Saints Top Bengals As Carson Palmer Returns To Action

By Ross Everett

Despite losing to the New Orleans Saints in their NFL preseason opener 17-7, the Cincinnati Bengals had a lot to be happy about. Most significantly, they were elated over the return of QB Carson Palmer after he'd missed most of the last NFL season with an elbow injury. Palmer's play--133 yards on 7 of 11 passing--gave them even more to be happy about despite being on the wrong end of the final score. Of course Cincinnati has had very low standards for success lately, and it was more of a 'silver lining in a dark cloud' situation than anything else.

New Orleans had their share of offensive highlights, with QB Drew Brees hooking up with tight end Jeremy Shockey for three completions including Shockey's first touchdown reception in a Saints uniform. Brees backup, Mark Brunell, also played well and tossed a 64 yard scoring strike to Robert Meacham.

Saints fans were well aware that their QB would produce after hanging over 5,000 yards on the board last year, but Palmers return brought a sigh of relief from Bengal backers. Palmer missed 12 games last season because of a partially torn ligament and tendon in his passing elbow.

After Shockeys TD staked the Saints to a 7-0 lead, the Bengals tied the game before halftime when Palmers backup J.T. O'Sullivan hit Chris Henry on a 14 yard touchdown pass.

The Bengals will continue their NFL preseason this Thursday as they travel to Foxboro, Massachusetts for a game against the New England Patriots. The Saints will also play away from home, heading over to Houston for a game against the Texans on Saturday. Both teams will kick off the NFL regular season on Sunday, September 13th. The Bengals will host the Denver Broncos, while the Saints welcome the Detroit Lions to The Big Easy.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and highly respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Alabama Survives Scare From Tennessee

By Ross Everett

Alabama didn't so much win their game against Tennessee on Saturday as much as they escaped. Despite playing one of their worst games of the year they managed to keep their undefeated season alive as nose tackle Terrance Cody blocked a potential game winning field goal on the last play of the game to preserve a 12-10 victory for the Crimson Tide. Alabama held a tenuous 12-3 lead late in the game before a Tennessee touchdown and recovered onside kick had them facing the specter of the defeat for the first time this season.

College football pointspread players who took Tennessee as +14 road underdogs were in good shape throughout the contest and eventually cashed their tickets. The Vols improved to 4-3 against the spread while the Crimson Tide dropped to 5-3 versus the number. The 22 combined points went well UNDER the posted total of 41'. Tennessee has gone UNDER in 4 of 7 while 'bama evened their college football totals record at 4-4.

After the game, Cody recounted his blocked field goal attempt:

"I didn't really get off the ground. I just reached my arm up. That's how I got it. I knocked the blocker back. He was on his back."

First year Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin wasn't about to call the near miss loss a 'moral victory':

"It's a difficult loss to deal with. You come into a hostile environment and play the No. 1 team in the country, as I said before by far the No. 1 team in the country and the best-coached team around. You come in here and outgain them by nearly 100 yards and miss three field goals. I don't believe in moral victories, we should have won that game."

He explained the difficulty that placekicker Daniel Lincoln has getting elevation on his kicks since a quadriceps injury:

"He can't kick the ball up high. If you kick the ball up high it's never going to get there, so we can't allow the penetration up front."

Alabama coach Nick Saban views the game as a learning experience:

"You talk about how fragile a season is. You're controlling a game, even though you may say it's winning ugly. We're still ahead 12-3 and totally controlling the game with 3 minutes, 29 seconds and the ball. That's how fragile a season can be. You make one mistake and you have to go overcome it. I hope that there's a lot of lessons our team can learn from this."

Alabama has a week off before a tough game at home against LSU on November 7. They'll play at Mississippi State the following week before a game against FCS Chattanooga on November 21. Tennessee hosts South Carolina next Saturday and Memphis the following week. They'll play at Ole Miss on November--.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on NFL football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

8 Facts You Didn't Know About Formula One Racing

By George Morrison

Formula One racing is an interesting sport and that is clear just by just watching it. However, there are some very interesting facts about the sport that many people do not know. These are things that are not general knowledge, but knowing them is a great way to learn more about such a great sport.

