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07/19/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns have called a news conference for Tuesday morning, when it is expected Lon Babby will be named president of basketball operations.
Phoenix indicated only that a "major announcement" would be made Tuesday, but multiple media outlets have reported it is to name Babby as the successor to Steve Kerr, whose contract was not renewed and has since re-joined TNT as a game analyst.
The Arizona Republic reported the organization is still likely to hire a new general manager. Kerr wore both hats during his tenure with the club, first joining the Suns as part-owner and consultant in 2004 before taking the reins as president and general manager in June 2007.
Babby would follow a seldom-followed path to the front office, having served as a player agent and practiced sports law for more than 30 years with Williams & Connolly LLP. Most notably, Babby represents Suns forward Grant Hill, the Spurs' Tim Duncan and Celtics guard Ray Allen.
Babby also represents numerous professional baseball players and has served as club counsel, then general counsel for the Washington Redskins (1977-1980) and Baltimore Orioles (1979-1994). In addition, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
<< Mets activate Castillo from DL
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo, who
has been out since June 2 due to a bruised right heel, was activated from the
15-day disabled list Monday.
Castillo is hitting .241 with 14 RBI in 44 games this
<< Kang leads U.S. Girls' Junior
Village of Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danielle Kang shot a five-under 67
on Monday to take the first-round lead at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship.
Kang, 17, collected seven birdies against two bogeys at the Country Club of
Nort
<< Twins' Morneau to see specialist
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin
Morneau will see a specialist Tuesday, as he continues to deal with symptoms
of a concussion he sustained before the All-Star break.
Morneau is on the disabled
<< Report: Childress visits Favre in Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress
reportedly met with Brett Favre on Monday as he tries to gauge if the star
quarterback will return for a 20th season in the NFL.
WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg repo
Fish eases into second round in Atlanta >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish advanced into the
second round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships with a straight-set win over
Britain's James Ward on Monday.
The American, who brings some momentum into the t
GM: Trade market quiet for White Sox >>
SEATTLE (AP) -General manager Kenny Williams says he doesn't see any deals on the horizon for the Chicago White Sox because the current market is limited.Williams spoke in the visiting dugout before Monday night's game at Seattle, 12 days before bas
Source: Babby to head Suns basketball operations >>
PHOENIX (AP) -A person with knowledge of the situation says the Phoenix Suns have hired agent Lon Babby to head the team's basketball operations.The person, who asked not to be identified because the official announcement has not been made, told The
Cardinals pound Kendrick, Phillies 8-4 >>
ST. LOUIS (AP) -Albert Pujols' two-run home run in the fifth inning began a barrage of four long balls in a span of six at-bats and Blake Hawksworth survived a rocky start in the St. Louis Cardinals' 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.Rookie
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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