghamshould see
a more aggressive blitz-orientated approach that will take theplayers some
getting used to. He has his work cut out to get a defense thatwas last in
the league two years ago and 29th last season into shape. Denverneed to
find a replacement for back Clinton Portis. That won’t beeasy for a guy
who rushed for 1,500 yards each of the past two seasons and waseffective
in the passing game as well. Bad news for Oakland fans was TimBrown having
to be cut due to salary capping, after playing a record 240 gamesfor the
franchise. His departure could be a blow to morale? The Manning’sdecision
not to allow their son play in San Diego exposed fully the problemsof the
Chargers!

bet365 AFC Championship prices … NE Patriots3/1, IND Colts 5/1, TEN
Titans, KC Chiefs, BAL Ravens, DEN Broncos 8/1, others on bet365website.

bet365 Super Bowl prices … NE Patriots 6/1,PHL Eagles 7/1, IND Colts 10/1,
KC Chiefs, DEN Broncos, SEA Seahawks 14/1, others on bet365 website.

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**********************
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Olympics – Men’s 100m, Final
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Su Aug 22 – 10:50 pm EST (NBC)/Aug 23 – 02:50 GMT
Asafa Powell defeated reigning Olympic champion Maurice Greeneover 100
metres for the second time in seven days at the recent ZurichGolden League
meeting. Powell had a fantastic start and narrowly held off thechallenge
from his rival to win in 9.93 seconds. The reigning Olympic championhad
earlier lost to rising Jamaican star Powell in the London SuperGrand Prix
meeting at Crystal Palace. The net result is that Powell is nowour Evens
favourite to win next week’s Olympic 100 metre gold medal.However, it
would be foolish to write off the chances of reigning OlympicChampion
Greene, who was recording his 50th sub-10 second run in Zurich(9.94), and
had earlier in the season booked his place at Athens with a blistering9.91
in Sacramento. Greene’s time that day was the second fastestin the world
and his fourth in the IAAF top 10 list this year. Victory in Athenswould
go a long way to confirming him as the G.O.A.T, a reference tothe acronym
tattooed on his arm which stands for Greatest Of All Time!

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series – GFS Marketplace 400
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Su Aug 22 – 2:00 pm EST (TNT)/18:00 GMT (NASN)
This week’s race is the second to be held at the track thisseason, the
layout of which is almost identical to its sister track in California,both
being wide and spacious two-mile D shaped ovals. Consequentlyseveral
drivers do well on both tracks, so analysis of the results fromMichigan
and California this season will give us an angle to base our wagerson this
week. Jeff Gordon won the California race in May with his teammateJimmie
Johnson, a 2002 California winner, close behind in second. Gordonis a
two-time winner at Michigan, the last being in 2001, althoughhe struggled
this year. Johnson finished 3rd this year, despite some previousmediocre
runs on the track, and has been in good form of late, which iswhy he’s
favorite this week. The track is perfect for him; no downshiftingor tight
turns, just mash the pedal for 200 laps. The Gibbs Chevy teamof Tony
Stewart and Bobby Labonte have been very good at Michigan. Labontehad much
of his early career success here; including a sweep of the ‘95season,
while Stewart won at Michigan in 2000, and has 3 other top-5 finishesin
his 11 career starts.

Nigel’s Checkered Flag … Jimmie Johnson!

Get in the game and be lucky!

Nigel.