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Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Jake Delhomme struggled on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and was fortunate that his running backs bailed him out. Delhomme threw for only 65 yards with two interceptions, but D’Angelo Williams (152 yards) and Jonathan Stewart (110 yards) kept the chains moving as the Panthers won their second straight game defeating the Bucs 28-21. Tampa Bay has now lost ten straight dating back to last season and are 0-6 for the first time since’85. The fact that they ended up starting that year 0-9 on their way to a 1-15 record doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

NFL sports bettors were faced with a choice between two teams with dismal ATS records in this game, and those who had the guts to take a 1-3 team as a -3 road favorite were rewarded with the cover. It was Carolina’s first NFL pointspread cover of the season and left them with a 1-4 record against the number. Tampa Bay has covered one of their six games this year. The 49 points scored went OVER the total of 40′.

Delhomme attempted only seven passes in the second half, but the way Williams and Stewart were running there was no reason to put the ball in the air. Williams said that even though Tampa Bay knew what was coming they couldn’t stop the Panthers’ running game:

“I’m sure everybody in the stadium knew what we were going to do. There were times they had nine in the box and we were still getting 7 or 8 yards.”

There’s been little impatience locally with Bucs’ rookie head coach Raheem Morris, but his weekly habit of explaining the obvious to rationalize yet another loss is starting to wear thin:

“We got overpowered at the end, and really throughout the game.”

Carolina safety Dante Wesley was ejected after clobbering Bucs’ return man Clifton Smith after a fair catch call. After the game, Wesley gave this defense for his actions:

“I was just trying to make a play. You can check my record. I’ve never really tried to hurt anybody. I’ve never tried to take a cheap shot on anybody.”

Wesley could face a possible fine or suspension from the NFL but, in all fairness, it did appear to be a momentary mental lapse as he was trying to make a big play and not a deliberate attempt to injure Smith.

Tampa’s schedule has the look of them going from ‘the frying pan into the fire’ as they host the New England Patriots next Sunday-fresh off of their 57 point drubbing of Tennessee. The Bucs are +14 home underdogs to the Patriots with the total set at 45. They’ll get a week off after that contest and return to action on November 8 as they host the Green Bay Packers. Carolina has an easier draw, hosting the Buffalo Bills next Sunday.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

It’s obvious that the San Francisco 49ers are heading in the right direction under Mike Singletary, but you couldn’t tell by watching their game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The Falcons scored six touchdowns against the Niners, with running back Michael Turner accounting for three of the scores as Atlanta routed San Francisco by a lopsided 45-10 final score. It was the Niners’ worst defeat since a 41-0 loss back in 2006 under former coach Mike Nolan. San Francisco fell to 3-2 with the defeat while the Falcons improved to 3-1.

The NFL betting lines had the game listed as a ‘PICK’, giving the Falcons the ATS win with their easy straight up victory. It was the 49ers first loss against the spread this season, while Atlanta upped their record to 3-1 to the money. The combined 55 points went OVER the posted total of 39′.

After the game, the fiery Singletary apologized for cussing out former 49er and current Falcons’ lineman Harvey Dahl:

“I’ll put it this way: I wish I had more coaching etiquette. I don’t. I love my players and when someone responds about my players in a particular way, I may do some things I shouldn’t do. I have to get better at those things as time goes on. Even though the player was talking to me, I should not have said what I said. It wasn’t anything bad, it was just something that shouldn’t have happened.”

Roddy White set a Falcons’ record with 210 receiving yards, and was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on his second touchdown of the day. With his team in full control, Atlanta coach Mike Smith had to be amused:

“He didn’t hit the landing because if he hits the landing it’s not a 15-yard penalty. I told him if he’s going to do it, it needs to be Olga Korbut. And he looked at me like he doesn’t know who Olga Korbut is. Then I told him, ‘Well, maybe Mary Lou Retton.’ And then I figure that’s ‘86, he doesn’t know who Mary Lou Retton is. It went right over his head and my head.”

Smith admitted that he hadn’t been in top form so far this season:

“I felt like I haven’t been playing well up to this point in the season. Me and coach Smith had a talk. He was like, ‘You gotta get back to being yourself again. You gotta go out there and be the old Roddy. No pressure. Just go out there and play.’”

