Category Archives: Sports

Texas A&M offensive line coach Jim Turner and special-teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks were suspended for two weeks without pay for their role in a presentation slideshow at a fundraiser that didn’t go exactly as planned. The photos of the slideshow were shown to about 700 attendees and didn’t take long before photos of the slideshows were shared in social media.

“Chalk Talk” is an event that was designed to educate female fans on football, similar programs around the country are hosted annually. Several of the attended took offensive for the “degrading comments ” that were displayed on a projector screen inside Kyle Field’s Hall of Champions, which included a parodied version of the Aggie War Hymn:

“We are Aggie women, we are filled with estrogen. Hullabaloo, canek, canek and back again.

“Maroon & white are the colors we love, we are putting down our dish towels and taking off our gloves.

“No more Lysol or Cascade, we want to score touchdowns and walk in this parade.

“We are Aggie women & this is our song, come on … bring it on … no more thong. Hullabaloo, canek, canek … and so on …”

The Team released statements from head coach Kevin Sumlin, as well as from assistant coaches Jim Turner and Jeff Banks. In his statement Sumlin said:

“There is absolutely no place in our program or in our university community for inappropriate conduct or degrading comments towards women, or anyone, regardless of intent. “While I was in attendance at the Chalk Talk event this week, I was engaged in meeting participants, taking photographs and signing autographs, and I was unaware of the contents of Jim and Jeff’s presentations until this morning.

Regarding his assistant coaches he said that both Turner and Banks will be suspended without pay for two weeks effective immediately, and that they’ll be required to do 20 hours of community service. “I have addressed the issue with both of them and have their commitment to be better representatives of our program”.

“On behalf of Aggie football, I want to apologize for the comments at Chalk Talk and also for my failure to review their individual presentations. I want to thank the almost 700 women who came out this week who not only participated in the program but who supported a worthy cause in Twin City Mission.”

Turner and Banks also issued a joint statement through the athletic department apologizing for the slides.

“We want to sincerely apologize to the passionate Aggie fans and to women everywhere for our failed attempt at humor during this week’s Aggie Football Chalk Talk and fundraiser. We clearly understand now that our comments and slides were not appropriate or consistent with the values of our football program or our Department. We must do better, and we will.”

Texas A&M begins preseason training camp Aug. 8, meaning the suspension will spill over into the first week of practice.

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NY Jets and Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick found their way back to each other on the eve of the team’s first training camp practice, bridging their months-long divide across the terms of a one-year, contract. The two sides finalized a $12 million contract embracing one another when it became blatantly obvious no one else wanted either of them as much as they wanted each other, yet he refused to sign the offer that sat on the table for months, three years, $24 million, including a total guarantee of $16 million.

The 11th-hour agreement culminated one of the strangest chapters in team history “a long stalemate that dominated the Jets’ offseason”.

Another $3 million in incentives are included in the deal, which could boost the value to $15 million.

It was a quick and satisfying end to a stalemate that clearly threatened to disrupt training camp, and a credit to the common sense of both sides, with the Jets taking a relatively small risk Fitzpatrick can duplicate last year’s success, with Fitzpatrick banking on himself to earn an even bigger payoff next off-season.

Jets Nation is the big winner, of course, with Gang Green far better after eliminating the unnerving possibility of Geno Smith starting. Of course, this ludicrous stalemate fits snugly into the Jets tortured history — it took them until the night before the first training camp practice to get this done. That never happens to starting QBs in a QB league.

Of course, it’s still Fitzpatrick that decided there is no place like home — no other home was offered — it’s not Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson or Cam Newton. So hold the confetti for now on the Canyon on Heroes parade to City Hall.

In his declaration Fitzpatrick said “It definitely was a long process, “After coming to the realization that it wasn’t going to get done right away and that it was going to take some time, I tried my best to put it out of my mind and tried to live life normally. But it was hard with people coming up to me and asking about the contract, people texting me. It was hovering … looming over my head for five, six months. In the end, I’m happy the way it turned out.”

To make the Fitzpatrick signing official, the Jets will have to create room under the salary cap. They have only $9.1 million in cap space, according to NFL Players Association records. The Jets were the sixth team he had started for in his 11-year career. He will be 34 this season. They had no interest in paying him like a franchise quarterback. In fact, for a long time, they seemed indifferent whether he even came back.

So there Fitzpatrick will be, his signature beard poking its way through his familiar helmet when the team takes the field in training camp, his veteran presence back in the pocket, giving the Jets the best chance of recreating the surprise success he engineered last season. And you can take part in the action Sign up now at: http://wagerweb.ag/

In sports things can only be defined in the filed, but the action on sports betting goes beyond who wins or loses a game, as the action can be on just about any aspect of a match.

