Pac-10 title up for grabs in Los Angeles

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pac-10 Tournament title is up for grabs this evening, as the top-seeded California Golden Bears face off against the third-seeded Washington Huskies in the finals at the Staples Center.

California, which won its first regular-season title in 50 years, is now out for the program's first-ever Pac-10 Tournament championship. The Bears are making their second appearance in the finals and first since losing to UCLA in 2006. Winners of six straight, Cal finds itself playing for the title after defeating eighth-seeded Oregon, 90-74, in the quarterfinals and fifth-seeded UCLA, 85-72, in the semifinal round last night.

On the flip side, the Huskies are just as hot as the Bears, having also won six consecutive decisions. Washington made its way to the finals courtesy of wins over sixth-seeded Oregon State (59-52) in the quarterfinals and seventh- seeded Stanford (79-64) in the semifinals last night. This is the first finals appearance for the Huskies since they captured their lone Pac-10 Tournament title in 2005.

As for the all-time series, California holds a slim 77-75 edge over Washington after the teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season.

Terrific free-throw shooting and outstanding defense did the trick last night, as the Huskies converted 25-of-29 attempts and held Stanford to a dismal 31.3 percent shooting effort from the field in a 79-64 triumph. Quincy Pondexter led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Isaiah Thomas had 17 points. The duo combined to go a perfect 16-of-16 from the stripe. The two have also carried Washington this season, combining for nearly 37.0 ppg. Pondexter leads the squad in scoring (19.8 ppg) as well as rebounding (7.6 rpg), while Thomas checks in with 17.1 ppg and 4.1 rpg.

The Bears shot a blistering 60.0 percent from the floor and made 19-of-21 free throws en route to an 85-72 besting of UCLA last night. Jerome Randle scored 24 points and handed out six assists to lead the way, while Theo Robertson turned in a 20-point performance. The Pac-10 Player of the Year, Randle paces the Bears in both scoring (18.9 ppg) and assists (4.5 rpg) for the season and he also shoots 41.0 percent from three-point range and 93.3 percent at the foul line. Patrick Christopher, who had 16 points last night, follows with 16.1 ppg and he also collects 5.5 rpg. Robertson brings 13.7 ppg to the lineup, while Jamal Boykin adds 11.7 ppg and a team-high 6.5 rpg.

Ccasion NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Rebels and Aztecs seek MWC crown in Sin City
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shooting for their third championship in the last four years and the fourth overall, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels are into the title game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament today and will face the San Diego S

<< Boilermakers and Golden Gophers meet in Big Ten semifinals
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A chance to play in the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game will be on the line this afternoon when the sixth-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the second-seeded Purdue Boilermakers in semif

<< Bears set sights on Bulldogs in MEAC title game
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back in the title game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament for the third straight year, the Morgan State Bears try to repeat as champions this afternoon as they tangle with South Carolina State

<< Bobcats battle Zips for Mid-American Conference crown
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Looking to claim their second consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament title, the third-seeded Akron Zips will take the floor this evening against the ninth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats at the Quicken Lo

<< Big Ten semifinals feature Buckeyes against Illini
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Semifinal round action in the Big Ten Conference Tournament will begin this afternoon when the top-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes battle the fifth-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Fi

Spiders attempt to snare Musketeers in A-10 semifinals >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-seeded and 24th-ranked Xavier Musketeers do battle with the third-seeded Richmond Spiders in the semifinal round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament today at Boardwalk Hall. The winner of this game will

Tigers and Golden Lions collide for SWAC crown >>
Bossier City, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game will take place this evening at the CenturyTel Center, when the second-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions battle the fifth-seeded Texas S

Utah State and New Mexico State battle for WAC supremacy >>
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Utah State tries to make it back-to- back Western Athletic Conference Tournament titles tonight as the squad clashes with the New Mexico State Aggies in the 27th-annual event at the Lawlor Events Center in

49ers aim for record fifth Big West title against top-seeded Gauchos >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long Beach State tries to raise its total of Big West Conference Tournament titles to a record five, as the 49ers clash with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the championship round of the 35th-annual event at Anahe

Lumberjacks look to cut down Bearkats in Southland title game >>
Katy, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With an NCAA Tournament bid on the line, the top- seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats will battle the second-seeded Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game at the Merrell

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.