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Rangers’ Hamilton sits for 1st time since HR tear (Yahoo! Sports)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) The Texas Rangers were set for a rare weekday afternoon sellout, fueled by thousands of schoolchildren getting a break from their routine. Manager Ron Washington figures the kids would like to see Josh Hamilton in October, too, so he sat Hamilton and stuck with his plan to rest his key starters. Hamilton was out of Thursday’s lineup against Oakland, his first absence since a hot streak that vaulted him to the major league lead in all three Triple Crown categories. He was the last of five Rangers players to sit during a four-game stretch that ended against the A’s. ”It was as simple as it was to give the rest of them a day off,” Washington said. ”Those are the guys that’s going to take us where we have to go.” The former AL MVP has cooled off some since hitting .467 (14 of 30) with two doubles, nine homers and 18 RBIs over seven games. The run was sparked by the 16th four-homer game in major league history May 8 at Baltimore. Homerless in his past four games, Hamilton still has a 16-game hitting streak, longest in the majors this year. He entered Thursday leading all of baseball in average (.404), homers (18) and RBIs (45). During a pair of two-game series against Kansas City and Oakland, Rangers manager Ron Washington has already rested Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz. The Rangers were swept by the Royals but had a chance to sweep the A’s on Thursday. Texas is in the middle of a stretch of 20 games in 20 days. The Rangers got a break with a rainout in Baltimore last week, but had to play a doubleheader the next day. Their next scheduled off day is May 24. ”I’m not used to days off,” said Young, who sat Wednesday and was the DH in Hamilton’s traditional third spot in the order Thursday. ”I like to get out there every day. But rest if always a good thing.” Hamilton, who didn’t appear in the clubhouse when it was open to reporters before Thursday’s game, left early April 29 against Tampa Bay because of back spasms. He missed the next three games at Toronto, but his absence appeared precautionary because the Rangers were playing a rare series on artificial turf. The four-time All-Star played only 89 games in 2009 because of an abdominal tear and a pinched nerve in his back. He missed a month of his MVP season in 2010 with broken ribs after crashing into an outfield wall making a catch. He was out six weeks last year after he broke a bone in his arm diving headfirst trying to score on a foul popout, and had surgery for a sports hernia after the World Series. Hamilton led the AL with 130 RBIs in 2008, his first season with the Rangers. He led the league with a .359 average in 2010, when the Rangers won their first AL pennant.

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Wimbledon set to be bathed in color for Olympics (Yahoo! Sports)
ROME (AP) Wimbledon’s all-white dress code won’t be in place for the Olympics. And the traditional dark green backdrop around the courts will be gone, too. ”The look will be the look of the games. There will be more color. It will be a special Wimbledon,” International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ”The rule for clothing will be the rule for the Olympics, so there will be much more color in terms of what the players wear, too. ”Some people might not like it, but I think the majority will,” Ricci Bitti added. ”It will be memorable.” Venus Williams, who has won three Olympic gold medals, is embracing the opportunity to wear something different at the All England Club. ”It’s the Olympics and so at that point it won’t be Wimbledon, so that’s what makes it different,” Williams said. ”We’ll be wearing team colors. Red, white and blue all the way – and hopefully gold.” Williams swept gold in singles and doubles – with sister Serena – at the 2000 Sydney Games, then won doubles again with Serena in 2008 in Beijing. In London, she could aim for three more medals, with mixed doubles also on the program. Ricci Bitti said the most difficult thing with hosting Olympic tennis at Wimbledon has been setting up better security, noting that there will be separate entrances for players and fans.

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Tour Report: Garcia has colorful round (PGA Tour)
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — If there’s one thing Sergio Garcia is, it’s entertaining. At least his scorecard was on Saturday. On a breezy morning at TPC Sawgrass, Garcia made seven pars, eight birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey in a round of 68 (click here to replay) that moved him at least to the peripherary of contention at 4 under with one round to go in THE PLAYERS Championship. “I don’t know,” Garcia said when asked how he quickly turned his day around following a double bogey on the par-5 second and bogey on the par-4 fourth. “I guess if I had all the answers, I would have tried to play the front a little better.” After a birdie on the ninth to make the turn in 1 over, he certainly played the back nine well. Garcia made birdies at the 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th. He played his last 10 holes in 6 under. ”The beautiful thing about this course is that if you play well, and you hit your spots, you can shoot a good number,” said Garcia, who won here in 2008 after finishing second a year earlier. In all, he has five finishes in the top 15 here. “The same way that you’re a little bit off and you start hitting shots the wrong way, you can post a lot of big numbers.” Whether Garcia can win his second PLAYERS Championship might depend on more than his score, however. The Spaniard tweaked his knee prior to his third round and was headed to the trailer to have it looked at. ”That’s the most thing that I’m concerned about at the moment,” he said. “It [feels] like a needle underneath the knee. Hopefully it will feel good [Sunday].”