As hot as the Yankees have been in the last two weeks, they have not made up much ground in the American League East. So when they took the field Wednesday night with their ace, Masahiro Tanaka, on the mound, it was with the rare prospect of gaining on Baltimore, Toronto and Boston, all of whom had lost.

But the Yankees whiffed on their opportunity and virtually everything else that Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. and three relievers threw at them, striking out 15 times. Since making his season debut on May 13, no American League starter has struck out batters at a more rapid pace than McCullers. The 22-year-old right-hander has only picked up his pace recently, a stretch accentuated by another 10-strikeout performance in the Astros’ 4-1 win against the Yankees on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park.

”It’s a good two starts, but tomorrow it’s back to what I can do to try to help the team win against Toronto the following week,” he said. ”So that’s all I’m really thinking about right now.”

With this victory the Astros salvaged the finale of a three-game series for the Astros, who have not lost three consecutive games in more than two months. After tossing six innings of one-run ball, McCullers has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his 19 career home starts.

“He was light’s out today, like he was in his last outing,” shortstop Carlos Correa said.

McCullers is the first Astros pitcher to post back-to-back double-digit strikeout games since Wandy Rodriguez in Sept. 2010. The former first-round draft pick fanned 10 in six solid innings to reach 10 for the fourth time this season and third time in five July starts.

What’s next

Yankees: New York will open a three-game series at Tampa Bay with Ivan Nova (7-5, 4.65) on the mound.

Astros: Houston with Collin McHugh (7-6, 4.18) starts in the opener of a three-game series at Detroit. McHugh allowed two runs and six hits in six innings of a win over the Angels on Saturday.

The Yankees lost for only the sixth time in 17 games and still managed to win their third consecutive series against a contender, but it was a somewhat dispiriting defeat because they could not gain on the teams ahead of them. They remained six and a half games behind the first-place Orioles and four games out of the wild-card berth as they headed to Tampa Bay for a series that was set to begin Friday.

The Astros won 10 consecutive games against the Angels and are a Major League-best 36-16 since May 23. From a sports perspective you may like one team better than the other but when it comes down to sports betting remember that with a good MLB betting strategy you can make a profit even if you lose 50% of your wagers. Sign up now at: http://wagerweb.ag/

We’ve already covered what are some of the ways in which NFL bettors can obtain useful information to improve their odds. All through out August most NFL teams will be congregating to conduct the normal NFL training camps, while some teams have Off Season Training sessions, most of the teams start theirs a few weeks before the NFL season starts.

Off season sessions normally go from April through June; also, new players to the NFL from mid-June to mid-July attend seminars and lectures by the NFL, all of these activities help new players and coaches to familiarize themselves to new teammates, and regular NFL players get a chance to practice and improve their game.

By paying some attention to what goes on during these sessions you can make better bets on NFL.

Coaching changes

They are not so common but occasionally theare are some coaching changes in the NFL preseason. If things turn really bad for a team then they will make a coordinator change before the season starts. Those moves will be well publicized and the public will likely have a good handle on them. What’s more interesting, though, is when a team makes a change with a position coach before the season starts. Position coaches often don’t get the attention they deserve, so the impact of one of these moves could easily escape the attention of the betting public.

Unsigned Contracts

Teams do all they can to secure contracts with key players and strengthen the lineups. In certain cases, trades have the objective of connecting the right talent with the teams that need them.

To mention a few, former Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh signed a blockbuster $114 million deal with the Miami Dolphins, the likes of Byron Maxwell, Jared Odrick, and Pernell McPhee found big paydays, while Darrelle Revis opted to return to New York for a second stint with the Jets and a $70 million deal.

New additions

Although teams have made a big effort to get the best talents out of the 2015 NFL draft only time will tell who the true steals of these drafts are.

The arrival of rookies and a strong free agent class, most teams in the NFL have new contributors coming in at different positions. In order to have a glimpse of how these new additions will be performing in the season, it is highly advisable for NFL bettors to study and understand these players and how they play, starting from the training camp. Whereas it is not guaranteed that showing well in the training camp or the preseason games means that you will succeed in the new season, the general rule is that busts and steals often show those signs from as early as in the training camps, giving us a chance to make rough estimates of whether they’ll fail or succeed in the new season.