The Falcons will return home on Sunday to host the Chicago Bears, with Atlanta a -3 home favorite and the total set at 45′. They’ll play their next two on the road, traveling to Texas for a game against the Dallas Cowboys the following week and to New Orleans to face the Saints on Monday, November 2. The 49ers will have a bye this week before traveling to Houston to play the Texans on October 25. They’ll play at Indianapolis the following Sunday before returning home to take on the Tennessee Titans on November 8.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and noted authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Bowling Green played Boise State tough on their home field this weekend–at least for one quarter. Things looked good for the host Falcons at the end of the first quarter, as they’d held the #6 ranked Broncos scoreless and were right in the thick of things in a scoreless game. It was all downhill from that point for Bowling Green, as Boise State exploded for 29 unanswered second quarter points. The Broncos would eventually win 49-14, improving to 4-0 on the season. Bowling Green dropped to 1-3 as Boise improved their record against the MAC to 6-2 all time.

The Broncos easily covered as -16 road favorites. The 63 combined points went OVER the posted total of 51. Boise State needed four plays or less on their first six scoring drives, and amassed a season high 529 yards of total offense. Their defense also forced the Falcons into three costly turnovers.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen had insisted on more quick strike scoring drives. They most definitely delivered, and the coach commented to their performance after the contest:

“On offense, that’s always the name of the game. It makes it a lot easier when you don’t have those 15- and 17-play drives.”

Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore threw 17 completions in 21 pass attempts for a total of 247 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. 195 of his total yards came during the 2nd quarter onslaught, where he completed 8 consecutive passes during one stretch. After the game, Moore indicated that his team wasnt resting on their impressive season to date performance:

“There’s a lot of football to go and a lot of things to work on.

Coach Petersen concurred with his quarterbacks assessment:

“These guys are a fairly mature bunch and if not, we have a staff of mature coaches to keep them focused.

Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson sounded somewhat in awe of the Broncos ‘quick strike’ offense:

“That’s what they do. When they have 500 yards of offense, it will always be 10 to 12 plays where half their offense came from.”

The Broncos, who are enjoying their highest regular season ranking in school history, looked sharp all around on offense despite the absence of second leading rusher DJ Harper. Harper is likely out for the year after a knee injury.

Bowling Green will take a step down in class of opposition next weekend as they host the Ohio Bobcats. Theyll play on the road the next two weeks, traveling to Kent State and Ball State. Boise will return home for a game against FCS opponent UC Davis next Saturday. Theyll play on the road at Tulsa the following weekend, before enjoying a bye week.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Innovative Medical Equipment and Methods for Rehab of Injuries: Let us take a look at what new advances there are in this specialized field. First we need to list the type of injuries which can be alleviated by physiotherapy. They are sports injuries, pain of the lumbar or cervical spinal regions, torn muscle ligaments and tendon problems, join pains caused by osteoarthritic changes resulting from old injuries or the more severe and difficult to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Bio mechanical assessment and orthopedic provision, manual manipulation, ultrasound, laser therapy in the form of laser acupuncture or laser interference therapy are all available for treating these painful conditions and promoting healing within the body. Most of these methods are covered by medical insurance. Some of them may require treatment from time to time for a number of years, such as spinal injuries.

Massage Therapy Equipment and Supplies: Massage Balls have taken the physiotherapy field by storm. Here are a few of them. Soft spiked massage balls are perfect for sensory therapy and release muscle spasms, good for fingers, legs, feet and back. Other spiky massage balls release tension and muscle aches throughout the entire body. Soft hand balls offer therapy for repetitive stress injuries, stroke recovery and arthritis. There are soft balls with bumps, rollers with soft spikes or bumps for massage, point relief mini massagers for painful muscles, massage chairs, pressure points packages which contain balls and acupressure for self-administration and massage. You can purchase infra-red massagers which are absolutely ideal for reducing soreness and additionally, provide comforting warmth as they vibrate.

There are more. Take a look at the Thumper Versa-Pro Massager which is a step-on massager for deep muscle relief of the lower body, feet, hamstrings, quads, and lower back. A Foot Spa complete with whirlpool, water jets, vibrating massage massage therapy equipment is wonderful for hands or feet. The most innovative must surely be Theraputty. This putty heats up in the microwave and is available in differing strengths and sizes from 2 ounces to five pounds and is ideal for hand therapy.

Finger Webs for strengthening hands and fingers are new on the market and are available in differing resistance strengths of interchangeable web inserts. Memory foam is also being used with great success for hand therapy. The Orbit Massager is a small and simple massager with a fantastic range of motion and is great as it is easily portable.

