Wednesday NHL: Kings (82 points) at Blackhawks (91 points)
What is it with the second period when it comes to the Chicago Blackhawks? The Hawks, who enter Wednesday’s game with L.A. just two points out of the points lead in the Western Conference, have surrendered 12 second period goals in four games, including five to the Red Wings in Sunday’s 5-4 Detroit victory.
“That second period lull, it seems that we give away the momentum or give up quality chances or goals,” coach Joel Quenneville said.
Chicago has opened as a -168 moneyline favorite on WagerWeb.com’s NHL odds against L.A.
Goalie Cristobal Huet was pulled during that loss to the Wings, so Antti Niemi will start in net tonight. Huel had started the past three games but gave up four of those goals to Detroit. Niemi gave up another as Chicago wasted a 2-0 lead in the 5-4 loss.
Niemi started the four games leading up to the Olympic break, and he won all four. But he was pulled in a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders in the first game after the break. Chicago has everything in place to win the Stanley Cup except at the most important position: goaltender.
Los Angeles is a great road team with an 8-2 mark in its last 10 games away from the Staples Center. The Kings are coming off perhaps their best performance of the season — a 6-0 rout of Columbus on Monday night. The Kings limited the Blue Jackets to just 11 shots — the fewest by any team in a game this season. L.A. and Chicago have split two meetings this season, each winning on home ice.
Chicago’s Patrick Kane is on an eight-game point streak during which he has 4 goals and 13 points. L.A.’s Alexander Frolov is coming off a four-point night in the win over Columbus and has 4 goals and 9 assists in nine games.
Bet on the NHL at WagerWeb.com
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Wednesday NCAA: Pac-10 Tournament – Washington State vs. Oregon
The Pac-10 Tournament opens on Wednesday night in Los Angeles with one game, Washington State vs. Oregon, and it’s quite likely to be the last game for Ducks coach Ernie Kent.
Kent reportedly has told his players he won’t be back next season. The Ducks are 15-15 in Kent’s 13th season at the helm. Kent, 55, has led the Ducks to a school-best 234-172 record, and he is the longest tenured Pac-10 coach. He has taken Oregon to the NCAA tournament five times, but the team has finished in 10th and ninth place, respectively, over the last two seasons.
Washington State had an even more disappointing season, finishing last in the Pac-10 during the regular season. It became the first conference team to finish last despite at least six league wins, and their 16 overall wins are the most ever by a last-place team.
The Cougars closed with six losses in seven games, including a 74-66 loss at Oregon to closet the regular season. Lekendric Longmire had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Ducks, while Klay Thompson had a game-high 22 points for Washington State. Wazzu is technically the No. 9 seed for the Pac-10 Tournament because Southern Cal is not participating due to self-imposed sanctions.
The Ducks have a 157-122 edge in the all-time series with WSU and swept the series this year for the first time since 2006-07. These two teams met in the opening round of last year’s tournament, with the Cougars winning 62-40. WSU has lost its last six road games but is 3-0 in neutral-site games this year.
Thompson leads WSU and ranks third in the conference with 19.6 points per game. He has scored double figures in 24 of the Cougs’ 30 games this season and reached 20-plus points in 16 of the 30 contests.
The winner of this game faces Pac-10 regular-season champion Cal on Thursday. WSU holds a 3-1 advantage against Oregon in the Pac-10 Tournament and has ousted Oregon from the event the past two years.
Bet on college basketball at WagerWeb.com
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Real life bridezilla causes fist fight in bridal shop (video)
A bridal shop brawl was caught on tape in Detroit when a customer freaked out after the shopkeeper refused to alter her dress.
Watch footage of the bride-to-be’s posse rampaging throughout the store in the gallery. In a more extensive report, the store owner says, “They don’t know how to deal with things in the United States. They think they in Fallujah or the mountains of Iraq or somewhere.”
Hahahahaha priceless.
[See post to watch Flash video]
Read more on this story here.
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Andi Muise
Born on January 12, 1987 in North Bay, Ontario, Muise was discovered at the age of 14 in a Barrie mall by Michèle Miller, owner of the International Model Management agency, who also discovered Jessica Stam.
Muise has modelled for major brands, such as Emporio Armani, Hockley and FCUK, as well as shooting for GQ and Allure magazines, and advertising for Bloomingdale’s, Intimissimi, Pantene, Kenneth Cole, and Urban Outfitters.
In 2005, she appeared in Victoria’s Secret 10th annual fashion show, also walking the runway for them in 2006 and 2007. She has walked for shows that include Abaete, Lacoste, Lela Rose, Yigal Azrouel, Nanette Lepore, Oscar de la Renta, Trovata, and Dolce & Gabbana. She appeared on Project Runway, walking for designer Santino Rice in the season finale.
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
101-year old Chinese woman growing horns
An elderly Chinese woman has stunned her family and fellow villagers by growing from her forehead a horn than resembles a goat’s.
