Oregon QB Masoli suspended for entire 2010 season

NCAA Football Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was suspended for the entire 2010 season after pleading guilty to charges of second-degree burglary on Friday.

Ducks head coach Chip Kelly made the announcement at a press conference after Masoli's court appearance. In addition, he suspended running back LaMichael James and kicker Rob Beard for a minimum of one game apiece after the pair pleaded guilty to harassment in separate incidents.

Masoli, along with teammate Garrett Embry, both admitted to the crimes and were given 12 months probation, 140 hours of community service within eight months and a fine of $5,200 in shared restitution in the following 10 days plus a $100 bench-probation fee, according to the Oregonian.

"I am extremely disappointed anytime any of our players fall short of our expectations that have been clearly outlined for them in advance on numerous occasions," Kelly said. "This is especially true regarding their roles within the community. Their accountability for their actions is paramount, and any tainting of the reputation of the University of Oregon and this football program will not be tolerated."

Both players were accused of stealing two laptops and a guitar from a campus fraternity house in late January. Embry's status on the team was not immediately known.

James was sentenced to 24 months probation and 10 days in jail after agreeing to a plea bargain that dropped four other charges. He has already served two days of his prison sentence. The one-time Pac-10 Freshman of the Year ranked ninth in the country in 2009 with 1,546 rushing yards while adding 14 touchdowns.

Masoli is coming off a terrific season in leading the Ducks to the Rose Bowl, as he threw for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 668 yards and 13 scores. The rising senior will be eligible to return in 2011, as the team will utilize a redshirt year.

Gambbling NCAA Football Betting News

<< Weather woes remain at Puerto Rico Open
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A new day brought only more weather problems for the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open, which still wasn't halfway through the first round when play was suspended Friday because of darkness. Rain c

<< Schalke edges Stuttgart to grab first
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kuranyi scored his 14th goal of the season to lead Schalke to a 2-1 win over Stuttgart on Friday and into first place in Germany's Bundesliga. Schalke moved one point ahead of Bayern Munich

<< Chiefs sign veteran center Wiegmann
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs have signed veteran center Casey Wiegmann. The 14-year pro spent the last two seasons with Denver and started in all 32 regular season games. He has gone the last eight

<< Blake advances at BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-five American James Blake was an easy first-round winner Friday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP World Tour Masters event. Blake cruised past Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-2

<< Redskins bring in RB Johnson
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins signed running back Larry Johnson on Friday. Terms of the deal were not announced, but a report in the Washington Post says the contract is for three years and a total of $12 million

LeBron returns against Sixers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James was in the Cavaliers' starting lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, returning from a two-game absence. James missed a loss to the Bucks last Saturday and a win over the Spurs o

Stanford women drop Arizona, gain Pac-10 semis >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike tallied a game-high 25 points with 10 rebounds as No. 2 Stanford downed Arizona, 72-52, in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament. Jeanette Pohlen scored 15 points and Kay

Packers sign Pro Bowl S Collins through 2013 >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers announced Friday that the team has signed safety Nick Collins to a multi-year extension through the 2013 season. Collins had been a restricted free agent, and the team previously

Packers ink DT Pickett to extension >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers signed nose tackle Ryan Pickett to a long-term extension through the 2013 season on Friday. Pickett, 30, who has spent the last four seasons of his nine-year career with the Packers, t

Iowa State's Brackins to enter draft >>
Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iowa State junior forward Craig Brackins will forgo his senior season and enter the 2010 NBA Draft, men's basketball coach Greg McDermott confirmed Friday. Brackins ranked in the top-10 in the Big 12 in bo

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

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.