Physical Therapy Equipment and Supplies: These can either be purchased or hired as they are sometimes only needed for a short period of time. Great for sports injuries, injuries caused by falls in the frail and elderly, from severe burns or injuries caused by over-exercising or exercising wrongly.

Here are a few: Resistance bands, ankle and wrist weights, and finger and hand exercisers, exercise pulleys, balance boards and stretching equipment and the very popular exercise balls of all shapes sizes and forms dependent on the injuries they are needed for or muscle building and repair of muscle tone. Using balls to stretch, blood supply and flexibility are increased, as is the case with much of the other physical therapy equipment used to treat injuries.

It is necessary to point out that at all times if using any equipment at home; the patient must be guided by his or her physiotherapist to ensure that the products are being used properly to prevent further injury or damage. Warming up before using any exercise products is essential and taking calcium supplements together with magnesium should prevent painful cramping while muscles are healing. Make it a point to first be guided by your professional caregiver and then you can feel free to hire or shop on line for what your therapist has suggested, no matter how innovative.

A massage is an ideal way to relax and rescue stress. Massage therapy supplies or oils can further tailor the experience to the recipients taste. If you need a massage table, you should check out massage therapy equipment also.

When legendary quarterback Brett Favre announced his return to the NFL from what has become a seemingly annual flirtation with retirement, many second guessed the Minnesota Vikings’ decision to sign “The Gunslinger”. On Sunday, Favre and the Vikings answered those critics in the best way possible-with a lopsided 34-3 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys. Favre threw 4 touchdown passes in the victory and the Vikings’ defense sacked Dallas QB Tony Romo six times in the blowout. Minnesota will now face the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game.

NFL football betting fans also cashed tickets on the Vikings as -3 point home favorites. This was the shortest pointspread of the divisional playoff weekend and many thought that Dallas’ momentum would carry them to victory. The 37 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 45. Minnesota had gone UNDER in four of six games to conclude the regular season.

After the contest, Favre boasted that a playoff run was a large part of his motivation to return to NFL action:

“”This is what I came back for. Probably the most fatigued I got today was celebrating. I feel like I’m playing the same way. I have the same enthusiasm. As long as I’m out there, the enthusiasm and the passion that you see is real. And I know the guys feed off of that. Fans enjoy that, because it is real and genuine. Today was like this season: It’s been wonderful.”

Former South Carolina Gamecock Sidney Rice caught three of Favre’s touchdown passes:

“Same ol’ Brett. He’s doing thing he’s done since he first came in the league: moving around, getting the ball out, breaking tackles and even running down the field and throwing blocks. That just shows you how big of a heart he has.”

Head coach Brad Childress mixed up a bunch of metaphors as he took a swipe at the prognosticators who picked Dallas to win:

“The Tasmanian devils were coming from Dallas that were about to bombard the state of Minnesota and run through us like Sherman through the South. All of us felt it quite palpably.”

Cowboys’ QB didn’t have much to say in defeat:

“Any time you come in with the expectations and goals we set and don’t accomplish them, No. 1, it’s frustrating. Right now, it’s just hard to think the season is over.”

Cowboys’ head coach Wade Phillips had a similar take:

“It’s like the elevator falling from the top. It’s tough when it’s over. If you don’t win it all, you have not reached your goal.”

The Vikings will now head to New Orleans for Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the Saints. Minnesota is a +3′ point road underdog with the total set at 52′. The winner will advance to the Superbowl to take on the winner of the New York Jets/Indianapolis Colts contest.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The University of North Carolina used a 21 yard field goal on the final play of the game to pull a big college football upset over #13 Virginia Tech on Thursday night, winning by a final score of 20-17. The Tar Heels’ #8 ranked defense proved as tenacious as their high national status would suggest, and gave the Hokies fits throughout. North Carolina led for most of the game, but withstood a late game Virginia Tech comeback bid to take the win. Both teams are now 5-3 on the college football season.

College football betting enthusiasts who took North Carolina as +16′ road underdogs were never in serious doubt about the eventual payday they’d receive as the Tar Heels never trailed by more than three points. The Tar Heels improved to 3-4 against the college football pointspread, while the Hokies dropped to 3-5 versus the money. The 37 combined points scored went UNDER the posted total of 43′. North Carolina has gone UNDER in four of six games this season, while Virginia Tech evened their college football totals record at 4-4.

Tar Heels’ QB T.J. Yates was in a state of disbelief after the narrow road victory:

“I’ve never really had this feeling before. Kicking it at the last second? It just sends chills down your spine.”

