The Last Days of Andre Agassi at the 2006 US Open

They came from near and far to the 2006 United States Open tennis tournament last night to watch Andre Agassi play one last time.

''We bought our tickets two months ago when we found out he was retiring,'' said Drake Vidrine, a 32-year-old from Mission Hills, Kan., as he walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium in tennis gear.

But after Agassi's 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over Andrei Pavel of Romania, there will now be another chance to watch Andre Agassi play one last time. Last night's performance was hardly the sort to send tremors of concern through the rest of the United States Open field, which is filled with younger, healthier men like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Andre Agassi struggled when pushed wide by the 75th-ranked Pavel, struggled to chase down drop shots and struggled to hit the sort of forceful returns off second serves that made him the most feared baseliner in the game for much of the last two decades.

But considering how little he has played this summer and how poorly he played in his last match, when he was stunned last month by the little-known Italian Andrea Stoppini in the opening round in Washington, this was a very respectable performance under late-night, if not quite final-hour, pressure.

''I want to be here real bad for the whole two weeks,'' said Andre Agassi, who has announced that this will be the final tournament of his 21-year career.

''Six more,'' Agassi added, referring to the six more victories he would need to win a third United States Open title.

That sounds even more improbable than Agassi's run to last year's US Open final. And he will be a clear underdog in his next match. He will to have to find a way to beat an opponent on the rise, instead of an opponent on the decline who has lost more matches than he has won in 2006.

Andre Agassi's second-round opponent will be Marcos Baghdatis, the bearded, eighth-seeded Cypriot who demonstrated plenty of Agassi-like showmanship as he reached Australian Open final this year and, more recently, the semifinals of Wimbledon.

Can Andre Agassi beat Marcos Baghdatis at the 2006 US Open? Visit and bet on Bodog today.

Baltimore Ravens saw Steve McNair NFL Era Start

It's official, the career of one Steve McNair with the Baltimore Ravens began.

In a near-flawless debut that headlined the Ravens' preseason 17-16 loss to the New York Giants, Steve McNair energized a dormant offense and electrified an M&T Bank crowd of 70,249, leading the Baltimore Ravens to a touchdown in his first and only drive.

Turning a traditionally uneventful preseason opener into a scintillating opening act, the new Ravens quarterback completed four of five passes for 45 yards before running for a 6-yard touchdown.

Celebrating the 12-play, 80-yard drive, the crowd erupted while McNair was hoisted in the air by center Mike Flynn.

''Tonight was a thing where everything was perfect on the first drive,'' McNair said. ''It's a good sign. I'm very excited.''

For a franchise that has been desperately searching for a quarterback, McNair lived up to the heightened expectations that came in a June 8 trade from the Tennessee Titans and left late in the first quarter with everyone wanting more.

He hit his targets in stride. He went through his reads until he found an open receiver. And when there was no place to go with the ball, he took it upon himself to make a play with his legs.

''The first drive was one perfect drive,'' tight end Todd Heap said. ''The main thing was it was a smooth drive. Everything was fluid.''

With no individual pre-game introductions, everyone came out as a group, it was appropriate that it was a team effort.

In addition to a stifling performance by the Ravens' starting defense (25 yards allowed on seven plays), McNair made sure to get all of his receivers involved, connecting with Heap, Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton.

Seems like they're forgetting the fact that they still LOST the NFL Football game.

Can the Baltimore Ravens win Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida? Visit and bet on Bodog today. Here are some odds from Bodog on who will win the year's Super Bowl title.

Baltimore Ravens 20/1

Indianapolis Colts 6/1

Seattle Seahawks 11/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

The New York Yankees and their View atop MLB Baseball

The New York Yankees are back on top of MLB Baseball.

Now that they are in first place in the American League East, the New York Yankees have stopped watching the scoreboard quite so regularly as they once did.

''As long as we take care of business, it doesn't matter what the other teams do,'' shortstop Derek Jeter said. ''All we have to worry about is the game we're playing.'' Jeter professed ignorance at what the schedule held for the Yankees, which is probably just as well given what is ahead.

Their game against the defending MLB Baseball champions, Chicago White Sox, was the first of 21 games the Yankees are scheduled to play over 20 days. The team does not have another day off until Aug. 28.

By then they will have played seven games against the Angels, five against the Red Sox and three each against the White Sox, Mariners and Orioles.

