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SPORTS BOOK BEAT
Tuesday,
Jan. 11, 2005
By
DAVID SCOTT, Senior Analyst
Americasline.com
EAGLES
REMAIN SLIGHT FAVORITES TO WIN SUPER BOWL XXXIX
LAS
VEGAS, Nev.-The Eagles remain slight favorites to win Super Bowl
XXXIX in Jacksonville, Feb. 6 but oddsmakers also believe the Patriots,
Steelers and Colts are prime contenders in the remaining eight-team
field as the NFL Playoffs head into their second round, this weekend.
Philadelphia,
which hosts Minnesota, Sunday, is a narrow 5/2 choice to advance to
the NFC title game for the fourth consecutive season. The Eagles, who
handled the Vikings, 27-16, in Week 2 but have lost big play wide receiver
Terrell Owens to injury, will have to pick up their intensity after
coasting the last month. Philadelphia opened as an 8 1/2-point favorite
over Minnesota. The latter is 18/1 to win the Super Bowl.
Defending
Super Bowl champion New England joins Pittsburgh as a 3/1 co-second
choice to win it all again. Of the two teams, the Patriots have the
sterner test, facing the high-octane offense of the Colts and their
record-setting quarterback Peyton Manning in New England, Sunday. The
Pats, who must play without injured cornerback Ty Law, beat the Colts
in the season opener, 27-24. New England started as a slim 1 1/2-point
favorite over Indianapolis, a 7/2 proposition to win this season's Super
Bowl.
The Steelers,
who play Saturday, are -8 1/2 to ground the Jets, a team they scuttled,
17-6, Dec. 12. But that game was close, with the score tied heading
into the final quarter. New York is 15/1 to go all the way.
The final
matchup of the weekend pits the Falcons, a 7/1 Super Bowl choice, against
the Rams, 18/1, in Atlanta, Saturday. The Falcons opened as a 6 1/2-point
favorite.
Here,
courtesy of noted oddsmaker Cesar Robaina (www.crodds.com) are prices
to win the Super Bowl when they were first posted on Jan. 11, just before
the start of the preseason on July 20, at the beginning of the NFL regular
season in September, about a third of the way through the season on
Oct. 19, again on Dec. 14, last week, and now:
ODDS
TO WIN SUPER BOWL XXXIX
|
Team
|
Open
|
July
20
|
Sept.
7
|
Oct.
19
|
Dec.
14
|
Jan.
11
|
Current
|
| St.
Louis Rams |
5/1
|
6/1
|
7/1
|
8/1
|
25/1
|
25/1
|
18/1
|
| Philadelphia
Eagles |
6/1
|
9/2
|
9/2
|
5/2
|
7/5
|
5/2
|
5/2
|
| Indianapolis
Colts |
7/1
|
7/1
|
7/1
|
5/2
|
2/1
|
9/2
|
7/2
|
| New
England Patriots |
7/1
|
6/1
|
6/1
|
7/2
|
2/1
|
3/1
|
3/1
|
| Minnesota
Vikings |
20/1
|
12/1
|
15/1
|
6/1
|
15/1
|
35/1
|
18/1
|
| New
York Jets |
20/1
|
20/1
|
15/1
|
5/1
|
12/1
|
22/1
|
15/1
|
| Pittsburgh
Steelers |
20/1
|
20/1
|
20/1
|
10/1
|
2/1
|
3/1
|
3/1
|
| Atlanta
Falcons |
30/1
|
25/1
|
20/1
|
12/1
|
6/1
|
7/1
|
7/1
|
SONY
SKIES: Ernie Els hopes to make it two defending champions in a row
(see below) when he tees off as the 4/1 favorite to win the Sony Open
in Honolulu, Jan. 13-16. Vijay Singh is quoted as the 5/1-second choice
with Retief Goosen held at odds of 10/1 and Adam Scott listed at 16/1.
Others
in the hunt include David Toms and Stewart Cink, each at 20/1; Luke
Donald at 33/1; and Jim Furyk at 40/1.
