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07/22/2010 - El Segundo, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers added depth to their frontcourt by signing veterans Matt Barnes and Theo Ratliff.
The Thursday move for Barnes to sign with the Lakers came just three days after he posted a message on his Twitter account saying he was joining the Toronto Raptors via sign-and-trade deal, but that fell apart.
Barnes sent another message from Twitter Thursday declaring that his signing with the Lakers was official. "This is a dream come true!!!," Barnes wrote.
The Los Angeles Times reports Barnes received a two-year contract, but left money on the table for a more lucrative offer from Cleveland. He'll reportedly earn $3.6 million from the Lakers, but Yahoo! Sports reports Barnes could have earned $7 million over the same period from the Cavaliers.
Barnes, 30, averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 81 games for the Magic last season. He started 58 contests and averaged just under 26 minutes per game.
In 444 career games over seven seasons with the Clippers, Kings, Knicks, Sixers, Warriors, Suns and Magic, Barnes has averaged 7.3 points and 4.4 boards. He played college ball at UCLA.
The Times reports Ratliff's deal is for one year for the veteran's minimum of $1.35 million.
The 37-year-old Ratliff, entering his 16th NBA season, averaged 5.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots in 28 games for the Charlotte Bobcats last season. He started the season with San Antonio and averaged 1.6 points and 1.9 boards in 21 contests with the Spurs.
"I've had a long and very rewarding career, and joining a storied and legendary franchise such as the Lakers adds an even more special element," Ratliff said. "I look forward to playing for Coach (Phil) Jackson and with great players such as Kobe (Bryant), Derek (Fisher), Pau (Gasol), Lamar (Odom), Ron Artest, Andrew Bynum and all my other new teammates, and hopefully to helping the Lakers win a third straight championship."
Originally selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 1995 NBA Draft (18th overall), Ratliff has twice been named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1999 and 2004) and has led the league in blocked shots three times (2000-01, 2002-03 and 2003-04).
<< A-Rod moves one step closer to 600; Yankees down Royals
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez hit home run No. 599 and drove in
four runs total, and the Yankees defeated the Royals, 10-4, in the start to a
four-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Rodriguez hit his 16th homer of the season a
<< Chivas defender Bornstein out with knee injury
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA captain Jonathan Bornstein will be
sidelined two weeks with a knee injury suffered Sunday in the SuperLiga match
against the Houston Dynamo, the Major League Soccer club announced Thursday.
Bornst
<< Notre Dame-Miami to renew rivalry in 2012
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Miami and the University
of Notre Dame football programs have agreed to play each other in 2012, 22
years after the schools last met.
The game will be played at Soldier Field in Chica
<< Phillies fire hitting coach Thompson
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies, who have
struggled at the plate and are seven games behind NL East-leading Atlanta,
fired hitting coach Milt Thompson Thursday night.
The move came hours after the
Duval boots 7 FGs as Als rout Hamilton >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal kicker Damon Duval tied a career-high
with seven field goals as he helped lead the Alouettes to a commanding 37-14
win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival Molson Stadium.
Duval finished the n
Cain, Giants blank Diamondbacks >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Cain fanned nine batters over eight
shutout innings and Buster Posey continued his hot hitting by going 2-for-4
with an RBI as the Giants blanked the Diamondbacks, 3-0, at Chase Field.
Cain (8-8
Broncos' Dumervil agrees to extension >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Broncos linebacker Elvis Dumervil has
agreed to a contract extension, just over a month after he signed his free
agent contract tender.
Terms of Dumervil's extension weren't disclosed, but source
Donovan's late goal helps Galaxy tie Earthquakes >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Landon Donovan scored in the 90th minute and the
Los Angeles Galaxy remained unbeaten at home in Major League Soccer with a 2-2
draw Thursday night against the San Jose Earthquakes at The Home Depot Center.
Edso
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.
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