Junior misses playoffs but better times are coming

Autoracing Betting Lines

09/10/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a marathon of a season, but we have finally reached the "playoffs" with the 12 best driver/team combinations of 2007 ready to vie for the championship.

Unfortunately for his many faithful fans, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team is not one of the dozen, but it didn't deserve to be. "Junior" drove well in 2007, but he was let down by his No.8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. crew.

The regular season finale at Richmond was a microcosm of the season for the No.8 Chevrolet. Earnhardt Jr.'s qualifying run was just average (21st), he drove the wheels off his car to get it into the top-five, but just six laps before the checkered flag the engine imploded, ending his day too soon. It was the fifth time in 2007 that Earnhardt Jr.'s day ended due to engine failure.

In addition, the team was penalized 100 points when it put an illegal rear wing bracket on the COT prior to the race in May at Darlington. Those errors cost Earnhardt Jr. a place in the "Chase for the Nextel Cup," and a chance at a championship.

But all that should be a thing of the past as Earnhardt Jr. jumps to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. At HMS they have as much reliable horsepower as in any motor shop, they always seem to make the right race-day decisions and even when they receive a penalty they have what it takes to overcome it.

In 2007, Hendrick Motorsports has won 12 of the 26 races and earned 57 top-10s. They have the defending series champion in Jimmie Johnson and four- time series winner Jeff Gordon. Even outgoing Kyle Busch made this year's "Chase." They share information between the teams and are the "flagship" for their manufacturer - Chevrolet.

Now they will add the most popular and one of the most talented drivers to their already formidable stable - Earnhardt Jr.

Although "Junior" will no longer have to carry the team as he did at DEI, he will have a lot of pressure on him next year. He can no longer complain that his equipment isn't up to par, or that his team wasn't ready to win. At Hendrick Motorsports every team is expected to not only compete for the win, but to actually win - often.

It should be interesting to see how he performs in 2008. In fact, it should be a great season for Earnhardt Jr., possible even a title-winning one. At the very least, we should know whether "Junior" is worthy of the adulation that he inherited from his father.

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MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines

New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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