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The 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers and Head Coach Tyronn Lue have reached an agreement on a five- year contract extension, the team announced through their General Manager David Griffin from Cleveland Clinic Courts. He referred to the deal as a multiyear agreement. But it has been leaked that it is a five-year extension with the first four years fully guaranteed. The fifth year is a team option. According to The Vertical, the deal is worth $35 million.

Lue, who had originally come to Cleveland as the associate head coach in June 2014, did not sign a contract when he was promoted to head coach after taking over the fired David Blatt in January, he and the Cavs reached an agreement on a deal that would pay him a prorated $3 million for 2015-16, $3 million next season and a $3.5 million team option for 2017-18, He never signed the contract, though, and then he earned himself a raise, this can be seen as a rather nice reward for winning NBA championship only four months after becoming a head coach.

“Ty took over our team under very trying circumstances and his calm, confident approach was invaluable as we found our way to success,” said GM, David Griffin. “His vision, leadership and tactical acumen were fundamental to us reaching our goals. We couldn’t be happier to have Ty continue to lead our group into the future.”

Prior to joining the Cavs, he was an assistant coach on Doc Rivers’ staff with the Los Angeles Clippers, who captured the Pacific Division title with a 57-25 record in 2013-14. Before the Clippers, Lue spent four seasons as a member of Rivers’ Boston Celtics staff, the last two as an assistant coach. He began his time in Boston as the director of basketball development in 2009-10.

“The opportunity to continue coaching the Cavaliers and this very special group of players is tremendous,” said Lue. “I am extremely appreciative of the effort and commitment that Dan Gilbert, Jeff Cohen, Nate Forbes, and David Griffin showed in extending my contract. Cleveland fans are the best in sports and I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this very special community. I am focused on helping this organization continue to grow and look forward to more success for our team and our fans.”

During the 2016 Playoffs, Lue became the first head coach in league history to win his first 10 postseason games, as Cleveland would go on to finish a franchise-best 16-5 in their title run. After the Cavaliers defeated Golden State 4-3 in the 2016 NBA Finals, Lue became the fourth-youngest head coach to win an NBA title and just the third coach to win a championship after taking over a team mid-season, joining Pat Riley (2006 and 1982) and Paul Westhead (1980). The Cavaliers also became the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in Finals history and the fourth team to win an NBA Finals Game 7 on the road.

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NFL Season start is just about a month away, which means training camp is right around the corner. For NFL Bettors it’s hard to know how good or how prepared an NFL team is going to be until the regular football season starts. It’s really hard to judge from the preseason what is going to happen – sometimes good teams look great and other times they look lousy, while bad teams can dominate in August. Ultimately, preseason doesn’t count so different teams approach it in different ways.

It is not necessarily a good idea for NFL bettors to read too much into what you see in the preseason, there are some warning signs that a football team could be heading towards a disappointing performance in the regular season. Here are some of those signs that NFL bettors should be looking for as teams congregate at their summer training camps.

Injuries

Conditioning is number one you want to see players come back in improved shape not coming to improve shape, and with this comes one ugly and inevitable part of football, injuries. At some point during the season every team will face injury hurdles. Some of the fantasy football candidates, both big names and sleepers, are nursing or recovering from injuries this offseason.

If those hurdles come at the start of the season, though, then the team is in a hole that could be tough for them to climb out of. In betting, it is necessary to understand the nature of injuries, and the duration the athletes might take before returning to the field.

It will force teams to make changes and adjustments when they are already likely struggling to figure out where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. A lot of NFL training camp injuries could also be an indication of problems in the training program of the team.

Player Suspensions

The NFL is a very tricky place that demands a lot of discipline both on and off field for success. Unfortunately, some players have a knack for getting into problems, something that has cost them great opportunities and limited their performance due to suspensions.

The list of offseason suspensions has been growing by the day. According to Commissioner Roger Goodell, there seems to be an epidemic of indiscipline, which can only be curbed by firm and proactive decisions. Fortunately, players suspended for the season are still allowed to practice in Training Camps, but there is a high likelihood that we will be seeing the replacement options getting more snaps.

Inconsistent game performance

One thing to look for is teams and starting players – who are wildly inconsistent form game to game. If a team looks great in one game, impossibly bad in their next, then pretty good in the next one then it could be a sign that they lack some focus, or that they aren’t easily able to adapt to different kinds of opponents.

The list goes on, and we will come back to it as we get ready for some NLF betting action.

The professional MLB season is a grind to say the least. With so many games on tap, baseball betting leads the way as the Astros beat the division-rival Angels once again, torching Jered Weaver through the first four innings en route to a 7-2 victory at Minute Maid Park on Saturday night.