Only seven of the games are at Yankee Stadium. There is a doubleheader at Fenway Park on Aug. 18.

The Yankees enter the grueling stretch with a two-game lead over the Boston Red Sox. If they emerge still in first place, the division could be theirs as the Yankees play 19 of their final 33 games at home and the road games are against the Royals, Orioles, Blue Jays and Devil Rays.

''You can't look at it and try to project how you'll do,'' manager Joe Torre said. ''It never works out that way. If you start working the matchups, you'll drive yourself crazy. Your mentality has to be to play every game to win.''

''When we lose, you go out and take care of business the next day. That's the only way you can look at it. I know our players realize that. These guys have been around.''

Can the New York Yankees stay on top of the American League East? Visit and bet on Bodog today.

Cornhuskers are Ready for the College Football Champs

Looks like the Nebraska Cornhuskers are ready for the coming NCAA College Football season.

October 21st is the date when the Nebraska Cornhuskers meet the NCAA College Football champions, Texas Longhorns. And before that date rolls around the Nebraska players, fans of the Cornhuskers should have a very good idea as to the program's status as a legitimate contender within the Big 12 and beyond.

If, however, there is still a degree of uncertainty in regards to whether or not the 'Huskers are for real, what happens on that day in Memorial Stadium should make things a whole lot clearer.

On that date, the defending NCAA College Football national champions make their visit and while they may not be as superb as they were in 2005, rest assured that Texas will be very, very formidable this season.

Some of the stars from last year's 13-0 team, most notably that dynamic quarterback named Vince Young is gone, but once again, the Texas Longhorns have a great deal of experience and talent throughout the roster. Of course, they also bring yet another stellar recruiting class.

Those who say that the Texas Longhorns chances of a repeat are somewhat slim may point Young's replacement, which will likely be an inexperienced underclassman. Jevan Snead, a true freshman, and Colt McCoy, a red-shirt freshman, are the two front runners for the starting job in the eyes of many of those who follow Texas closely.

Snead and/or McCoy will have time to progress, as there will be a whole lot of talent all around whoever is at QB.

The offensive line should be massive and will have its share of skilled veterans. That line should also be of a big aid to the running backs crew, which could be led by sophomore Jamaal Charles who rushed for 878 yards last season.

Charles is also a standout in the 100 and 200 meters for the Longhorn's track and field team. The wide receiving chart is deep with 6-foot 5-five junior Limas Sweed returning. Sweed caught eight passes the Longhorns' 41-38 win over USC in the Rose Bowl on January 4th.

Will the Nebraska Cornhuskers show the Texas Longhorns that the power is back in the Big 12 North? Further, will the game on October 21st be the first of two meetings between these programs this fall? Visit and bet on Bodog today.

NFL Football and NCAA College Football Drop it Like its Hot

The NFL Football season, as well as the NCAA College Football season, is here.

Yes and it's time for fans of the gridiron wars, be it on the professional ranks of NFL Football or the college level of NCAA College Football, to come together and enjoy yet another intense fight on the 100-yard football battlefield.

In NFL Football, NFL Monday Night Football is by far, the biggest stage in all of American sports. Well, as far as NFL football regular season action is concerned.

It's prime time NFL football action and NFL football players give it their all just to have legendary NFL football announcer John Madden scream out, ''Touchdown!''

Yep, it doesn’t get any better than that baby. They can talk about the infamous ''Madden Curse'' all they want but in my opinion, there will be no one better in calling NFL Monday Night Football action than the legendary John Madden.

In NCAA College Football, ONLY one conference comes to mind and that is the Big 12 Conference.

After all, it IS the home of the national champions, the Texas Longhorns AND has recorded the best non-conference record at 31-5 as far as last season is concerned. The Big 12 Conference has also tied Pac 10 for top honors in NCAA College Football Bowl games with a 5-3 mark.

But with Vince Young moving to NFL football, the BIG 12 Conference don’t have the same BIG firepower they had last year. With that said, who will come out of the conference to dethrone those Texas Longhorns? Who will be embracing the Super Bowl title once the war on NFL Football is all said and done.

Visit Free Picks for more picks, tips and odds at this time of the year when football betting run amok.

Sports Betting Picks and Updates

Sports is everywhere and every minute, there's a huge sporting event taking place.

That's why we need something to let us look at sports from a bird's eye view. So here are just some of the things that happened within the week that may shape any sports bettor's betting tendencies.

