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01/05/2012 - East London, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Africa's Thomas Aiken fired a nine-under 64 on Thursday to take the opening-round lead of the Africa Open, the first event on the 2012 European Tour schedule.
Aiken, last year's Open de Espana winner, is one shot clear at the par-73 East London Golf Club.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who had the honor of hitting the first tee shot in the 2012 Race to Dubai, and fellow South African Jaco Ahlers are tied for second at eight-under 65.
In fact, players from the home country are doing quite well.
Michael Du Toit and Dean O'Riley, both South Africans, share fourth with Welshman Phillip Price at seven-under 66.
Aiken played in the same group with Goosen on Thursday off No. 9 (due to course logistics, the second wave of players went off nine, instead of 10). Aiken broke into red figures in spectacular fashion. He hit a good two-iron to the par-five 11th green for his second shot and holed the eagle putt.
Aiken birdied 16, 17 and 18 to head to the first tee at five-under par. He went lower thanks again to the two-iron. Aiken got to a par-five third green in two with that trusty club, and once again, made eagle.
"I have had that two-iron for seven years and it is the only club from my old bag that conforms with groove regulations," said Aiken. "I find it very versatile and it is one of my favorite clubs. I had 230 yards to the hole on the third, and a similar yardage on 11. Managed to get the yardage right and I hit two perfect shots."
Aiken parred the fourth after his second eagle of the round, but got to nine- under par thanks to back-to-back birdies at five and six. He parred his last two holes for a somewhat surprising first-round lead.
"I wasn't really expecting that after two weeks without touching a club," admitted Aiken. "It was a great morning this morning -- early start, and the scoring conditions were good. It was out there for the taking and luckily I hit some really good shots and made putts.
"I really enjoyed the round today. This is not the longest course, but it bites if you go askew. Anything off the line on this course is pretty much a reload off the tee, which makes it a thinking man's course. There are a lot of risk-and-reward holes -- a couple of drivable par fours and tricky par threes -- and I think that a lot of new courses lack that challenge."
Maarten Lafeber, Charles-Edouard Russo, Richard Bland, JJ Senekal, Danny Willett and Shaun Norris share seventh place at six-under 67.
NOTES: Defending champion and former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen is in the mix after a four-under 69 on Thursday...Aiken has won several times on the South African Tour, which is co-sponsoring this championship...Aiken, Goosen and Peter Hedblom, the third member of the group, combined to go 18- under par in round one...Last year's Race to Dubai winner and world No. 1 Luke Donald, is not on hand this week.
<< Short-handed Bucks visit weary Kings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kings will resume a torturous stretch of three games in
three nights when they return to Sacramento for a date with the short-handed
Milwaukee Bucks.
The Kings have been routed during the first two games of the span, l
<< Blackhawks make return to Philly to battle Flyers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blackhawks ended a 49-year championship drought the
last time they played in Philadelphia. Chicago will return to the City of
Brotherly Love for the first time since that memorable night in 2010, as it
battles the Flyers
<< Aztecs get another breather in clash with visiting Hawks
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the midst of a six-game homestand at
Viejas Arena, the 24th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs kick off the new calendar
year against the Hawks of San Diego Christian College tonight.
San Diego State, which sti
<< Wolverines and Hoosiers meet in clash of ranked Big Ten foes
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Top-25 teams collide in
Bloomington this evening, as the 16th-ranked Michigan Wolverines take on the
12th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in Big Ten action at Assembly Hall.
John Beilein's Wolverines are
Federer reaches final four in Doha >>
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The great Roger Federer secured a spot
in Friday's semifinals at the season-opening $1.024 million Qatar Open.
The three-time overall and reigning champion Federer was tested by eighth-
seeded Italian An
Timbers sign Richards as homegrown player >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Timbers have signed forward Brent
Richards as the club's first homegrown player.
Richards, 21, joins the Timbers' first team after three years with the club's
development team, the Portland Tim
Bombers name Buchko new president and CEO >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have named Garth
Buchko as the team's new president and chief executive officer.
Buchko becomes the 39th president in team history and has an extensive
background as a s
Line of Scrimmage: Ravens ready to rule AFC roost >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After years of being blocked by a
treacherous course, the Baltimore Ravens finally have a clear path to a
championship, though it's a window of opportunity that may not be wide open for
very long.
The fir
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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