The Astros have won 10 consecutive games against the Angels and are a Major League-best 36-16 since May 23.

Evan Gattis homered twice on his gnome night Carlos Correa went deep to achieve a club milestone. Gattis blasted two of the Astros’ three home runs and caught nine effective innings, put his team on the board with two outs in the second, extending his arms on an outside-corner, 79-mph curveball and lofting it over the left-field scoreboard for a three-run homer. The multi-homer performance was his first of the season and the sixth of his four-year major league career. His four RBIs matched a career high.

Correa then lined a home run to right, his 15th, off long reliever Jhoulys Chacin to lead off the fifth, providing McHugh with more than enough cushion. McHugh gave up two runs in six innings, scattering six hits, walking none and striking out six. Pat Neshek, Ken Giles and Michael Feliz tossed three hitless innings of relief.

The leftover at-bats will be distributed to those producing which makes this stretch of games important for those who stand to lose playing time.

Evan Gattis, the Astros’ primary designated hitter and backup catcher, is among those players. But his output in Saturday night’s 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels served as a reminder of his value when locked in at the plate.

Gattis’ performance continued what his statistics prove is a trend. His plate production when he catches far exceeds that when he doesn’t. He entered the day with a .947 OPS in 81 at-bats when catching opposed to a .578 OPS in 160 at-bats when serving as DH.

“I just want to pretend like I’m catching when I’m not,” Gattis said.

A.J. Hinch, Astros manager attributed the lopsided splits to the fact Gattis is more occupied – mentally and physically – when catching.

What’s coming?
Angels: Tim Lincecum will make his seventh start of the season at Minute Maid Park on Sunday at 11:10 a.m. PT. The 32-year-old right-hander has struggled in his return from hip surgery, giving up 23 runs (21 earned) on 47 hits and 13 walks in 28 2/3 innings, striking out 28.

Astros: Houston will hand the ball to Mike Fiers (6-4, 4.75 ERA) in its series finale against the Angels at 1:10 p.m. CT. Fiers is looking to rebound from one of his worst outings of the season, in which he surrendered six runs and five hits in only 3 2/3 innings against the A’s.

So make your predictions as the Astros play the Yankees, then meet Detroit on the weekend, get in the action and get your lines on www.wagerweb.net

2016 MLB trade deadline is less than a week away, all eyes are now on the 30 teams and what their decisions will be ahead of the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline.

There was plenty of shuffling among the league’s top teams in this week’s MLB power rankings.

So as contenders look to solidify their list for a pennant push and rebuilding teams look to maximize their trade chips, what follows is an updated look at how all 30 teams stack up around the league.

One thing is for sure; clubs that keep winning will keep climbing as this ranking is a fluid process. Teams at the top continue to struggle while those towards the bottom of Heavy’s top ten are off to a great start since the All-Star break.

End of July and August signals the fall is around the corner.

Still, short-term issues don’t necessarily cloud long-term expectations, and most of the top teams seem to have the personnel to get through the grind of the season with their postseason chances intact. If there’s one club that may have cause for worry, it’s the Rangers, who have played a little better lately but have lost a ton of ground in the American League West over the last month. If there’s any club that almost has to make a move before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline, it’s probably Texas.

Biggest jump: The Cardinals jumped three spots, from 12 to nine. They lost recent series to the Marlins and Dodgers but swept the Padres in a four-game home set in the middle, giving them a 6-4 post All-Star record. They’re still 7 1/2 games back in the National League Central, but only a smidge out of the second Wild Card spot.

Biggest drop: The Blue Jays dropped from seven to 10. That might seem a little harsh, considering they’ve played .500 (4-4) since the last rankings were posted. Toronto is mentioned more in Wild Card conversations, but it should be noted that the Jays are three games behind Baltimore in the AL East and will be hosting the Orioles for a three-game set this weekend.

Power Rankings top five:

1. Cubs

It appears the Cubs are slowly working their way out of what was a dreadful start to July, winning three series since the All-Star break.

2. Nationals

The Nationals have been just so-so — 4-5, one series win and two series losses — since second-half play started, but they’re still tied for the second-most wins in baseball with 58 and have a healthy lead in the NL East. Over their past 24 games, they’re 15-9 and have outscored opponents 122-82.

3. Indians

The Tribe was swept in Baltimore over the weekend, but if there’s a bright side, it’s that the three-game skid was a season high, and they still have a six-game lead in the AL Central.

4. Giants

The Giants snapped a season-high six-game slide on Saturday with a 2-1 win against the Yankees, but that was only a temporary reprieve — they’re still 1-7 since play resumed after the All-Star break. The Giants’ lead is narrowing in the NL West, but long-term, the outlook is sunnier.

