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Thomas hits all right notes for TexasNCAA Football Betting Lines01/05/2010 - NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) -If Earl Thomas says he's jazzed up to play, he not might be talking about football. Texas' All-American safety is also a pretty mean musician. These days he plays piano in a jazz band that jams in clubs around Austin. Back in high school, Thomas played saxophone in the band and sometimes marched at halftime of games in which he played. ``It was kind of embarrassing,'' he said Monday. Starting as a redshirt freshmen last year provided some moments that Thomas would like to forget, too. Like any first-year starter, he learned on the job. This season, Thomas has hit all the right notes, helping No. 2 Texas go undefeated and earn a spot in Thursday's BCS national championship game against No. 1 Alabama. The 197-pound sophomore set a school record and ranked second in the nation with eight interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. He was also second on the team with 71 tackles. The development of Thomas, along with fellow sophomore safety Blake Gideon, was a huge reason why Texas' pass defense improved from 104th in the nation in 2008 to 25th this season. ``Earl and Blake have progressed tremendously,'' defensive end Sam Acho said. ``They were both really good players last year, but now they're great players. They're hard workers. It's a testament to their hard work and their dedication to the game.'' With Thomas leading the way, the Longhorns are tops in the nation in interceptions with 24. ``Last year we had a lot of opportunities, we just couldn't catch it,'' he said. ``This year we worked real hard in the summer, just finishing plays, running full speed through ball drills. It's just paying off for us. They're coming in bunches.'' Like football, music has always come easily. Thomas got his first drum set when he was about 5. When he was about 12, his uncle, who played piano at his grandfather's church in the small town of Orange, Texas, went off to college. Thomas' grandfather, also named Earl Thomas, decided if his grandson could play drums, he could probably play piano. ``My grandpa just kind of threw me up there,'' Thomas said. ``My grandpa told me to 'go up there, son, and make some music, go bang on something.''' In Thomas' senior year at West Orange Stark High School, Hurricane Rita destroyed his family's home and church. ``When you see something like that, it was devastating,'' Thomas said. ``We stayed in a hotel room my whole senior year.'' But it didn't interfere with his budding athletic career. He played running back, receiver and defensive back in high school. He also ran track and played baseball and basketball. And, yes, he even marched in the band. He'd take off his shoulder pads at halftime, grab his alto sax and play while still wearing his football pants. Now that's versatility. Football got Thomas a scholarship to Texas and he brought his love for music with him to Austin. He still plays piano in church and a friend got him hooked up with a jazz band called Bad Bones. ``I'm the youngest guy by far in the band,'' he said. ``It's an old-school band,'' by which he means the rest of his bandmates are in their 30s. He plays for his teammates when he gets a chance, too. ``It's amazing,'' defensive lineman Sam Acho said. But Thomas never mentioned his time in the marching band to the other Longhorns. ``I didn't know that,'' Acho said, ``but now that I know I'm going to give him a hard time.''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.
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Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Kaman scored a team-high 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds, as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 105-95, at Staples Center. Eric Gordon recorded 16 of hi
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Brisbane, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters coasted to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Aussie wild card Alicia Molik in Tuesday's second-round match at the Brisbane International. Clijsters, the reigning U.S. Open champi
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2007 online football betting PreviewMy fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online." The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet. To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession. However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks. Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable. Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone. Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC. 2007 College Football Betting PreviewThere will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson. The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans. So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California. USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl. USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter. Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles. That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy. The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?" The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning. Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years. Las Vegas Sports LinesThe Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States. It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella." The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot. The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan. Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season. After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country. To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game. Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta. "Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed." To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. |
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