The Portland Trailblazers have needed a big inside presence ever since starting center Greg Oden and backup Joel Pryzbilla went down with season ending injuries. They finally found one on Tuesday as they acquired veteran Marcus Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers received forward Travis Outlaw and guard Steve Blake. Camby is expected to make his debut in a Blazers’ uniform on Friday when Portland hosts the Boston Celtics.

The transaction also served to answer the nagging question about Portland’s point guard situation. Steve Blake and Andre Miller have shared time running the offense, but Blazers’ management apparently felt that Miller was a better fit with superstar shooting guard Brandon Roy. Ironically, until Miller picked up a lot of the offense slack lately with Roy on the shelf with a hamstring injury the presumption was that he’d be the one heading elsewhere as the NBA trade deadline approached.

All three players involved are in the final year of their current contract, meaning that barring anything unforeseen Camby’s career in Portland will probably last only 23 games plus the playoffs. Outlaw and Blake may or may not fit into the Clippers longterm plans-assuming that one of the NBA’s most consistently underachieving teams actually has ‘longterm plans’ in the first place.

Camby was introduced to the Rose Garden crowd during Portland’s rout of his old team, the LA Clippers receiving a standing ovation. Earlier, he’d indicated that he was excited to be going to the Blazers:

“I think it’s a great situation for myself. It’s a first-class organization that really takes care of their own. I hope I can bring my knowledge of the game, and blend in these last 27 games. I’m really excited to be here.”

He talked about the strange situation of actually being in Portland when the trade went down:

“I only brought one change of clothes. It’s been a real rough, rough 24 hours for me, but real exciting at the same time.”

Camby also said that he’s interesting in staying in ‘Rip City’ longterm:

“Hopefully things work out for myself and work out for the team. Hopefully they have plans for me in the long term.”

Portland GM Kevin Pritchard added:

“We are very excited to bring an experienced big man of Marcus’ caliber to the team and we feel he’ll help us a great deal down the stretch run. He’s a fierce competitor and has been one of the league’s best defensive players for quite some time.”

The 35 year old Camby has long been considered one of the NBA’s best defensive big men. Despite playing on a LA Clippers team well off the playoff pace in the Western Conference, he’s second in the league in rebounds with 12.1 per game.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer who covers travel, poker and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.

The New Orleans Saints used a 14 point fourth quarter to defeat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 on Sunday to win their first Superbowl in franchise history. Drew Brees broke open a tight game midway through the final quarter with his touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, and Tracy Porter scored on a 74 yard interception return as the Colts were driving on the next series to secure the victory. Brees completed 32 passes in the game, tying New England’s Tom Brady for the all time record in that category.

After enthusiasts had come in early on the favored Colts, a good deal of buyback on the Saints had pushed the line to -4′ and the New Orleans backers were enriched by their team’s outright victory. The underdog has now covered three straight Superbowls and taken the money in five of the last seven games. The 48 points scored stayed well under the posted total of 57, which was the highest over/under number in Superbowl history.

In his postgame comments, a fabulously elated Brees gave much of the credit to the city of New Orleans:

“We play for so much more than ourselves. We played for our city. We played for the entire Gulf Coast region. We played for the entire Who Dat nation that has been behind us every step of the way. It means everything. We’re here because of their strength and everything they fought through here the last few years. They’ve given us so much support, so we owe it all to our fans.”

“Just to think of the road we’ve all traveled, the adversity we’ve all faced. It’s unbelievable. I mean, are you kidding me? Four years ago, whoever thought this would be happening? Eighty-five percent of the city was under water. Most people left not knowing if New Orleans would ever come back, or if the organization would ever come back. We just all looked at one another and said, ‘We’re going to rebuild together. We are going to lean on each other.’ That’s what we’ve done the last four years and this is the culmination in all that belief.”

Peyton Manning had little to say after the game particularly about the interception return that sealed the victory for New Orleans:

“Made a great play. Made a great play. Corner made a heck of a play. Certainly disappointing, very disappointing. Disappointing.”

