No news on the NBA front – the home teams just keep winning. They’re up to 20-1 (15-5-1 ATS) in the second round after Thursday’s massive 99-80 victory. The only road team to win during the conference semifinals was Detroit, who beat Orlando in Game 4 without Chauncey Billups, earning the star point guard valuable time off to let his hamstring heal. He’s expected to be ready for the next round.

Detroit will be playing Boston if this pattern continues. The Celtics are up 3-2 going back to Cleveland for Friday’s Game 6. The Cavs lost point guard Daniel Gibson to a separated shoulder in Game 5, but were still able to finagle a payday out of the Garden to go 4-1 ATS against the C’s in this series.

Cleveland was a 3-point chalk at press time. Friday’s nightcap has the Los Angeles Lakers (+4) visiting the Utah Jazz with a chance to move on to the Western final.

Twenty-five-year-old tennis champion Justin Henin called it quits today, telling reporters at a news conference that she was burnt out and had lost that spark that keeps so many great players going.

“I always based everything on this motivation—this flame—that was in me. And once I lost that, I lost many, many things,” Henin said.

The Belgian pro has seven Grand Slam titles and has spent more than 100 weeks in the No. 1 spot. Although some may criticize Henin’s decision to retire from the sport just 1 1/2 weeks before the French Open (which she has won the last three times, four in total), she says it was a decision she had to inevitably accept.

“I decided to stop fooling myself and accept it,” she said.

Henin has 41 WTA singles titles to her credit and has collected more than U.S.$19 million in prize money over the course of her career. With the world No. 1 out of the running at this year’s French Open, Serena Williams is the 5/2 odds on favorite to win, with Maria Sharapova close behind at 5/1 odds to win the French Open.

The PGA The Players Championship ended Sunday and Sergio Garcia was the man who came out on top winning a grand total of $ 1,710,000.00. That’s some nice pocket change for winning the richest tournament in golf.

Garcia ended the longest victory drought of his career by making a clutch par putt to force a playoff and hitting the island-green 17th on the first extra hole to defeat Paul Goydos in The Players Championship.

Haunted by putting problems that kept him without a victory the past three years and 53 PGA TOUR events, Garcia came up with a 45-foot birdie on the 14th to get back in the game and a 7-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a 1-under 71.

“It’s been a lot of work,” Garcia said, clutching the crystal trophy. “It feels like the last three years I’ve been playing well. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to come around and win. This week, I played so nicely. It felt like everything was so hard. I’m just thrilled the week is over and I managed to finish on top.”

The wind this weekend was absolutely relentless and Garcia had never needed a win so badly. This 28 year old Spaniard has had the most PGA tour wins of people under 30.

In his victory speech he was also quoted and saying thanks to Tiger Woods for not playing due to his knee surgery. Without Tiger there he could have never won!

Maybe Danica Patrick was thinking back to her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue shoot when she ran over Charles Buckman? Probably not. Accidents do happen, right?

Charles Buckman, the chief mechanic for Mario Moraes’ No. 19 car, was struck by Danica Patrick’s car today during a practice run for the upcoming Indianapolis 500. Fortunately, Buckman’s injuries weren’t life threatening but he was taken to the hospital.

“I really don’t remember how it happened,” Buckman said. “All I remember is I was talking with someone on Marco Andretti’s team, and then everything is blank from that point. I will be OK and hopefully back to work in a day or two.”

Danica Patrick’s big win at the 2008 Indy Japan 300 made her the first woman to win an Indy car race.

“It’s really, really unfortunate what happened today,” Patrick said after the incident. “Thoughts and prayers are with him, with his family and hopefully he can get back on the track soon and be able to do what he loves.”

Looking for more on Danica Patrick? Check out this Fox Sports interview. Looking for Indy 500 odds and betting lines? Check out the Bodog Sportsbook.

With all the hoop-la surrounding last Saturday’s fight between De La Hoya and Forbes there is no better time then to release a modern pair of boxing gloves right?

That’s what Nintendo; the makers of Wii have just come out with, Boxing gloves. This new addition will strengthen the artificial results of the already created boxing games for Wii.

These little inflatable gloves are sure to give you the strength to kick some Golden Boy ass! Take that De La Hoya!

The NBA playoffs have already made for some riveting television. Tim Duncan hit a clutch 3-pointer to help the Spurs beat Phoenix in double overtime of their series opener. Chris Paul dropped a triple double on Jason Kidd and the Mavericks. Dwight Howard had three “20-20” games against the Raptors. And the Hawks beat the Celtics three times in Atlanta, proving yet again the value of playing in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Fans of other teams should take note.

