Lloyd steps down as British Davis Cup captain

Tennis Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lloyd has stepped down at Britain's Davis Cup captain.

The Brits have lost their last five ties, with its' most-recent one being an embarrassing setback at the hands of Lithuania. World No. 4 Andy Murray, the only Brit ranked inside the world's top 100, did not play against the Lithuanians, who have only three world-ranked players, all of whom are teenagers.

Britain will next host Turkey in a relegation playoff, which its needs to win in order to avoid dropping into Europe/Africa zone Group III.

The 55-year-old Lloyd is a former Davis Cup player, reached the Australian Open final in 1977, and was once married to women's tennis great Chris Evert.

Britain owns nine Davis Cup titles, but has appeared in only one World Group final (1978) since 1937.

Supersportsbook Tennis Betting News

<< Leighton to miss time with ankle sprain
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton is slated to miss time following an injury suffered on Tuesday. Leighton left the Flyers' 4-3 shootout loss at Nashville with a high ankle spr

<< Vikings agree to terms with DT Kennedy
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Vikings re-signed veteran defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy on Wednesday. He joined the club in December 2008 and had a productive 2009 campaign, racking up 18 tackles and three sacks

<< Magic Messi leads Barca past Stuttgart
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi scored two goals and helped set up another on Wednesday as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 win over Stuttgart in the second leg of their Round of 16 contest in the Champions League. Messi scor

<< Radwanska ousts Dementieva to reach Indian Wells semis
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Capable Pole Agnieszka Radwanska upended Russian star Elena Dementieva on Wednesday to reach the semifinals at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open. The fifth-seeded Radwanska dismissed the fourth-seeded Deme

<< United signs defender Admas
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United signed defender Lyle Adams to a developmental contract, the Major League Soccer club announced on Wednesday. "We're excited to sign Lyle after identifying him at last year's draft as a play

Ljubicic stuns Djokovic at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-five performer Ivan Ljubicic upset world No. 2 Novak Djokovic in Wednesday's fourth-round action at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open. The 20th-seeded Ljubicic toppled the second-seeded Djoko

Cliff Lee dealt five-game suspension >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball handed down a five- game suspension and an undisclosed fine to Seattle Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee Wednesday. MLB's ruling indicated Lee intentionally threw at the head of Arizona c

Mariners release P Petit >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners released right-handed pitcher Yusmeiro Petit on Wednesday. The move comes before Petit ever threw a pitch in a regular-season game for Seattle, as the team claimed him off waivers f

Rutgers retains Hill for now >>
Piscataway, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rutgers University will retain the services of men's head basketball coach Fred Hill for the upcoming season. The school on Wednesday issued a brief release from director of intercollegiate

Titans sign DE Babin to offer sheet >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tennessee Titans have signed unrestricted free agent defensive end Jason Babin to an offer sheet. Babin played in 12 games last season and recorded 20 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks for the Eagle

El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

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.