Saints’ coach Sean Payton made a bold call at the beginning of the second half when he called for an onside kick. Saints linebacker Jonathan Casalis suggested it was a game changing play:

“We were really excited when he made the call. That changed everything.”

Payton explained the diva-like decision:

“We’re going to be aggressive. We’d seen the onside kick all week and guys executed it well. It turned out to be a big change of possession.”

The city of New Orleans will celebrate their team’s victory with a parade. With Mardi Gras celebrations already scheduled to begin shortly thereafter, it could be quite some time before New Orleans returns to business as usual.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and World Cup betting 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.

Duke University is far from being a national college football powerhouse, but they’re no longer a team you can take lightly either. #6 ranked Virginia Tech found that out on Saturday, and what they expected to be an easy afternoon became a tightly contested affair. In the end, Virginia Tech prevailed for a 34-26 road victory but not without some anxious moments. Virginia Tech improved their record to 4-1, while Duke dropped to 2-3 on the 2009 college football season.

Despite the straight up loss, Duke won where it counted as they rewarded sports players who bet on college football with the ATS victory as +17 home underdogs. Duke evened their mark at 2-2 in their lined games, while the Hokies dropped to 2-3 against the spread.

The Hokies were saved by the career day posted by their quarterback, Tyrod Taylor. Taylor threw for 327 yards on 17 of 22 passing and two touchdown passes. After the game, Taylor modestly downplayed his own impact on the outcome of the game:

“I know we have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball. It’s just my job to get the ball to them.”

Venerable Tech coach Frank Beamer saw his team defeat Duke for the ninth straight time, but noted:

“I don’t think that’s the old Duke football team.

Blue Devils coach David Cuttcliffe said his team is reaching the point where moral victories dont mean much any more:

“We got close enough in the fourth quarter to go beat a great team. Once you taste that, you like it. I wouldn’t say we spit it out — it wasn’t a choke — but we just didn’t finish.”

Despite getting the win, Hokies coach Beamer was critical of his teams performance:

“Too many penalties and too many long plays. We weren’t as sharp as we would like, but I don’t think it was lack of effort. Part of it was Duke, and part of it was us. … Sometimes I think you’ve just got to win some games that’s not real pretty on the road, and this is probably one of those.”

Still, he praised his team for doing what they needed to do to preserve the victory:

“When we needed to run the football, and we did, and got points, that was critical to this ball game. They were going to take the run away, so you’ve got to be able to throw the ball.”

Virginia Tech will host Boston College next Saturday before traveling to Atlanta the following weekend for a game against Georgia Tech. Duke will play at North Carolina State next Saturday before a bye week. Theyll return to action at home on October 24th against the University of Maryland and play on the road at Virginia the following week.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and noted authority on World Cup soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

On July 15th, former WWE superstar turned MMA fighter Bobby Lashley announced that he had signed a deal to return to full time professional wrestling competition with the US #2 promotion TNA. Lashley’s last in-ring pro wrestling appearance came in Mexico on a show for Lucha Libre promotion AAA.

Hes not planning to give up his MMA career. Lashley trains in Florida with the prestigious American Top Team, and ran his record to 4-0 with his victory over Sapp in late June. A press release issued by TNA this morning further validated his suggestions that he planned to do both sports. Lashey himself is quoted as saying:

I want to do both because I can. TNA is giving me the opportunity to compete in both sports which I have a passion for. I will bring MMA fans to wrestling and wrestling fans to MMA

TNA President Dixie Carter noted:

This is a great opportunity for Bobby to do something that has never been done before. He is the perfect ambassador for both sports. We are excited to have him join TNA, he is a true star that brings so much to the table as a member of our roster.