So should front offices. Instead of keeping fans “entertained” at the arenas, actively bring in the kind of fan who provides that “sixth man” support Atlanta showed up with at Phillips Arena. It’s basketball, not a corporate family picnic.

Based on the difficulty Boston had beating the Hawks on the road, I like the L.A. Lakers (9-4 at press time) even more at that price to beat the Celtics (5-4) for the NBA title.

The Los Angeles Lakers are listed at 9/5 odds to win the NBA Championship.

Big Brown is turning into a rock star. Conventional media (perhaps with some prodding from UPS) is cranking up the hype machine in advance of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. The son of Danzig is priced at 4-1 to win, the same as Colonel John. Can we conclude that Big Brown is overvalued?

Not in horse racing. Picking the best horse in the field is a bit like picking the best painting in a gallery. Art critics will be universally drawn to a masterpiece; owners, trainers and jockeys feel the same way about Big Brown. He is a fantastic piece of genetic engineering, as Street Sense was last year. “He’s a major talent, possibly the best horse I’ve ridden,” jockey Kent Desormeaux told reporters after Big Brown’s majestic win at the Florida Derby.

Colonel John, meanwhile, is getting short odds despite racing on synthetic tracks in each of his six career races. How will he handle the dirt on Saturday?

Which university will have more players drafted in the first three rounds? Who will the St. Louis Rams go with as the No. 2 pick overall? Who will be the second QB drafted overall? So many questions, so little time left before the 2008 NFL Draft gets underway this weekend in New York!

Sportsbooks like Bodoglife.com have some pretty cool NFL Draft betting props up right now. Anyway, here are the (predicted) Top 100 NFL Draft picks:

1. Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU
Height: 6-1 1/2; Weight: 297

2. Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State
Height: 6-3; Weight: 266

3. Chris Long, DE, Virginia
Height: 6-3; Weight: 272

4. Jake Long, T, Michigan
Height: 6-7; Weight: 313

5. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
Height: 6-1 1/4; Weight: 211

6. Sedrick Ellis, DT, Southern Cal
Height: 6-0 1/2; Weight: 309

7. Keith Rivers, LB, Southern Cal
Height: 6-2 1/4; Weight: 241

8. Jonathan Stewart, RB, Oregon
Height: 5-10 1/4; Weight: 235

9. Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois
Height: 5-10 1/8; Weight: 225

10. Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville
Height: 6-2 7/8; Weight: 230
(more…)

Boston fans, take heart. Kevin Garnett won’t be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this year. But he’ll take home a more significant piece of hardware: the NBA Finals Award.

It’s within the realm of possibility that the Boston Celtics won’t win the NBA title. Their football brethren honked the Super Bowl after going 18-0, and there are sharks in the Western Conference waters. But at 5-4 odds (down from 3-2 at the start of the playoffs), the Celtics have a stranglehold on the championship futures market.

Garnett is Boston’s main man, respected in the press and the player most likely to get the Finals MVP vote. His main competition will come from his own teammates: Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. However, Boston’s scoring load has been evenly distributed all season, especially in the first round versus the Atlanta Hawks. If it stays that way, the Big Ticket won’t have to worry about split votes.

It’s no big secret that Miami is picking Michigan tackle Jake Long to be the No. 1 selection. The deal is done. But who will the St. Louis Rams pick as the No. 2 selection? The thinking is that the Rams will go with one of three options: LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Virginia defensive end Chris Long or they’ll trade for someone further down the field.

Who do you think will be the No. 2 selection? Sportsbooks everywhere have their NFL Draft betting props ready for the picking. Here’s the order for Round One:

1 Miami Dolphins
2 St. Louis Rams
3 Atlanta Falcons
4 Oakland Raiders
5 Kansas City Chiefs
6 New York Jets
7 New England Patriots
8 Baltimore Ravens
9 Cincinnati Bengals
10 New Orleans Saints
11 Buffalo Bills
12 Denver Broncos
13 Carolina Panthers
14 Chicago Bears
15 Detroit Lions
16 Arizona Cardinals
17 Kansas City Chiefs
18 Houston Texans
19 Philadelphia Eagles
20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21 Washington Redskins
22 Dallas Cowboys
23 Pittsburgh Steelers
24 Tennessee Titans
25 Seattle Seahawks
26 Jacksonville Jaguars
27 San Diego Chargers
28 Dallas Cowboys
29 San Francisco 49ers
30 Green Bay Packers
31 New York Giants