A's sign first-round selection Choice

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have signed their top pick of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, outfielder Michael Choice, to a minor league contract.

Choice was taken 10th overall in the first round.

He was named the Southland Conference's Player and Hitter of the Year last season after batting a league-leading .383 with 16 home runs and 59 RBI in 60 games for Texas-Arlington.

The Texas native finished his collegiate career with a .392 batting average in 166 games. He clubbed a school-record 34 home runs and collected 162 RBI during his three years at Texas-Arlington.

Horseraxing Baseball Betting News

<< Yankees appear set to acquire Berkman from Astros
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees are reportedly set to acquire Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros. A story from MLB.com cites a source in reporting the impending deal, adding that Berkman gave general manag

<< Stewart tops in qualifying at Pocono
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart claimed the pole for Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 after posting the quickest lap in qualifying at Pocono Raceway. Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, turned a lap of

<< Twins send P Blackburn to minors, place INF Punto on DL
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins demoted pitcher Nick Blackburn to Triple-A Rochester on Friday to make room for newly acquired reliever Matt Capps. Blackburn, who received a four-year, $14 million contract la

<< Cowboys' WR Bryant injured
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant suffered an apparent right ankle injury during Friday's practice. Bryant was helped off the field after colliding with a defender toward the end of the se

<< Hat Trick: Jets bring back Coles for third time
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets and wideout Laveranues Coles have renewed relations. The Jets' Twitter page on Friday revealed the signing, and while terms have yet to be released, the New York Post repo

Isles acquire D Wisniewski from Ducks >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks traded newly signed defenseman James Wisniewski to the New York Islanders for a conditional third- round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Earlier Friday, the 26-year-old Wisniews

Cards agree to terms with Blair >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals on Friday agreed to terms with pitcher Seth Blair. Blair, who was the club's supplemental first round pick, 46th overall, in last month's draft, will report to Single-A Batavia in th

Padres option Cunningham to Portland >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres on Friday optioned outfielder Aaron Cunningham to Triple-A Portland. Cunningham was batting .312 with a home run and 13 RBI in 30 games this season for the Padres. The outfielde

Overton shoots 62 for Greenbrier Classic lead >>
White Sulphur Springs, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Overton fired an eight-under 62 on Friday to take four-shot lead midway through The Greenbrier Classic. Chasing his first PGA Tour win, Overton had eight birdies in a flawless round and fini

Lions president Lewand suspended, fined >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand has been given a 30-day suspension and $100,000 fine following his drunken-driving arrest last month. Lewand was arrested June 25 after a charity golf tournamen

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract

Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.

NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."

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