Despite TNAs claims that Lashley is the first active MMA fighter to compete full time in pro wrestling, that’s not the case. Its very common in Japan, where fighters frequently compete in shoot fights like MMA while simultaneously appearing in worked (eg: pre-determined) pro wrestling contests. In fact, Josh Barnett, originally slated to face Fedor Emelianenko at the ill fated Affliction: Trilogy event still makes several appearances a year for Antonio Inokis Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) promotion. Following his positive drug test in California, he may spend ore time in pro wrestling. Lashley isn’t even the first to pull the feat in the US, though hes definitely the highest profile fighter/wrester to turn the trick since MMAs overwhelming boom in popularity. Dan The Beast Severn at one point simultaneously held the UFC heavyweight title and the NWA heavyweight title in pro wrestling.

Lashley’s departure from the WWE in early 2008 was very sudden and remains largely unexplained. He indicated at the time that his departure was not of his own volition but due to circumstances beyond his control. Interestingly, Lashley wasnt subject to a standard non-compete agreement. Speculation at this point suggested that he may have left in response to a racial incident, a theory given more validity when WWE writer (and former member of the Fabulous Freebirds tag team) Michael Hayes was suspended for a racial slur. Neither Lashley nor the WWE has ever confirmed the reason for his departure.

At the time he was released from the WWE, Lashley began training for MMA building on an extensive background of amateur wrestling from both college and the military. The UFC took a pass on Lashley due to the perception that they couldnt market him successfully so soon after Brock Lesnars debut. Lashley certainly has the physical gifts to compete at the highest level in MMA at 63 and 250 lbs. Some even suggest that he may have more potential than Lesnar due to a possible edge in speed and agility. Lesnars recent unification of the UFC heavyweight title and amazing surge in mainstream popularity may give the promotion reason to take a second look at Lashley”they need credible opponents for their new heavyweight champion, but have to be careful not to put him in a position where his inexperience in certain components of MMA wont be exploited lest they kill the proverbial golden goose.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He 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.

Heading into last Sunday, there was a consensus that the New York Giants were the best team in the NFL with an undefeated record, a productive offense and the league’s top ranked defense. The New Orleans Saints made a compelling case to the contrary, however, as they dismantled the Giants to win 48-27 behind yet another MVP-like performance from quarterback Drew Brees. Brees threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions as New Orleans kept their record perfect on the season at 5-0.

NFL betting enthusiasts who took New Orleans as -3 home favorites were confident that they’d be cashing a ticket by halftime as the Saints shot out to a 34-17 lead at the break. The Saints also remained perfect against the NFL pointspread at 5-0, while the Giants failed to cover for the first time this season and stand at 5-1 ATS. The 75 points scored sailed OVER the posted total of 47. New Orleans has gone OVER in 3 of 5 this year, while the Giants have an OVER biased NFL totals record of 4-1-1.

After the game, Brees explained his team’s strategy:

“We wanted to really dictate the tempo of the game the whole way through. Seven different guys scored touchdowns. That’s big. That’s the type of rhythm that, when you get in, you feel like you can call anything and it’s going to work.”

The Saints are off to their best start since’93 and have yet to trail in a game this season. Still, head coach Sean Payton wasn’t entertaining talk that his team had established themselves as the presumptive Superbowl favorite:

“I don’t think you can talk about big pictures after game 5.”

Giants’ QB Eli Manning was looking forward to a homecoming of sorts-his father, Archie, played the same position for New Orleans during his NFL career. Suffice to say it didn’t go as he had planned:

“It’s not the way I imagined it during the week, but you’re going to encounter all sorts of games and all sorts of situations. I look at it as a loss. We need to go back to work this week, fix some things and try to improve.”

New York head coach Tom Coughlin marveled at the play of the Saints’ offensive line who gave Brees great protection all day long:

“I don’t know that we ever hit him. At this level, if you’re going to stop the pass, you’ve got to get pressure. You’ve got to force the quarterback not to throw it on his tempo.”

The Saints will now face the Miami Dolphins on the road, with New Orleans a -6 favorite and the total set at 47. After the trip to south Florida they’ll return home for a game against longtime rival Atlanta on Monday night football. The Giants return home to play the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night, with New York a -7 home favorite and the total set at 46. They’ll head to Philadelphia to play the Eagles next week before returning home for a date against the San Diego Chargers on November 8.

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