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Charles, Jones not looking ahead to Olympics (The Associated Press)
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Asjha Jones is already having a big year. The Connecticut Sun forward earned Euroleague Final Eight MVP honors and last month became the final player selected for the U.S. Olympic team. The 31-year-old, who won two national championships at UConn, opened her 11th WNBA training camp Tuesday, and said there is not much more left on her basketball bucket list. ”There’s only two more things to accomplish for me, that is to win it all here and to win a gold medal in the Olympics,” she said. ”Other than those two things, I think my career has been pretty good.” Jones, who averaged over 13 points and six rebounds for the Sun last year, is expecting to make a run at both remaining goals this summer. But with the Sun coming off a 21-15 year and a first-round playoff loss to Atlanta, she and fellow Olympian Tina Charles say their focus now is on the WNBA season. ”As an athlete and as you mature, you know where to put your priorities,” said Charles, who averaged almost 18 points and 11 rebounds last season for the Sun. ”When July roles around, then my focus will be on the Olympics and what Coach (Geno) Auriemma expects out of me and my role on that team. ”And then when August gets back, my focus is back on the Connecticut Sun.” Jones and Charles will take a break for just a couple of days later this month to join their Olympic teammates in Washington. They will be back a week before the May 19 season opener in New York. Sun coach Mike Thibault, who was an assistant on the 2008 Olympic team, said he doesn’t expect the games to become much of a distraction. ”Once you’re into our season, I don’t think you think about the Olympic stuff until it gets a little bit closer,” he said. ”The biggest distraction for them is going to be logistics and getting family over there and all of that. But USA Basketball is really good about helping the players get those kind of logistics taken care of.” Connecticut is not the only team with multiple players leaving for London. Minnesota has three players on Team USA, while Chicago also has two. Seattle and Atlanta also have more than one player in the Olympics, and there are players from the U.S. and abroad missing time from nearly every team in the league. Thibault said he plans to treat the break like a college bowl game, giving his players the first 10 days to rest, the second 10 days to start getting back in condition, and the last 10 as another training camp. ”Probably the down side for us,” he said, ”is that you have two key players for us who won’t be here in your practices the last 10 to 12 days before we restart.” But guard Kara Lawson, who won a gold medal in 2008, said she’s not worried about Charles and Jones missing that time. ”As WNBA players, we’re used to weird seasons and this happening every four years,” she said. ”The main thing is that if you are injured it gives your team a chance to rest up and get healthy.” Jones, who has battled Achilles problems, said she worries about getting injured, but is more concerned about the toll the WNBA season will take on her body, rather than the extra weeks she will spend in London. ”When it comes to the Olympic team, how many minutes am I really going to play,” she asked. ”I mean no one’s going to play a substantial amount where they are worn out, beat down. I know Coach Auriemma knows better than to try to (wear out) people in practice. ”He knows better than that. Who has time for that?”

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NFL Playoff Wagering Consensus
NFL Conference Round Consensus Betting Banner -Online Sports Bettingat Bodog Sportsbook NFL Football Game Picks Super Bowl 46 ATS Pick Super Bowl 46 Quarterback Props Super Bowl MVP Odds Weird Super Bowl 46 Prop Bets Giants at 49ers ATS Pick Ravens vs. Patriots Spread Pick Broncos vs. Patriots Spread Pick NY Giants vs. Green Bay ATS Pick Houston vs. Baltimore ATS Pick New Orleans vs. San Francisco ATS Pick Pittsburgh vs. Denver ATS Pick Atlanta vs. NY Giants ATS Pick Detroit vs. New Orleans ATS Pick Cincinnati vs. Houston ATS Pick Bettors Toolbox 2011 NFL Betting Trends 2011 Strength Of Schedule Free Office Football Picks NFL Handicapper’s Database Weather Forecasts NFL Future Odds AFC East Odds AFC West Odds AFC South Odds AFC North Odds NFC West Odds NFC East Odds NFC South Odds NFC North Odds Super Bowl Odds Rookie of the Year Odds Top Defensive Rookie Most Passing Yards Most Rushing Yards Most Receiving Yards NFL Handicapping Halftime Betting Tips Strategy for Wagering NFL Totals Sandwhich Game Handicapping Theory 8 Myths about Betting on Football NFL Key Numbers Halftime Betting Preseason Betting Football Gambling – How to Win Overlooked Handicapping Tools NFL Betting Basics