Here is a look at seven facts about the cars, racers and the sport in general. These facts are something most people do not know, so you can use them as a way to strike up a great conversation with a fellow sports fan about your favourite sport.

1) Water plays a very important role in ensuring the safety of drivers. Since drivers are exposed to high G force and extreme temperatures in Formula One cars they can lose about 2 to 3 litres of water during a race. This has resulted in drivers having to drink large amounts of water before and during the race.

2) Formula One cars are actually equipped with a special drinking bottle so that drivers can easily drink during a race. Without adequate hydration a driver can easily become dehydrated while driving.

3) Formula One cars are made of various components. There are so many different parts that without 100% correct assembly there would be too much wrong with the car to safely race. There are 80,000 components of which include more than a kilometre of cable and 100 sensors.

4) The engine of Formula One cars gets worked hard. They can go from 0 to 160 to 0 kph in only four seconds. These engines are not built to last either with an average life span of only 2 hours of racing time.

5) Coming down from the high racing speeds by hitting the brakes create a deceleration that is comparable to hitting a brick wall at 300 kph. These brakes get a workout with an operating temperature around 1000 degrees C. if they were made of steel they would never last so they are made of carbon fibre instead.

6) Formula One cars are not built for a comfy ride. The cockpit is so small that in order for the drive to get in or out the steering wheel has to be removed. Also the gear shift is located on the back of the steering wheel as is the clutch.

7) These cars are made to be very aerodynamic to enable them to race at high speeds without losing control. The aerodynamic down force of Formula One cars is so extreme that one of these cars can drive on the ceiling of a tunnel with ease. When these cars race on the street, manhole covers must be welded down or they will fly up as the cars go over them.

8) The tyres of Formula One cars are pretty unique in that they don't contain air but nitrogen. They complete a rotation about 50 times in one second during a race. These tyres also last only 120 km max when normal tires last for up to 100,000 km.

These facts are all very interesting and sometimes mind blowing, the design and function of these racing cars and what the racers experience while driving is fascinating. Why not share these facts with your friends and fellow racing fans.

About the Author:

This article was written on behalf of McLaren. For more information see - Formula One Formula One cars

Browns Use Big First Quarter To Beat Lions In NFL Preseason Play

By Ross Everett

The Cleveland Browns was that their offense came out swinging on Saturday night, scoring 20 points in the first quarter en route to victory. Browns QB Derek Anderson played well, while the Detroit Lions rookie signal caller Matt Stafford struggled mightily as the Browns easily took a 27-10 decision in NFL preseason action. Both teams are now 1-1 in the preseason.

Anderson led the Browns to their first offensive touchdown in seven games, and left the Cleveland QB battle between himself and Brady Quinn a tossup. Anderson finished 8 of 11 for 130 yards and one interception, and gave a fairly positive assessment of his play in postgame interviews:

"I thought things went well. I played all right. I made some good throws and a couple I wish I could have back. It was an opportunity and I was happy to go out there and play well while I was in."

Quinn entered in the second quarter, and was only 3 of 5 for 29 yards. After the game, Browns coach Eric Mangini declined comment on the battle for the starting job:

"I'm really not going to assess it that way now. We'll keep rolling along and move into next week and see where it goes."

The NFLs first overall draft pick, Lions QB Matt Stafford threw an interception on his first play from scrimmage and finished with 34 yards on 5 of 13 passing. He tried to maintain an upbeat tone in his postgame comments:

"That's what football is. You'll play good some weeks and bad some weeks. The tough part about preseason is you get your allotted amount of plays. You can have a bad 25 plays and not get a chance to come back and fix it and make it right in the second half."