5. Orioles

The Orioles in the first half put up dominant offensive numbers, which was expected, but they also pitched better than preseason projections suggested, which made them very competitive in the division.

As bettors sharpen their pencils for football predictions right when training camp is about to start, player shuffling and teams continuous restructuring gets the adrenaline to it’s maximum.

Minnesota offensive tackle Phil Loadholt is officially retiring the NFL. The Vikings placed the 30-year-old on the reserve/retired list after officially informing the team of his decision to retire the team announced on Monday.

Coming out of Oklahoma, the 6-foot-8, 345-pounder was a second-round pick by the Vikings in the 2009 NFL Draft, he was the picture of consistency between his rookie se
ason and 2013, when he started at least 15 games per season, grating roads for Adrian Peterson which helped him to pave the way for some of his greatest moments in Purple and Gold as the Vikings made it all the way to the NFC Championship game

“It’s been amazing, coming in from day one, in ’09 playing with Brett and going all the way into the NFC title game, and then having a season where Adrian was so close to breaking the record are some of my most fond memories,” Loadholt told Vikings.com. “Playing in front of these fans out here, the greatest fans in the league, has been wonderful.”

Loadholt played in 89 games over six seasons in Minnesota. The big man only played in 11 of the team’s 32 regular-season games in each of the previous two seasons as he was placed on the injured reserve. A torn pectoral ended his season early. In 2015, he tore his Achilles’ tendon during the preseason and was lost for the entire season.

The announcement leaves former Giants left tackle Will Beatty as the best free agent available or soon-to-be available on the market.

The Vikings sliced Loadholt’s $6 million salary down to a $2 million base plus incentives before the season started — perhaps as a counter-measure to Loadholt missing the last 21 Vikings games with a shoulder issue in 2014 and a torn Achilles tendon, which caused him to miss all of last season.

The Vikings signed former Bengals first-round pick Andre Smith this offseason to compete with Loadholt for the starting job. They were expected to get rid of at least one big-named veteran this summer during training camp.

So it goes for teams hoping to score a solid talent at a bargain price during training camp. Former Ravens and Jaguars tackle Eugene Monroe announced his retirement last week after he was cut by the Ravens. Loadholt opted to do the same instead of playing the waiting game.

“This chapter in my life is closing and I look forward to seeing what the next one brings,” Loadholt said in a statement. “I’ll always love this game and the opportunity to do something I dreamed about since I was seven years old. But my body is telling me it’s time to hang up my cleats.”

Loadholt has also been a respected voice in the Vikings locker room and a strong representative of the organization in the community.

As the start of training camp gets closer on July 28^th there are lots of names, and a lot of options for the Detroit Lions. Over the weekend there has been some breaking news that need some attention.

They have struggled this offseason to replace Calvin Johnson, adding a first-rate wide-out in Marvin Jones, plus a combination of young and old receivers to fill out the back end of the rotation. That sets up receiver to be perhaps the most heated job battle of training camp.

Jones will face a non-easy task, to replace Johnson, it is understandable that this is not something that can be easily admitted, though he certainly seemed up for the challenge during OTAs and training camp. He was one of Detroit’s best players on the field, and will join Golden Tate as the top outside threats.

If we look at Cornerbacks, this is what the situation looks like:
Competing: Darrin Walls, Alex Carter, Adairius Barnes, Keith Lewis, Ausin Wells, Charles Washington, Crezdon Butler

Locks: Darius Slay, Nevin Lawson, Quandre Diggs, Johnson Bademosi
Significant departures: Rashean Mathis

Breakdown: They still have room for improvement, however they seem appear to have finally found their lockdown corner in Slay. He’s demonstrated fearless, capable of successfully defending many top receivers and a knack for breaking up passes. On the move of a gigantic extension, the next step in his progression is to generate more turnovers.

On the other side, the Lions seemed to have had a lot of faith in Lawson, opting not to bring in serious competition for his job. The highly physical corner held his own in an extended audition down the stretch last season. His success will depend on whether or not he can keep the penalties to a minimum.

There was an early buzz around TJ Jones as a possible breakout player, and vetted that propaganda with some outstanding practices. But the Lions also brought in Jeremy Kerley, and they are the leaders for the inside job. Both offer some versatility as return men as well, which will help their roster cases, but the loser of that battle is going to have several others to fend off for a reserve job.

Now things seem to get more complicated for the Lions as it was announced on Sunday that three offensive players will start training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.