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Aaron’s 499 (Yahoo! Sports)
Who Will Win? Harvick Kevin Harvick: This is a total crapshoot, so why not go with an RCR Chevy? Harvick is one of the strongest drivers at NASCAR’s longest track and should be a fixture near the front all day. Unless of course, he’s taken out in “The Big One.” – Nick Bromberg Tony Stewart: After getting a potential win taken because of a water bottle, it’s fair to say Smoke heads to Talladega a bit angry. And an angry Smoke is a motivated Smoke, and a motivated Smoke usually gets what he wants which, in this case, will be a third victory of the season. – Jay Hart Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Oh, why not? Dude is running second in points, he’s got the entire grandstand behind him and Talladega is a wait-till-the-last-lap crapshoot anyway. Junior is running well enough to get up front and smart enough to stay up front. Is this, at last, the weekend it all comes together?. – Jay Busbee Top storyline • The storyline of the weekend may not happen Sunday, but Saturday when Danica Patrick will likely be a factor in the Nationwide race. If she wins – which is entirely possible – it would trump all else, including a Junior win Sunday. – Jay Hart • Qualifying will be crucial. We’re all just itching for some wreckage, aren’t we? Talladega, like Daytona this year, could give us some opening-laps carnage, which means that it’s essential to qualify well and stay ahead of most of the pack. There’ll be at least one big name caught up early this weekend the way Jimmie Johnson was at Daytona, bet on it. – Jay Busbee • If you thought Richmond had high expectations, then Talladega’s are even higher. The new restrictor plate package brought the pack back at Daytona, but the 500 wasn’t the most thrilling as plate races go. How many crashes and lead changes will it take to satiate the cries for excitement? No matter how exciting Talladega is, will we even find that satiation point? – Nick Bromberg From The Source Carl Edwards: “We don’t have any points to give up so we will go with a different attitude I am sure than my teammates. That is one race that scares our team because we don’t want to be 15th in points right now. We want to be up there marching toward the top five.”

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All rise … the honorable Judge Warren Sapp presiding
Getty ImagesAre you having trouble deciding whether or not Janine, who failed out of beauty school, owes money to Stephen, who’s never worn long pants before today, for not paying back money she borrowed from his Aunt Dotty for a really good deal on cigarettes? Well, now you can ask seven-time Pro Bowler Warren Sapp. Joining a list of immortals that includes Judge Judy, Judge Wapner and Judge Reinhold, Warren Sapp will now sit behind a big fake judge’s desk and wear a big fake judge’s robe in the middle of the weekday. That’s according to Media Rantz, who uncovered several bits of evidence that “Judge Sapp” is already filming. Perhaps most telling was this call for audience members to sit and be paid to watch Judge Sapp dispense justice. Sapp is an analyst on the NFL Network (though he wasn’t seen working at the NFL draft and his contract is expiring in August) and he recently filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida. At the time, he also said he feared being sued by Jeremy Shockey, who Sapp said was responsible for blowing the whistle on the Saints bounty system. [omg!: 'Octomom' files for bankruptcy, delays auction of home] But if it turns out that Sapp is really good at the TV judge thing, it could solve all of his financial problems. I’m sure he’s a long way from this, but Judge Judy is currently pulling in $45 million a year for yelling at people. I’m of the opinion that Sapp did good work on the NFL Network, but I don’t know if he’s the guy I’d seek out for a fair and reasonable ruling on a dispute. “Yes, the court has determined that since Mr. Clifton happened to be looking in the other direction, it was perfectly acceptable to destroy his pelvis.” Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:• Martin Rogers: Shane Mosley vows to make Saul Alvarez pay for overconfidence• Jason Cole: Dolphins, Steelers score high AFC draft grades | NFC grades• Adrian Wojnarowski: Andrew Bynum reaches new level of dominance for Lakers

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Vezina Trophy finalists: Lundqvist, Quick, Rinne (Yahoo! Sports)
NEW YORK (AP) Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers, Jonathan Quick of the Kings and Pekka Rinne of the Predators are the finalists for the NHL’s Vezina Trophy for best goaltender. The league announced the finalists Wednesday. The winner will be announced June 20 at the NHL awards ceremony in Las Vegas. Lundqvist led the Rangers to the most points in the Eastern Conference, going 39-18-5 in 62 appearances with a 1.97 goals-against average. He is the first goaltender in NHL history to record 30-plus wins in each of his first seven seasons. Quick set a franchise record with 10 shutouts for Los Angeles, and was second in the NHL with a 1.95 goals-against average. Rinne went 43-18-8 for Nashville. He also was a Vezina finalist last season, finishing second to Boston’s Tim Thomas.

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