Lions coach Jim Schwartz has the unenviable task of trying to turn around a team that went 0-16 last season, were that not bad enough he had to deal with the fallout of a fight during warm-ups between his own players. Carson Butler and Dewayne White went at it before the game. Schwartz sounded relatively unfazed by the bizarre turn of events:

"I've never seen that before.The thing I like about it is they were competitive and going hard. I came in and said, 'Some of y'all thought the game started at 7 o'clock instead of 7:30.' Obviously that's something that shouldn't happen and it's already been addressed."

Providing a good example of the lack of chemistry on a losing football franchise, White is still holding a grudge :

"We'll probably have to go at it one more time when we're not playing a game -- next week sometime. There's going to be bad blood between us."

The Lions will continue their NFL preseason slate next Saturday night as they welcome the Indianapolis Colts to Ford Field. Cleveland will also play at home, with the Tennessee Titans providing the opposition. Both teams will open the NFL regular season on Sunday, September 13th with Cleveland hosting the Minnesota Vikings and the Lions traveling to New Orleans to take on the Saints.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and noted authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Brock Lesnar Wins UFC Heavyweight Title

By Ross Everett

On a historic night for the sport of mixed martial arts, Brock Lesnar avenged his early loss to Frank Mir with a TKO victory and in the process unified the promotions heavyweight championship at UFC 100. Mir/Lesnar was the main event of a stacked card and the culmination of a frenzied week of activity in Las Vegas.

The anticipation surrounding UFC 100 was unprecedented among the fight sport media and, more significantly, among mainstream sports media. MMA has long has been an object of scorn, disdain and ignorance among traditional sports media, and in this context the fact that every major outlet including ESPN, SI.com and Fox Sports featured UFC 100 as their top story of the day is downright amazing. The broader implications of UFC 100 remain to be seen, but it could very likely become a turning point for the sport where MMA transcended cult or niche status to burst into the mainstream consciousness.

Preliminary buy rates suggest that more than 1.5 million people purchased the event, which would not only make it the UFC's biggest PPV ever but put it in the top five of *all* PPV sporting events. While it fell short of the all time PPV record of 2.4 million buys set by the De La Hoya/Mayweather fight, the unprecedented interest has put MMA on the map to stay. The event's weigh in was a standing room only affair with over 2,000 fans turned away. A Fan Expo held in conjunction with UFC 100 counted over 30,000 visitors on Friday and an equal or greater number on Saturday. Even veteran fight media experienced in covering big boxing and MMA events worldwide have reported that the energy and general vibe around this event is like nothing theyve seen.

The main event established Lesnar as not only the UFC heavyweight champion, but the most hated 'bad guy' in the sport To his credit, he had a perfect gameplan for Mir that allowed him to use his strength and power to maul his opponent on the ground while minimizing his exposure to submissions.

Mir, on the other hand, made a tactical mistake by letting Lesnar put him on his back and pound away. He clearly underestimated Lesnar's ability to defend his submissions and by the end of the first round had already suffered a nasty beating. Lesnar quickly took Mir down again at the start of the second round, ending the fight with a punishing ground and pound assault that prompted referee Herb Dean to call a stop to the contest at 1:48 of the second round.

Lesnar's postfight performance was less impressive and not befitting a champion. He taunted Mir after the stoppage, prompting the crowd to boo him mercilessly. He responded to this with a double handed middle finger salute before a short and arrogant postfight interview that would have been much more at home in the WWE than in this setting. Mir was the consummate professional in defeat, giving credit to his opponent and generally displaying all of the class that Lesnar lacked.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Cowboys Need Overtime To Prevail Over Chiefs

By Ross Everett

The Dallas Cowboys entered Sundays game with the Kansas City Chiefs with a 2-2 record, and may have expected an easy afternoon. The winless Chiefs, however, hung around throughout the contest and forced overtime before a Tony Romo touchdown pass to Miles Austin secured the victory for Dallas by a final score of 26-20. Austin was the Cowboys offensive star, catching two touchdown passes as part of a 250 yard receiving day. Tony Romo played better than he has all year, finishing with two touchdown passes and 351 yards with no interceptions. The Cowboys improved to 3-2 with the victory, while the Chiefs remain winless at 0-5.

