Around the CFL: Flutie returns for Hall of Fame induction

Football Betting Lines

09/14/2007 - Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's Hall of Fame weekend in the CFL, and for Darren Flutie that means a homecoming of sorts.

Flutie, the younger brother of former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, will be one of five new members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. The first order of business will be the formal unveiling of the busts Friday.

The other inductees will be former Calgary Stampeders offensive lineman and Hamilton native Rocco Romano, former Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes offensive lineman Pierre Vercheval, former Winnipeg Blue Bombers linebacker Greg Battle and Dave (Tuffy) Knight, who built powerhouse university programs at both Wilfrid Laurier and Waterloo.

Flutie surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving plateau in nine of his 12 CFL seasons. He spent time with the B.C. Lions, Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton, winning Grey Cups with the Lions in 1994 and Hamilton in '99.

The CFL championship in Hamilton was the organization's first in 13 seasons.

AILING TICATS: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats might be unveiling quarterback Casey Printers this weekend, but he won't have running back Jesse Lumsden or receiver Jason Armstead to lean on Saturday night against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Lumsden will miss his third straight start due to a clavicle injury, and Armstead is expected to miss the game due to sore ribs.

The loss of Lumsden is a big one for Hamilton. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound running back was for a time the CFL's rushing leader, and still has run for 627 yards and is averaging over eight yards a carry.

Armstead, acquired last month from the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is third in the CFL in all-purpose yards with 1,070.

Hamilton heads into the weekend with a CFL-worst 1-9 record, but its lone win came against the Bombers. And the Ticats have enjoyed some success against Winnipeg.

Last year, the Bombers beat Hamilton 29-0 at Ivor Wynne Stadium, only to lose 26-11 in Winnipeg. And in 2005, the Ticats lost their first eight games of the season before registering their first win of the year against -- you guessed it -- the Bombers.

ABDULLAH RELEASED: The Edmonton Eskimos released defensive end Rahim Abdullah, but in a rather roundabout way.

First, the club sent him home after its 20-17 loss to Calgary, which came, in part, due to bad penalties taken by Abdullah and teammate Adam Braidwood. Originally, the Eskimos decided against releasing Abdullah because his salary is guaranteed through the end of the season and the club didn't like the idea of having to pay Abdullah even if he found employment elsewhere.

Finally, though, the Eskimos relented and gave Abdullah his outright release.

LIKE FATHER...: Receiver Brad Smith will be in uniform Friday night for the Montreal Alouettes, completing an interesting circle.

Smith's father, Larry, is the Alouettes president and also was a former player with the CFL club.

Brad Smith was originally drafted this year by the Toronto Argonauts. Although he didn't make the club out of training camp, he was placed on the practice roster.

But when Alouettes veteran receiver Ben Cahoon was injured last week, the club needed a Canadian receiver. So Montreal plucked Smith off of the Argos' practice roster and he will see action on Montreal's specials teams.

FAN VOTE: CFL fans will be able to have a say as to what players are named to the league's all-star teams this year.

This week, the league announced that it will allow fans to participate in an Internet vote for its all-star teams. It will mark the first time in CFL history that fans will be able to participate in the all-star team balloting.

Fans will account for 25 percent of the final vote, with the remaining 75 percent divided among voting members of the Football Reporters of Canada and the eight CFL coaches. In the past, FRC members voted for the all-star selections while coaches were added just recently.

The East and West Division teams will be announced October 24, with the league all-star squads unveiled during Grey Cup week in Toronto.

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2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds

The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.

Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”

“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”

MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:

Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:

Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1

Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17

Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1

Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1

Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1

Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1

Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5

Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1

Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1

Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1

Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50

Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1

Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Cars": 1/3

"Happy Feet": 2/1

"Monster House": 20/1

Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:

"Water" – Canada: 22/1

"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2

"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1

"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1

"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10

Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:

"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5

"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2

"Helmer & Son": 5/2

"The Saviour": 6/1

"West Bank Story": 7/2

Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:

"Babel": 7/4

"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1

"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20

"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4

"The Queen": 5/4

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

"Babel": 11/4

"The Departed": 1/2

"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2

"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10

"The Queen": 20/1

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10

Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1

Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1

Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5

Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1

Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1

Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1

Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8

Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1

Film To Win Most Oscars:

Dreamgirls: 2/3

Pans Labyrinth: 6/5

The Departed: 6/1

The Queen: 11/1

Babel: 15/1

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1

Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1


Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.