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07/13/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew return home when they host the Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer action at Crew Stadium on Wednesday.
The Eastern Conference leading Crew (8-2-4) are coming off a scoreless draw at Houston on Saturday that extended their road winless streak to three games, but defender Danny O'Rourke was happy with the result.
"Anytime you can go on the road against an established team like Houston in the heat out here, a tie is a good point," he told mlssoccer.com. "They're a really compact team. It's a small field. A point on the road, we'll definitely take it."
Wednesday's fixture will be the second between the two Eastern clubs this season, with an Emilio Renteria goal being the difference in the Crew's victory on May 23 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark to extend their unbeaten streak vs. Kansas City to eight games in league and cup play, dating back to 2007.
The Wizards (3-8-3) are in desperate need of a result on Wednesday, having lost three in a row while being shut out in three consecutive games for the second time this season. Their current scoreless streak is 325 minutes.
On top of that, the club is winless on the road this season, going 0-5-1 away from CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
The Wizards most recent game was a 2-0 loss at home to Chivas USA, but the team thinks it can take some positives out of that game.
"We did everything that you need to do to win the game," Wizards captain Davy Arnaud told mlssoccer.com. "But unfortunately we come out on the wrong end of things again. This might not sound right, but the way we played [vs. Chivas USA] is a positive sign."
A couple defensive lapses by Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad followed the trend the team has been following this season.
"I'm responsible for both goals," Conrad told mlssoccer.com. "Obviously, we've been giving up soft goals all year, and it was just my turn I guess to catch the disease. It's unfortunate. I feel bad that I put my team in that position. We have a lot of people, both on the field and off, who do a lot of work to make sure we win, and we're just not getting it done."
<< Kohlschreiber exits Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded German favorite Philipp
Kohlschreiber was an opening-round upset victim Tuesday at the Mercedes Cup
tennis event.
German Florian Mayer upended his compatriot Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 on
<< Leverkusen signs striker Jorgensen
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayer Leverkusen has completed the
signing of striker Nicolai Jorgensen from Danish side AB.
The 19-year-old has earned himself a five-year deal with the Bundesliga club
after impressing on a
<< Palermo makes offer for Liverpool's Lucas
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva could be on
his way to Italy after Palermo made an offer for the Brazilian.
The Serie A side are reported to have tabled a bid in the region of six
million euros for t
<< Clippers sign Willie Warren
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers have signed guard
Willie Warren, the team's second-round pick in the 2010 draft.
Warren, the 54th overall selection, played two seasons at Oklahoma before
entering the draft
Trucks join Nationwide at Gateway >>
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date:
Friday, July 16. Race: CampingWorld.com 200. Site: Gateway International
Raceway. Track: 1.25-mile oval. Start time: 9:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 162. Miles:
200. 2009 winner: Mi
IndyCar tackles the streets of Toronto >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Sunday, July
18. Race: Honda Indy Toronto. Site: Streets of Toronto. Track: 1.721-mile, 11-
turn temporary street course. Start Time: 12:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 85. Miles:
146.285. 2009
Safarova, Dulgheru advance in Prague >>
Prague, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Czech favorite Lucie
Safarova and No. 2 seed Alexandra Dulgheru were among Tuesday's first-round
winners at the $220,000 Prague Open tennis event.
Safarova handled Latvia's Anast
Jacksonville State renaming stadium >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacksonville State University will rename
its football field Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium at its Sept. 11 home
opener against Chattanooga.
The university's Board of Trustees approved the name change f
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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