10/23/2008 - Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded former champion Andy Roddick and Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga moved into the quarterfinals, while second-seeded former titlist Richard Gasquet was among Thursday's second-round losers at the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix.
The former top-ranked 2005 Lyon champion Roddick snuck past fellow American Robby Ginepri 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), while the 2006 titlist Gasquet succumbed to tough Belgian Steve Darcis 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) on the indoor carpet at Palais des Sports Lyon Gerland. Roddick fired 26 aces past Ginepri.
A third-seeded Tsonga outlasted fellow Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to setup a quarterfinal against former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero. The 35-year-old Santoro titled here 11 years ago. The Spanish Ferrero erased eighth-seeded French crowd favorite Paul-Henri Mathieu, the 2002 Lyon champ, 6-4, 6-1.
Meanwhile, last week's Madrid Masters runner-up Gilles Simon, of France, held off Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-4. The fourth-seeded Simon is quietly up to No. 10 in the world after losing to Brit Andy Murray in this past Sunday's title bout in Madrid.
Another former Lyon titlist prevailed here on Day 4, as seventh-seeded Swede Robin Soderling subdued Belgian qualifier Christophe Rochus 6-1, 6-2. Soderling titled here in 2004.
Friday's other quarterfinals will pit Roddick against his fellow former Lyon champion Soderling, Simon versus fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna and France's Julien Benneteau against Darcis.
French players will account for half of the quarterfinalists on Day 5.
<< Report: Daunte Culpepper un-retires
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daunte Culpepper announced the end of his
short-lived retirement on Thursday via e-mail.
In a report on NFL.com, the nine-year veteran wrote, "Now that there are some
real opportunities that match my des
<< Patriots' Morris misses practice again
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots running back Sammy Morris
did not practice with the team on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Morris, who also sat out Wednesday's practice, injured his
knee during New England's 41-7 victo
<< Federer tops Nieminen in Basel, again
Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a rematch of last year's final,
hometown hero Roger Federer bested Finn Jarkko Nieminen to reach the
quarterfinals at the $1.2 million Swiss Indoors Basel.
The top-seeded/former world
<< Rams RB Jackson misses second practice with thigh injury
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson
missed practice on Thursday with a thigh injury.
Rams interim head coach Jim Haslett on Monday termed the injury a strain, and
said he did not expect Jackson
Friday News and Notes on the Breeders' Cup Classic >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casino Drive (Tr: Kazuo Fujisawa; ex. rider:
Naruhito Kasai ) - Casino Drive, the unbeaten 3yo colt from Japan, jogged 3f
on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track under assistant trainer Naruhito Kasai
before
Thursday News and Notes on the Breeders' Cup Classic >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casino Drive (Tr: Kazuo Fujisawa; ex. rider:
Naruhito Kasai ) - Casino Drive, the unbeaten 3yo colt from Japan, jogged 3f
on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track under assistant trainer Naruhito Kasai
before
Ivanovic lands in Linz quarters >>
Linz, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic was among
Thursday's second-round winners at the $600,000 Generali Ladies Linz
tennis event.
The top-seeded Ivanovic handled Austrian crowd favorite Sybille Bammer 6-4,
6-
Newcastle's Beye has one-game ban lifted >>
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newcastle United defender Habib Beye is
available to face Sunderland in Saturday's Wear-Tyne derby after winning an
appeal for wrongful dismissal Thursday.
Beye was shown a straight red card during
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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