Grandmother Zhang Ruifang, 101, of Linlou village, Henan province, began developing the mysterious protrusion last year.
Since then it has grown 2.4in in length and another now appears to emerging on the other side of the mother of seven’s forehead.
The condition has left her family baffled and worried.
Her youngest of six sons, Zhang Guozheng, 60, said when a patch of rough skin formed on her forehead last year ‘we didn’t pay too much attention to it’.
‘But as time went on a horn grew out of her head and it is now 6cm long,’ added Mr Zhang, whose eldest brother and sibling is 82 years old.
‘Now something is also growing on the right side of her forehead. It’s quite possible that it’s another horn.’
Although, it is unknown what the protrusion is on Mrs Zhang’s head, it resembles a cutaneous horn.
This is a funnel-shaped growth and although most are only a few millimetres in length, some can extend a number of inches from the skin.
Cutaneous horns are made up of compacted keratin, which is the same protein we have in our hair and nails, and forms horns, wool and feathers in animals.
They usually develop in fair-skinned elderly adults who have a history of significant sun exposure but it is extremely unusual to see it form protrusions of this size.
The growths are most common in elderly people, aged between 60 and the mid-70s. They can sometimes be cancerous but more than half of cases are benign.
Common underlying causes of cutaneous horns are common warts, skin cancer and actinic keratoses, patches of scaly skin that develop on skin exposed to the sun, such as your face, scalp or forearms.
Cutaneous horns can be removed surgically but this does not treat the underlying cause.
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Wednesday NCAA: Big 12 Tournament – Iowa State vs. Texas
The Texas Longhorns have been one of the major disappointments this college basketball season. It sure didn’t start out that way, as UT was 17-0 at one point and No. 1 in the nation for the first time. But since then, the Horns are just 6-8 and enter the Big 12 Tournament unranked and without even a first-round bye, having to face a dangerous Iowa State team on Wednesday night in Kansas City.
Still, the Horns are 8.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com’s NCAA odds.
The Cyclones (15-16, 4-12) finished second-from-last in the Big 12 during the regular season and ended losing eight of 10 games. But they did close the season with a pretty impressive 85-82 overtime victory over Top 10 team Kansas State – that ended ISU’s 21-game losing streak to ranked opponents. Despite the disappointing season, Iowa State coach Greg McDermott received receiving a vote of confidence from athletic director Jamie Pollard.
The Cyclones have not won a Big 12 Tournament game since a 77-57 win over Baylor in the 2005 Big 12 Championship. ISU and Texas have never met in the tournament. If star Craig Brackins records one blocked shot against UT he would become just the second player in school history with 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career.
Texas leads the all-time series vs. Iowa State at 11-8 and has won the last five games in the series. UT defeated ISU, 90-83 in Ames on Jan. 13 in the only meeting between the two schools his year. Avery Bradley led the Longhorns with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and a 4-of-4 effort from 3-point range. ISU’s last victory in the series was a 92-80 overtime win at Austin in 2005.
The Longhorns have advanced to the title game of the Big 12 Championship in four of the last six years (2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008). Texas is the only school in the league to have won at least two games at this tournament in each of the last four years.
However, Texas comes off a regular-season finale crushing by Baylor, with UT allowing its most points all season (92). All-American Damion James is the star, leading the Horns in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.2 rpg). He has recorded a team-best 15 double-doubles and ranks second on the team in blocks (36) and leads the squad in steals (49).
The winner of this game faces Baylor on Thursday.
Bet on college basketball at WagerWeb.com
Wednesday’s first round (all times Eastern)
No. 8 Colorado vs. No. 9 Texas Tech, 12:30 p.m.
No. 5 Missouri vs. No. 12 Nebraska, 3 p.m.
No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Oklahoma, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Iowa State, 9:30 p.m.
Bet on college basketball at WagerWeb.com
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Wednesday NCAA: Big East Tournament — Seton Hall vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame enters Wednesday night’s Big East tourney game having played itself off the bubble thanks to a four-game winning streak to end the season. Seton Hall could earn itself an at-large NCAA bid with a second straight win in this tournament. There is no line yet posted for this second-round game on WagerWeb.com’s NCAA odds, make sure to check back later.
Three of Notre Dame’s final four wins came without star Luke Harangody, the Big East’s top scorer and third-leading rebounder. He missed five games in a row (with a knee injury) and it was thought the Irish were dead meat without him. Well, the turned it around and found some sort of chemistry, so much so that Harangody played only 11 minutes and wasn’t much of a factor in the season finale against Marquette. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey says his star will continue to come off the bench so as to not upset team chemistry and also because Harangody’s stamina isn’t back to normal yet.
