Football Betting

Gainey steps down as Canadiens GM, Gauthier takes over

Hockey Betting Lines

02/08/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey has decided to step down from his post and hand the reins over to Pierre Gauthier, the club announced on Monday.

"After a long and difficult period of reflection, I have decided to step down as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens," Gainey said an afternoon press conference. "Effective today, those responsibilities fall to my friend, Pierre Gauthier. I've done my best, and now it's time for me to pass the torch."

Gauthier, who served as the Canadiens' assistant GM since July 2006, will take over as both general manager and executive vice president.

The 56-year-old Montreal native came to the Habs in 2003 after serving with the Anaheim and Ottawa organizations, beginning his career with the Quebec Nordiques from 1981-93 in the scouting department.

Gainey had served as the team's general manager since June 2003, and the Habs have posted a 241-176-46-7 record with four playoff appearances since his hiring.

In 2007-08, the Canadiens went 47-25-10 and finished first in the Eastern Conference with 104 points. Montreal was then upended by the Philadelphia Flyers in a five-game conference semifinal series. Montreal also suffered the indignity of a first-round four-game defeat to bitter rival Boston in last season's playoffs during the franchise's 100th anniversary celebrations.

During his tenure with the club, Gainey also served as head coach for the second half of 2005-06 before handing the job to Guy Carbonneau following the season.

As a player, Gainey spent all 16 years of his NHL career with the team, winning five Stanley Cups in six tries.

Following his time in the NHL, the 56-year-old became the head coach of the Minnesota North Stars in 1990-91, helping the team get to the Stanley Cup Finals. Serving as the head coach until 1996, when the team was located in Dallas, he was also the franchise's general manager from 1992-2002 and guided the Stars to a 1999 Stanley Cup championship.

"The support that we've had from our new generation of fans, along with the old tradition and that the bridge between our old and new fans is complete," Gainey said when asked what he'll remember most about his tenure in the front office. "We've been in the playoffs steadily the whole time and that's been a good thing."

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Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

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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.