25th-ranked Wildcats host Hornets
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
11/09/2007 - Manhattan, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Under the tutelage of new head coach Frank Martin, the 25th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats open the 2007-08 season at home on Friday against the Sacramento State Hornets.
The Hornets were in a rebuilding season last year and failed to make the Big Sky Conference Tournament field, having won only 10 games overall, including just five league tilts. The hope is that eight-year head coach Jerome Jenkins can have this team take a step or two in the right direction this season.
Bob Huggins led the 'Cats to a school-record 10 Big 12 victories last season and 23 wins in all, but jumped ship for West Virginia, leaving the team in the hands of Martin.
This is the first-ever meeting between KSU and Sacramento State on the hardwood.
The Hornets struggled last season and with only two starters returning, it could be another long year for Sacramento State. Junior Loren Leath leads all returning players with 12.8 points per game last season, but four of the team's top five scorers are now gone. Leath will lead this program, but who exactly will follow? Fellow guard Roderick Adams could be that player. He shot a respectable 46.7 percent from the field last season. A three-guard set will finish up with senior Clark Woods (7.3 ppg two years ago), who redshirted last season due to a knee injury. Transfer Justin Eller (6-8), who averaged 17.7 points and nine rebounds a game for the College of the Siskiyous, will be called upon to be an interior force in 2007-8. He will hopefully get help from 6-7 Wandji Aboubakar and the return of 6-8 Curtis Harrison, who redshirted last season as well.
Under Huggins, the Wildcats were one of the better teams in the Big 12 last season. Forced to regroup with Huggins' departure, KSU turns to Frank Martin. First and foremost, Martin was responsible for appeasing talented recruit Michael Beasley, who decided to stay with KSU despite the upheaval at the top. Beasley, a 6-10 power forward, is considered one of the top recruits in school history and he has the talent to be an immediate star. Beasley, who averaged 28.0 ppg and 16.0 rpg as a senior in high school, has been favorable compared to Kevin Durant. Beasley will get plenty of support up front from David Hoskins and Bill Walker. Hoskins earned All-Big 12 honors after averaging 14.5 ppg and 5.9 rpg a year ago. Walker is a bit of a wildcard, after suffering an ACL tear in last season's Big 12 opener. Walker averaged 11.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg during his first six games as a rookie last season. The backcourt will consist of seniors Clent Stewart (6.5 ppg) and Blake Young (5.3 ppg). Incoming freshmen Dominique Sutton and Jacob Pullen could earn valuable minutes as well.
Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-ranked Washington State Cougars open up their much anticipated 2007-08 season tonight, as they play host to the Eastern Washington Eagles from Friel Court in Pullman. The Cougar
<< Hogs host Terriers in season-opener
Fayetteville, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The John Pelphrey era begins in
Fayetteville on Friday, as the 19th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks open their
2007-08 season, as they host the Wofford Terriers from Bud Walton Arena.
Pelphre
<< Stanford hosts Harvard in Basketball Travelers Classic
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Stanford Cardinal are set to
host the Harvard Crimson as part of the Basketball Travelers Classic.
Harvard welcomes back three starters and a new head coach, as former Seton
Hall and Mic
<< Duke takes on neighboring NC Central in season-opener
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Duke Blue Devils open up their
103rd season of college basketball this evening, when they play host to
neighbor North Carolina Central.
The Blue Devils are coming off a 22-11 sea
<< Turgeon Era begins in College Station
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mark Turgeon Era in College
Station gets underway this evening, as the 16th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies open
up their 2007-08 season when they play host to the McNeese State Cowboys at
Reed Ar
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers open their 2007-08 season in Knoxville this evening, as they play host to the always dangerous Temple Owls, from Thompson-Boling Arena. Third-year coach Bruce
Jayhawks begin 2007-08 at home against Warhawks >>
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks open up
their highly anticipated 2007-08 season at home this evening, as they welcome
the UL-Monroe Warhawks to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.
The Jayhawks are coming
Bruins open up season against Vikings >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked UCLA Bruins open the
2007-08 season on Friday night against the visiting Vikings of Portland State.
PSU comes in on the heels of rather successful season as the Vikes went 19-13
in
Sochaux hoping to continue turnaround against Auxerre >>
Sochaux, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sochaux got off to a terrible start
this season that saw the club go winless in its first eight games and fall
into the relegation zone just one year after securing a spot in the UEFA Cup.
The
Red Wings aim for ninth straight win, host Blue Jackets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The powerful Detroit Red Wings will aim for their ninth
consecutive victory tonight, when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to
Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings are 12-2-1 on the season and are leading the Western Confer
FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash 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.