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07/24/2010 - Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev will square off for the title at the German Open after both won semifinal matches on Saturday.
The third-seeded Melzer blitzed Italy's Andreas Seppi, 6-4, 6-2, and Golubev battled past Germany's Florian Mayer, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
Melzer will play in his first final of 2010 after previously reaching the semifinals three times. He lost to Marin Cilic in Zagreb and fell to Mikhail Youzhny in Dubai back in February and made a surprising run to the final four at the French Open.
Rafael Nadal beat Melzer at Roland Garros, but the 29-year-old veteran has continued his strong play since. Melzer reached the fourth round at Wimbledon before succumbing to Roger Federer, then made a quarterfinal appearance in his last event at the Mercedes Cup last week.
On Sunday, Melzer will try for his third career ATP singles title. He is just 2-6 all-time in finals, winning four years ago in Bucharest and last October in his hometown of Vienna.
Golubev will play in his second career final and first since losing to Andy Murray two years ago in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The just-turned 23-year-old hadn't been past the second round in any of his 11 previous ATP tournaments this year before this week's run. The highlight of his week was a third-round upset of top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko.
Golubev and Melzer will meet for the first time on Sunday.
<< Buchholz returns for Rockies
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies have activated
pitcher Taylor Buchholz off the 60-day disabled list.
Buchholz has not pitched in the majors since September 9, 2008. He sat out all
of last season because of e
<< Bacsinszky beats Meusburger in rainy Austria
Bad Gastein, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland beat
Austrian crowd favorite Yvonne Meusburger in the semifinals of the Gastein
Ladies tennis tournament on Saturday.
The second-seeded Bacsinszky rallied for a 1-
<< Pressel back in front in France
Evian-les-Bains, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morgan Pressel eagled the final
hole Saturday for a five-under 67 and the third-round lead of the Evian
Masters.
Pressel, who shared the first-round lead at Evian Masters Golf Club, fini
<< Johnson joins Choi in first at Scandinavian Masters
Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden's own Richard S. Johnson posted a
two-under 70 on Saturday to join second-round leader K.J. Choi in first place
after the 54 holes of the Scandinavian Masters.
Johnson and Choi, who had a one-u
Langer builds 3-shot lead at Senior British >>
Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer built a three-shot
lead at the Senior British Open on Saturday after carding a two-under 69 in
the third round.
Chasing his first major on the Champions Tour, Langer finished
A's place Sheets on DL >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed starting pitcher
Ben Sheets on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right elbow.
The move is retroactive to July 20, and the team recalled pitcher Cedrick
Bowers from Tri
Padres reinstate Latos from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres reinstated pitcher Mat
Latos from the 15-day disabled list to make Saturday's start against the
Pirates.
Latos was disabled on July 16, retroactive to July 9, with a strained
Brazil names Menezes new coach >>
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brazil named Mano Menezes the new coach
of its national team Saturday, and signed him to a contract through the 2014
FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Muricy Ramalho was the first choice to replace Dunga, w
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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