STATUE
OF LIMITATIONS: They'll be handing out the Golden Globe Awards in
Hollywood, Sunday, a statue with few limitations when it comes to predicting
who will win the Oscars, next month.
Unlike
the Academy Awards, the foreign press dispenses hardware for television
as well as movies and divides the cinema categories into drama and comedy
or musical.
America's
Line combined with entertainment expert Tom O'Neil and the critics at
Gold Derby (www.goldderby.com) to produce the following prices:
BEST
DRAMA PICTURE
The
Aviator - 6/5
Finding
Neverland - 5/2
Million
Dollar Baby - 3/1
Hotel
Rwanda - 6/1
Kinsey
- 20/1
Closer
- 40/1
BEST
COMEDY/MUSICAL PICTURE
Sideways
- 4/5
The
Incredibles - 5/2
Ray
- 5/1
Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 6/1
Phantom
of the Opera - 40/1
BEST
DIRECTOR
Martin
Scorsese (Aviator) - 4/5
Clint
Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) - EVEN
Alexander
Payne (Sideways) - 12/1
Marc
Forster (Finding Neverland) - 40/1
Mike
Nichols (Closer) - 40/1
BEST
DRAMA ACTOR
Javier
Bardem (The Sea Inside) - 2/1
Leonardo
DiCaprio (Aviator) - 7/3
Johnny
Depp (Finding Neverland) - 5/2
Liam
Neeson (Kinsey) - 3/1
Don
Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) - 40/1
BEST
DRAMA ACTRESS
Imelda
Staunton (Vera Drake) - 7/5
Hilary
Swank (Million Dollar Baby) - 8/5
Scarlett
Johansson (Love Song for Bobby Long) - 9/5
Uma
Thurman (Kill Bill 2) - 40/1
Nicole
Kidman (Birth) - 50/1
BEST
COMEDY ACTOR
Jamie
Foxx (Ray) - 3/4
Kevin
Spacey (Beyond the Sea) - 5/2
Jim
Carrey (Eternal Sunshine) - 5/1
Paul
Giamatti (Sideways) - 6/1
Kevin
Kline (De-Lovely) - 25/1
BEST
COMEDY ACTRESS
Annette
Bening (Being Julia) - 1/5
Kate
Winslet (Eternal Sunshine) 8/1
Emmy
Rossum (Phantom of the Opera) - 8/1
Renee
Zellweger (Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason) - 8/1
Ashley
Judd (De-Lovely) - 40/1
THAT
WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS:
- The
2004 college post season concluded last week with USC, the 5/1 preseason
favorite to win the BCS title, demolishing Oklahoma in the Orange
Bowl, 55-19. The Trojans covered a modest spread, providing the 11th
pointspread victory in 28 games for the favorite. Underdogs beat the
spread 17 times.
- Of the
28 games, 16 went over the total and 12 went under the number.
- So much
for the so-called "experts" who chose favorites San Diego, Green Bay
and Seattle to win games in the opening round of the NFL Playoffs,
last weekend. In fact, Indianapolis was the only favorite to survive,
leaving underdogs with a 3-1 record after Week 1 of the post-season.
-
Stuart
Appleby overcame an opening round 74 to successfully defend his
title at the Mercedes Championship, Sunday, the opening event on
the PGA calendar. Appleby, 25/1, fired a final round 67 to finish
21 under par, a stroke ahead of 125/1 longshot Jonathan Kaye. Tiger
Woods, the 5/2 favorite, and Ernie Els, the 5/1 third choice, wound
up in a tie for third, two shots off the pace. Vijay Singh, the
9/2-second choice and the leader after three rounds, faded to fourth.
LIP
SERVICE: "Be thankful for the rich contribution the NHL has made
to society this season by staying away. Just think, somewhere on a Saturday
night in Moose Jaw a kid is actually reading a book."
--Michael
Hunt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
EDITOR'S
NOTE: America's Line is a daily syndicated odds column that appears in
over 125 papers across the United States and Canada, with a readership
of close to 10 million.
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