Running back Shaun Draughn spoke of the team’s priority to bounce back quickly after they blew a big lead in a loss to Florida State last week:

“We knew we had to get back to the drawing board. To come back and play the way we did definitely speaks volumes about our team.”

In the Hokies’ locker room, linebacker Cody Grimm spoke of his team’s need to regain their focus:

“I think the motivation is to come out here so you don’t feel like this again. Ten wins is one thing, but I don’t want to feel like this any more and the only way to do that is to win.”

Running back Ryan Williams felt doubly bad about the loss, as his late game fumble cemented the victory for North Carolina:

“As of right now, there probably isn’t really anything they can say to lift me up because regardless of what anybody says, personally I feel like I kind of took the game away from us today. It was on the line, it was in my hands and I fumbled.”

The Hokies will play against next Thursday night, heading to Greenville, NC to face the Skip Holtz coached East Carolina Pirates. They’ll play at Maryland on Saturday, November 15 before returning home a week later to host North Carolina State. North Carolina plays their next two at home, starting a week from Saturday against Duke.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

After extensive negotiations, the Portland Trailblazers have signed All Star shooting guard Brandon Roy to a five year contract extension. Roy will be in the final year of his rookie contract in the 2009-2010 NBA season, and securing the services of a player that did no less than turn around the franchise was the teams top summer priority.

The on court success and off court class of Brandon Roy may have saved the Portland NBA franchise. The Blazers slumped from their glory years of the 1970’s and 1980’s as the 1990’s progressed, eventually pulling together a roster consisting of character challenged reprobates that earned the moniker JailBlazers for their frequent legal transgressions.

With the Blazers fans staying away from the arena in droves, team owner Paul Allen had finally had enough. In the late 1990’s, he gutted the franchise management and cleaned house. The new management was given the charge to put together a roster that would not only win games, but win back the Rose City fans. The acquisition of Roy will likely be looked at as the turning point for this effort. The Blazers acquired Roy on draft day 2006 for Randy Foye, and would go on to win the NBAs rookie of the year award.

The Blazers”who were 21-61 the year before Roy arrived”posted a 54-28 record last season. Roy has become the centerpiece of a talented young team had has not only become a force in the NBAs Western Conference but has gone a long way to winning back the Portland fan base.

The first four years of Roy’s 5 year $84 million deal are guaranteed, while the fifth is at the players option. Roys agent Bob Myers strongly suggested that Roy wanted to remain with the Blazers for his entire career, noting that he “is one of the unique players to have a chance to have that sort of relationship with one team.”

The team will now turn its attention to signing a long term deal with forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge is also in the final year of his rookie contract and a key component to the teams recent success. At last report, talks between the two sides are progressing.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and respected authority on soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck and Denver’s Kyle Orton both played fairly well in the first half, but the Seahawks reserves pulled away in the second half. The Seahawks improved to 2-0 on the NFL preseason with a 27-13 win over the Denver Broncos.

Hasselbeck completed 16 passes in 23 attempts including two touchdowns, though he was sacked three times. That was a big concern as he missed considerable time last season due to a back injury, but appeared to suffer no ill effects here. Still, the Seahawks starting QB said it was a traumatic experience:

“It’s just like I remembered- no fun. … I forgot how hard people hit in here. It’s just like a car accident. It’s part of the game … and it was probably good that it happened.”

After a rough opening weekend as the Denver Broncos starting QB, Kyle Orton recovered to post decent numbers. He completed 16 of his first 19 pass attempts including a touchdown before finishing 18 of 26 for 182 yards with a touchdown and an interception. After the game, Orton indicated that hes feeling confident about his play:

“I’ve got an awful lot of confidence right now, I really do. This is the best offense I’ve ever played with. This is the best talent around me that I’ve ever had. I just feel that my game right now is as good as it has ever been.

Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels was more reserved in his assessment:

“I think he acquitted himself fairly well. He played, you know, fairly well. There’s still obviously room for improvement. But he did what we feel he is capable of doing.

It would have been hard for Orton to have played worse than he did in the Broncos opening NFL preseason contest against the San Francisco 49ers last week where he threw three interceptions in his first three drives.