NFL betting enthusiasts who took Kansas City as +7 home underdogs enjoyed a profitable day as the Chiefs got the money for the first time in the 2009 season. Kansas City is now 1-4 against the spread, while Dallas dropped to 2-3 against the number. The 46 points went OVER the posted total of 43.

Austin started in place of Dallas superstar receiver Roy Williams, and definitely made the best of the opportunity. His 250 yards on 10 catches broke the franchise record held by Cowboys legend Bob Hayes, who had 246 yards receiving against the Washington Redskins in 1966. Austin could have had an even bigger day, had Tony Romo not overthrown him several times on wide open plays. Romo hasn't looked sharp all season, but at least he didn't serve up any interceptions in this game.

Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel had decent numbers in a losing cause, finishing with 253 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Still, the setback just added to the growing sense of futility in the Chiefs camp. Kansas City hasnt won a game in nearly a year (315 days) and is a horrible 2-28 in their past 30 games. There are signs of improvement under first year coach Todd Haley, but theyve yet to translate into victories.

Dallas will be off next weekend and will return to action on October 25th at home against the Atlanta Falcons. Theyll host the Seattle Seahawks at Cowboys Stadium the following weekend. The Chiefs will travel to Washington, DC next Sunday to take on the Redskins before returning home for a game the following week against the San Diego Chargers.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a well known freelance writer experienced in travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, falconry and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Broncos Avoid Winless Preseason With Win Over Cards

By Ross Everett

The Arizona Cardinals haven't looked anything like a Superbowl team in the NFL preseason. They entered their final exhibition contest against the Denver Broncos looking for their first win. Denver, likewise, has struggled in their exhibition games and the result was a contest between two teams with identical 0-3 records. The Broncos controlled the contest on both sides of the ball en route to a 19-0 shutout victory over the struggling Cards.

Arizona was installed as -3 road favorites, but NFL preseason bettors who backed Denver ended up collecting the money with the outright win. The Broncos scored 16 of their 19 points in the first half, and the eventual outcome"straight up or against the spread"was never really in doubt after that. The 19 points also went UNDER the posted total of 36.

Denvers biggest issue has been injuries, with their starting QB Kyle Orton and backup Chris Simms both out of action. Orton is suffering from a cut and dislocated finger on his throwing hand, while Simms is recovering from a sprained ankle. That provided a great opportunity for rookie Tom Brandstater, and he may find himself playing next Sunday for real. Afterwards, Broncos coach Josh McDaniels was full of praise for his young signal caller:

"For a rookie quarterback, and I've had a chance to coach a number of them, he's really done a nice job. It's not too big for him, the game's not too big for him, the huddle's not too big for him. He operated with that first unit pretty good."

Despite the talk that he may be the Broncos starting QB"at least in the short term"Brandstater is keeping it all in perspective:

"Things happen -- just last week alone with the Kyle injury. That's a pretty freak accident that no one can predict at all. I'm glad I got my shot and hopefully I did some good with it. I'm trying to make this team. I still haven't guaranteed myself a spot in this team and I'm trying to do everything I can to make it just like every guy on the team is."

Arizona played starting Kurt Warner and their first string offense for several series, but they were again ineffective. Cards head coach Ken Whisenhunt tried to put a positive spin on a dismal preseason:

"We'll clean it up. I still feel good about our football team and the way we've been working.

Kurt Warner, meanwhile, was much less enthusiastic than his coach but said hes looking forward to starting the regular season:

"I never really felt like I got into a rhythm today for whatever reason. I'm looking forward to game-planning a team, putting in some plays and some things we've done in the past that we really haven't done in preseason. I'm looking forward to all of that. But you still don't leave preseason extremely excited about what we've accomplished."

Arizona will try to put their dismal preseason behind them when they kick off the 2009 NFL campaign at home against the San Francisco 49ers. Arizona will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road in week two, while Denver will play host to the Cleveland Browns

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, poker and NFL football handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and deep sea diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.