Odds On Most Any Matchup: 5dimesSkyBetBetFairBetUS

And So It Goes....

Overall: 7-1-0 (0.875)
Basis Function: Daubechies4

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Saturday, August 1, 2009

August 1st, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)3-1-0 today. Finally had a real solid day on the blog. The previews of the matchups have been rather sparse lately and that's a combination of being busy with other things like differential equation proofs (I know they work for real world problems but the Ivories like a bit more rigor). That will probably be the case for a few days but I'll try and get up some bare bones previews at least. Started off with Tiger Woods' incredible start on the back 9, then SV Ried disappointed themselves and me, but Volstad and the Marlins got me back on track followed by the Phillies breaking out of their funk (kind of) just in time to give Cliff Lee the win. And so it's on to a new month and a new day of picks. Good luck you monthly maniacs!

Tiger Roars Back Up The Leader Board With 63, John Senden Takes Weekend Lead
Tiger Woods' First 9 Holes: 30
Tiger Woods was just in a career best kind of mood to start the day. I really think his early morning start helped out while his afternoon start hurt him in the first round and will limit his success in the third round.
``Tiger Woods had the best five-hole start of his career, chipping in for eagle and making four birdies. Woods finished with a season-low 9-under 63 Friday in the Buick Open to shoot up the leaderboard. The round was his best round in relation to par in four years. Woods was coming off what he said was probably the worst putting day of his career on Thursday, leading to a lackluster 71 in his first competitive round since missing the cut at the British Open. He quickly clawed back into contention with his birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie tear and finished the day 10 under for the tournament. John Senden shot a 66 to take the second-round lead at 14 under, two shots ahead of Michael Letzig (65) and another stroke in front of Vaughn Taylor (68) and Bill Lunde (65). Woods entered the weekend four strokes back in a pack of six, including Kevin Stadler, who shot his second straight 67. Senden is shooting for his second PGA TOUR title and first in three years. The Australian has four top-10 finishes this season, including a pair of fourth-place ties."
Read More....LeaderboardPhotosTiger's Round HighlightsOther Highlights


Newcomers SC Magna Put SV Ried's Six Match Streak To An End
SC Magna Wiener Neustadt 2 - 1 SV Josko Ried
SV Ried had some golden opportunities slip by such as Jonathon taking a shot with no defenders except the keeper in front of goal. He booted it right to the goalie. "Unglaublich!" (unbelievable!) cried the announcers. Bummer for them.
It was a nerve-wracking end to the game. It was an extremely important victory because we were exposed by Graz [last week]. Now we're back in the championship race. ---SC Magna Wiener Neustadt coach Helmut Kraft
I can't really criticize our effort. Our defense appeared to be a little arrogant. Their offense was just of a higher quality. ---SV Ried coach Paul Gludovatz
It was a great game. We turned things around and I got a shot on goal. We showed character today. We'll try to take the first half also next game. ---Diego Viana, SC Magna
I had faith I could score a goal even when I was on the sidelines. We showed we can succeed even without the lead and win a game. We're sure better at home than away. ---Tomas Simkovic, SC Magna
We were inattentive to their counter attack and that's something you can't afford away from home. They were two careless goals. We may as well have made the goals for them. We had the game wrapped up and have only ourselves to blame for the loss. ---Herwig Drechsel, SV Ried
Quotes & CommentarySC Magna RecapSV Ried Recap


Marlins Wrestle One Away From Cubs
Florida Marlins 5 - 2 Chicago Cubs
Chris Volstad was solid and the Cubs relievers were uncharacteristically poor. Volstad at home was the main reason for taking the Marlins here I thought.
``Volstad retired the first 12 batters and took a shutout into the seventh, but Jake Fox's two-out, two-run homer tied the score at 2-all. The hit brought a roar from the crowd of 25,024, with many of the fans clad in Cubs blue. It was the 22nd homer allowed by Volstad, who went 6 2/3 innings. The score was 2-all when Carlos Marmol (2-2) came into the game in the eighth with a scoreless streak of 8 1/3 innings, but he walked the first two batters. Dan Uggla scored from second on Baker's hit, and Helms doubled to hike his average as a pinch-hitter to .387. Florida won despite striking out 13 times, stranding nine runners and committing an error for the first time in nine games."
Read More....Box ScorePhotos


Stellar Cliff Lee Completes Game In First Start With Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies 5 - 1 San Francisco Giants
Thankfully Philadelphia finally managed to get a hit with men on base sometime in the latter stages of the game. Ibañez and Howard were still slugs though. Thankfully Lee was practically unhittable.
``Jayson Werth homered to put Philadelphia ahead early and added a two-run single in the seventh, Raul Ibanez drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh for an insurance run and Lee did the rest. Lee pitched a four-hitter, carrying a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and even adding two hits with the bat, and the Philadelphia Phillies felt an immediate impact two days after acquiring the left-hander from Cleveland, beating the San Francisco Giants 5-1 on Friday night. Lee doubled in the eighth for his first career extra-base hit and that gave him his first multihit game; he doubled his previous career hit total. Fittingly, it was Ben Francisco -- who also came to the Phillies from the Indians on Wednesday -- whose sacrifice fly helped Lee score his first career run."
Read More....Box ScorePhotos



Picks
1) FC Sion Sitten @ Neuchâtel Xamax FC - Neuchâtel Xamax FC win
2) New Zealand @ South Africa - South Africa
3) Winnipeg @ Toronto - 44 points or fewer
4) Tiger Woods' 3rd Round Score: 66 or lower vs. 67 or higher - 67 or higher
5) Los Angeles Dodgers @ Atlanta Braves - Atlanta
6) New York Yankees @ Chicago White Sox - New York
7) Carl Edwards vs. Brad Keselowski - Edwards has a better finishing position
8) Los Angeles Angels @ Minnesota Twins - Minnesota
9) Arizona Diamondbacks @ New York Mets - Arizona
10) Toronto F.C. @ New England Revolution - Toronto F.C. win or draw
11) Phoenix Mercury @ Minnesota Lynx - Minnesota
12) Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers - Seattle
13) Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Calgary Stampeders - Saskatchewan wins or loses by 9 or less points
14) Los Angeles Sparks @ Sacramento Monarchs - Sacramento