Seton Hall (19-11, 9-9 in Big East in regular season) got an important win on Tuesday night in the Big East’s first round, but the Hall made it harder than it needed to be. The Pirates opened a 29-point second-half lead at one point over Providence and then had to hold on for dear life to win 109-106 – Providence even had a shot to tie at the buzzer. Herb Pope, the Big East’s top rebounder, had 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead Seton Hall to its fourth win in a row. But the team is still squarely on the NCAA bubble and probably needs this win and at least one more to get a bid.
The Hall and Notre Dame played once this season, a three-point Seton Hall home win on Feb. 11. Pope was held to six points and nine boards in that one, but Pirates leading scorer Jeremy Hazell had 35 points. Harangody was held to 13 points and six boards but that’s because he suffered that knee injury during the game and the Irish played most of the final 8:42 without the All-Americas. The Irish bench also had just eight points.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Seton Hall 15-8. The Pirates’ victory earlier this season snapped a six-game Irish win streak in the series.
Bet on college basketball at WagerWeb.com
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Corey Haim dead from overdose
Former teen heartthrob Corey Haim has died of what appears to be an accidental overdose. The 38-year-old was found unresponsive in his Burbank apartment, and rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 this morning. Police tell KTLA News that his mother was home at the time. It wasn’t immediately clear what medicine Haim overdosed on. The actor has a history of drug addiction.
Haim’s glory days were in the ’80s, when he starred in several movies alongside fellow heartthrob Corey Feldman, most notably Lost Boys. Most recently, he and Feldman starred in the A&E reality show The Two Coreys from 2007 to 2008.
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: unranked [?]
Hey moms, here’s another thing that can kill your baby
The government is preparing a safety warning about baby slings _ those popular and fashionable infant carriers that parents strap around their chests to give the little ones a cuddle on the move.
The concern: Infants can suffocate, and at least a few have.
The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Inez Tenenbaum, said Tuesday that her agency is getting ready to issue a general warning to the public, likely to go out this week, about the slings.
“We know of too many deaths in these slings and we now know the hazard scenarios for very small babies,” said Tenenbaum. “So, the time has come to alert parents and caregivers.”
Tenenbaum spoke at a meeting of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group that certifies certain children’s products, including soft infant carriers.
Tenenbaum did not single out any specific baby slings or discuss the number of deaths linked to them. But there have been complaints for a couple years now about some baby carriers.
In 2008, Consumer Reports raised concerns about the soft fabric slings and some two dozen serious injuries, mostly when a child fell out of them. A follow-up blog warned about a suffocation risk and linked the slings to at least seven infant deaths.
Consumer Reports, published by Consumers Union, complained about the “SlingRider” by Infantino. The “bag style” sling wraps around the parent’s neck and cradles the child in a curved or “C-like” position, nestling the baby below mom’s chest or near her belly.
It’s the “C-like” position that causes safety advocates to shudder. They say the curved position can cause the baby, which has little head and neck control in the early months, to flop its head forward, chin-to-chest _ restricting the baby’s ability to breathe.
Another concern: that the baby can turn its face toward mom’s chest or belly and smother in the parent’s clothing.
Infantino’s “SlingRider” was recalled in 2007 for problems with the plastic sliders on the sling’s strap. But there have been no recalls because of a suffocation risk.
A statement from Infantino said the company believes the SlingRider is safe, but added that officials there were working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission “to address the agency’s concerns and those of any parents and caregivers.”
Baby slings have been billed as an important way for new moms to bond with their babies.
Use of slings, also known as “babywearing,” has become increasingly popular in recent years, with colorful and vibrant slings seen on Hollywood moms and sold everywhere from big retailers such as Babies R Us to smaller outfits like BabySoSmart.com in Kansas City, Mo.
Tiffany Speck, a nurse who owns BabySoSmart and sells her own baby carriers, has been warning about slings where the baby falls into a chin-to-chest position in the classes she teaches at hospitals, stores and doctors’ offices.
“You wouldn’t want to put a baby in there,” Speck said during an interview with The Associated Press. “The baby is curling, head toward toe, and what happens is the baby occludes its own airway.”
Speck recommends that babies in slings remain in an upright position, with the baby’s tummy facing mommy’s tummy.
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Wal-Mart cuts price on a black Barbie model, sparks uproar
Wal-Mart has dropped the price of a black Barbie doll in a move that’s raising a ruckus. “Both are great dolls,” carefully emphasized a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. But the price was cut $2 for a black Ballerina Teresa Barbie from the $5.93 for the white version because the black Barbies weren’t selling. “Pricing like items differently is a part of inventory management in retailing,” said the spokeswoman. But a Harlem activist warned that such a strategy in this case “can have collateral damage.”
The “implication of lowering the price is that it’s devaluing the black doll,” said Thelma Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development. Wal-Mart could have decided “that it’s important we don’t send a message that we value blackness less than whiteness,” said Los Angeles sociology professor Lisa Wade. Ironically, Wade pointed out, the black dolls may not be selling as well because white parents are more reluctant than blacks to buy dolls of a different race for their children.
Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!
Popularity: unranked [?]