Seattle will get the NFL regular season off and running on Sunday, September 13th as they host the St. Louis Rams. The Broncos will travel to Cincinnati for a game against the Bengals on the opening Sunday of the regular season.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and respected authority on NFL football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and online sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Behind a career day for quarterback Matt Schaub, the Houston Texans erased a 17-14 halftime deficit to score– points in the second half and defeat the host Cincinnati Bengals 28-17. Schaub threw for 342 yards and 4 touchdowns against one interception in the solid road victory. Against a team that had won three straight games in the final seconds, Houston never gave Cincinnati the chance to create any late drama.

Houston took the money as +3′ road underdogs with the outright win, and both teams are now 3-3 on the season against the NFL pointspread. The 45 points just managed to stay UNDER the posted total of 46. The Texans have gone UNDER in 4 of 6 this season while the Bengals evened their NFL totals record at 3-3.

After the victory, Schaub said that his team knew of Houston’s penchant for late game comebacks and that ‘putting them away’ would be a priority:

“Every game went down to the wire for them. Credit goes to them because they were able to find ways to win those games. So it was a matter of putting the game away.”

The Texans’ stoic head coach Gary Kubiak would only offer that:

“Matt continues to put up exceptional numbers on the road.”

The defense did a stellar job as well, shutting out the Bengals in the second half. In the third quarter, Houston only allowed six yards on nine plays for a franchise record. Cornerback Dunta Robininson talked about the defensive corps mindset:

“It was swarm tackling. Everybody has a job to do, and today we made this team a one-dimensional team. Overall as a defense, we played well.”

In the losing locker room, wide receiver Chad Ochocinco admitted that his team knew that they couldn’t rely on last minute heroics to win games:

“That’s our fault. We’ve been saying that we can’t keep winning with the way we’ve been playing. We’ve got to be consistent for all four quarters.”

The Bengals will play their next two games at home, starting with a contest against the Chicago Bears this Sunday. They’ll host the Baltimore Ravens the following Sunday before traveling to Pittsburgh for a game against the Steelers on November 15. The Texans host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. They’ll take to the road for the next two games, playing Buffalo on November 1 and Indianapolis the following Sunday.

Ross Everett is an extensively published freelance writer and a noted authority on sports betting and harness racing. He contributes NFL football betting free picks for a number of websites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a pot bellied pig.

The New Orleans Saints used a 14 point fourth quarter to defeat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 on Sunday to win their first Superbowl in franchise history. Drew Brees broke open a tight game midway through the final quarter with his touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, and Tracy Porter scored on a 74 yard interception return as the Colts were driving on the next series to secure the victory. Brees completed 32 passes in the game, tying New England’s Tom Brady for the all time record in that category.

After enthusiasts had come in early on the favored Colts, a good deal of buyback on the Saints had pushed the line to -4′ and the New Orleans backers were enriched by their team’s outright victory. The underdog has now covered three straight Superbowls and taken the money in five of the last seven games. The 48 points scored stayed well under the posted total of 57.

In his postgame interview, a jubilant Brees gave much of the credit to the city of New Orleans:

“We play for so much more than ourselves. We played for our city. We played for the entire Gulf Coast region. We played for the entire Who Dat nation that has been behind us every step of the way. It means everything. We’re here because of their strength and everything they fought through here the last few years. They’ve given us so much support, so we owe it all to our fans.”

“Just to think of the road we’ve all traveled, the adversity we’ve all faced. It’s unbelievable. I mean, are you kidding me? Four years ago, whoever thought this would be happening? Eighty-five percent of the city was under water. Most people left not knowing if New Orleans would ever come back, or if the organization would ever come back. We just all looked at one another and said, ‘We’re going to rebuild together. We are going to lean on each other.’ That’s what we’ve done the last four years and this is the culmination in all that belief.”

Peyton Manning had little to say after the game particularly about the interception return that sealed the victory for New Orleans:

“Made a great play. Made a great play. Corner made a heck of a play. Certainly disappointing, very disappointing. Disappointing.”

Saints’ coach Sean Payton made a bold call at the beginning of the second half when he called for an onside kick. Saints linebacker Jonathan Casalis suggested it was a game changing play:

“We were really excited when he made the call. That changed everything.”

Payton explained the diva-like decision:

“We’re going to be aggressive. We’d seen the onside kick all week and guys executed it well. It turned out to be a big change of possession.”

The city of New Orleans will celebrate their team’s victory with a parade. With Mardi Gras celebrations already scheduled to begin shortly thereafter, it could be quite some time before New Orleans returns to business as usual. New Orleans is usually as fabulous as flamboyant skater Johnny Weir emerging out of a gold Faberge egg, but will be even more so now.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.