07/03/2009 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Sol midfielder Camille Abily was selected as the WPS Player of the Month for June.
The 24-year-old French international from Rennes had five goals in the month of June, helping the Sol to an undefeated 4-0-2 record for the month and an impressive 16-point lead in the WPS standings as the Sol close in on the WPS regular season crown.
Abily had a two-goal game in a 3-1 victory over the FC Gold Pride and a late, stoppage-time goal against the Chicago Red Stars to earn Los Angeles a 1-1 draw and remain undefeated at home this season.
Abily becomes the second Frenchwoman and third consecutive international in WPS to win the Player of the Month Award after Kelly Smith (England - Boston Breakers) and Sonia Bompastor (France - Washington Freedom) won it in April and May.
The following are the 2009 WPS Player of the Month winners:
April: Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers)
May: Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom)
June: Camille Abily (Los Angeles Sol)
<< Rangers sign Arnason
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers inked forward Tyler
Arnason to a two-way contract on Friday.
The 30-year-old posted five goals and 22 points in 71 games for the Avalanche
last season.
Over 487 career contests
<< Serena and Venus will decide Wimbledon champ on Saturday
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Serena Williams and third-
seeded Venus Williams will square off in Saturday's ladies' final at
Wimbledon, where Venus topped her younger sister in last year's third all-
Williams f
<< Rookie aims for repeat in Giants' tilt with Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sadowski will shoot for an encore performance tonight
for the NL Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants, who will open a 10-game
homestand with the first of three consecutive meetings versus the Houston
Astros at AT&
<< Manny set to return as Dodgers visit Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - He won't have the home crowd on his side until after the
All-Star break, but Los Angeles Dodgers star left fielder Manny Ramirez
probably doesn't mind, since he is finally done serving his 50-game suspension
for violating the
Echenique in front in France >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafa Echenique was in the news last week for
his amazing double-eagle on the 72nd hole of the BMW International Open that
almost snatched him the trophy.
On Friday, he made the news for a different reason.
Canucks ink former Red Wing Samuelsson to three-year deal >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks signed free agent
right wing Mikael Samuelsson to a three-year contract on Friday. Per club
policy, financial terms of the pact were not disclosed.
The 32-year-old Swiss had
Mariners activate P Kelley off DL >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners activated rookie reliever
Shawn Kelley from the 15-day disabled list on Friday.
Kelley has been sidelined since May 6 with a strained oblique muscle in his
left side. The right-han
Rapids aim to continue Independence Day dominance >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire returns to Major League
Soccer action for the first time in three weeks on Saturday when the club
travels to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to meet the Colorado Rapids.
Chicago has been
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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