The Big Ten Conference of NCAA College Football passed up an opportunity to give us a day we all could punch out of work early, sort of like those football players at Oklahoma.

League commissioner Jim Delany said that the league won't play on Thursday or Friday nights to make the new Big Ten Channel attractive to cable companies. The channel is expected to show about 35 league games per season after it debuts in August 2007.

Big Ten officials say it would be too much for some towns to host the huge number of people on weeknights. And messing with the traditional Saturday game wasn't appealing either.

Maybe it's a good thing, because it means we don't have to hear Michigan fans whine about Lloyd Carr through the entire weekend. And MSU fans would get to rid themselves of that bitter taste of disappointment before the weekend ends.

In NBA Basketball, former Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown passed up a chance to return to coaching after the New York Knicks dumped him in June.

Brown turned down an offer from the NBADL's expansion Colorado 14ers, according to a report in the Denver Post.

''Under the circumstances, he decided he better spend some more time with his family before deciding about his future,'' said Gary Hunter, the team's president and CEO.

''He said money is no object.''

Log on to Bodog for more sports betting picks, tips and odds on the world of sports.

Seven MLB Headaches for the Chicago White Sox

It's not quite the ''seven headaches'' that the Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen spoke about a few weeks back.

He had the aspirin close at hand after a 7-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals that denied the defending MLB World Series champions of a sweep.

In missing out on a three-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium, as well as having to endure a rain delay of an hour and 46 minutes, the Sox once again found themselves looking at the standings as though they were a Sudoku puzzle.

In other words, the very thing Guillen was hoping to avoid. When asked about the playoff picture in July, Guillen insisted that winning the American League Central would be much easier than winning the wild card.

''I'd rather have just one team to worry about than seven headaches,'' Guillen said at the time.

But with their latest loss, the Sox slipped 8 ½ games behind the Central-leading Detroit Tigers and dropped a game behind the Boston Red Sox in the MLB baseball wild-card race.

Guillen wasn't waving a white flag after the game, but he kept true to his reputation of telling it like it is.

''We're still there, but it's going to be hard for us [to catch the Tigers],'' Guillen said. ''We saw what happened to us last season down the stretch, but [the Tigers] are playing so well. We face them 10 more times, and you never know what's going to happen. But if you're talking reality, yes, it's going to be hard. It's in our hands, and we understand that.''

''The wild card, there's just too many teams there. We'll see.''

Can the Chicago White Sox overtake the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central? Visit and bet on Bodog today.

The Replay Value of ACC Conference Football

It was a dark day for the Clemson Tigers when coach Tommy Bowden looked up at the video replay board.

As it turns out, he clearly saw that receiver Chansi Stuckey had gotten his elbow in bounds and scored a touchdown against Florida State. But the officials apparently hadn't seen it that way in real time, hadn't ruled it a score and the 25-second play clock was running out on the Tigers to snap the ball.

Five, four, three...

''I saw for sure it was in and I figured if I called timeout and they could see it three more times they were either going to change it or they weren't getting off that field alive,'' he said with a laugh.

College football across the country had that option last season as the ACC and eight of the other 11 Division I-A conferences experimented with a replay system. In the ACC, games were stopped 78 times for a review with 28 calls being reversed, about 36 percent or a little more than the national average of 31 percent. The ACC's average time of 1:33 for its stoppages was tied for the quickest and was far better than the national average of 1:55.

''It worked great,'' said Hunt, praising the league and schools for investing in state-of-the-art equipment and extensive training.

Based on that kind of rave review from Hunt and his counterparts around the country, the NCAA voted to add replay to the rule book. ACC officials couldn't be happier. ''Outstanding,'' longtime referee Jack Childress said. ''I wish we had had it years ago.''

''The last thing you ever want to do as a football official is affect the game,'' Childress said. ''It's horrible. You called it with your best judgment, using all the years of experience; that's where courage comes in. But I can't tell you the times you come home at 3 in the morning, plug in a tape, fast forward it to two minutes left in the second quarter to a call the side judge made and say, 'Whew. Thank god he got it right.' Instant replay has eliminated the need for that.''

Will ACC Conference Football thank this new ''replay rule'' for years to come? Here are some more odds from Bodog on some ACC football teams to win the BCS:

Clemson Tigers 80/1

Miami Hurricanes 18/1

North Carolina State Wolfpack 125/1

Maryland Terrapins 100/1