[CNOTES]

Daily Sports Roundup

Monday, November 9

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Spurs play host to the Raptors, the Tar Heels get their season underway, and the Steelers hit the gridiron versus Denver.

Colliding on the gridiron . . .

The Broncos play host to the Steelers on Monday night in the week's marquee NFL matchup. The Broncos (6-1 SU, 6-1 ATS) are coming off their first loss of the season, as they fell 30-7 in Baltimore last week. Kyle Orton went 23-of-37 for 152 yards passing in that loss, with no TD passes and no interceptions. Knowshon Moreno ran for 39 yards on 10 carries and found the end zone once.

Pittsburgh (5-2 SU, 2-5 ATS) got past Minnesota 27-17 in their last contest, as Ben Roethlisberger completed 14-of-26 pass attempts for 175 yards with one TD strike. Mike Wallace caught three passes for 72 yards and a touchdown in that win. The oddsmakers have the Steelers listed as 3-point road favorites for Monday night's matchup, while the total for the contest has been pegged at 40.

Tipping off on the hardwood . . .

The NBA has five games on tap for Monday, with Utah at New York, Minnesota at Golden State, New Orleans at the Clippers, Phoenix at Philadelphia, and Toronto at San Antonio. The Raptors fell to 3-3 on the season with a 129-101 loss to the Mavericks on Saturday; Chris Bosh had 26 points and 12 boards in that loss. The Spurs are now 2-3 on the year after losing to Portland 96-84 on Friday night. Richard Jefferson tossed in a team-high 19 points for San Antonio.

As well, the college basketball schedule gets underway Monday with four games on the slate - Alcorn State at No. 16 Ohio State, Albany at Syracuse, Murray State at No. 13 California, and also Florida International at No. 6 North Carolina.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

Finally, there's just one game on the National Hockey League schedule for Monday night, with Los Angeles at Chicago. The 10-5-2 Kings fell 3-1 to Nashville in their last game on Saturday, with Dustin Brown providing the team's only goal. Jon Quick stopped 22 of 25 Predators shots in that defeat. The 8-5-2 Blackhawks fell 4-3 in a shootout to Colorado on Friday night. Dustin Byfuglien, Duncan Keith, and Andrew Ladd had the goals for the Hawks in Friday's defeat.

[CNOTES]

Bettor's best friend: Today's helpful tips

Monday, November 9

Put it in park

The San Antonio Spurs likely will be without guard Tony Parker vs. Toronto due to a sore left ankle. Parker, averaging a team-high 14.8 points, will be replaced in the starting lineup by George Hill. The Spurs are favored by 6.5 points with a total of 202.

This one counts

Syracuse plays its season opener vs. Albany and is favored by 20.5 points. The line opened as large as 24 points at some books and has been bet down, presumably due to the Orange's inexplicable exhibition home loss to Division II LeMoyne last week that exposed some defensive lapses. Syracuse lost starters Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris from last year's NCAA Tournament squad.

All that Jazz

Coming off a home loss to Sacramento the Utah Jazz begin a four-game road trip against the New York Knicks. The home team has won the last seven meetings, and the Knicks have covered the last nine, eight of them as an underdog. New York is getting four points but is just 1-6 against the sprwad this season. The total is 210.

Not so great Scott

LSU will be without leading rusher Charles Scott for the rest of the season due to a fractured collarbone. Scott, who has 542 yards and four TDs, was hurt on a long run in Saturday's loss to Alabama. His carries likely will be divvied up among Keiland Williams and Russell Shepard. Next week, the Tigers have Louisiana Tech, which nearly upset Boise State. No line has been established.

The state of Ward

The reeling Carolina Hurricanes will be without goalie Cam Ward for four weeks due to a cut near his groin. Carolina (2-11-3) already is without playmaker Eric Staal for another 1-3 weeks. The Hurricanes have not scored more than two goals in their last seven games and have lost a dozen in a row overall since Oct. 9. They host Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Good news, bad news

The good news is the Denver Nuggets went 5-2 without supersub J.R. Smith, who was serving a seven-game league suspension and returns Tuesday at Chicago. The bad news is that the two losses were games that forward Kenyon Martin missed all or part of due to a bone bruise in his left leg. Martin is day-to-day. There is no line yet, but Denver lost by double digits as a 1.5-point favorite last season at Chicago.

Pondering a sub QB

Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, among the national leaders in total offense, has a separated right shoulder and will miss Saturday's game at Wake Forest. Ponder has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 2,716 yards, 14 TDs and seven interceptions. The junior will be replaced by redshirt freshman E.J. Manuel, who is 1-of-4 for four yards this season. FSU (4-5) is 2-7 against the spread and 7-2 vs. the over. The Seminoles are getting 4.5 points from the Demon Deacons.

Losing a bit of their bite

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry may be out for the season with a broken left forearm suffered in Sunday's win over the Baltimore Ravens. Henry was averaging a team-high 19.7 yards per catch playing in multiple receiver packages. The Bengals (6-2) have a half-game lead over Pittsburgh (5-2) atop the AFC North. They visit the Steelers next week. No line has been established.

Notable quotable

"That's like getting stabbed in the heart right there. You grind it out for like 10 minutes and finally score, and then in like a minute and a half we come right back."

-- New England Patriots guard Logan Mankins, describing Randy Moss' go-ahead 71-yard touchdown catch that came three plays after a 10-minute TD drive by Miami and propelled the Pats to a 27-17 victory.

[CNOTES]

Six-pack for Monday

-- TCU is now lurking 4th in BCS standings behind Texas, Alabama, Florida; it is conceivable Frogs could play for the national title.

-- Florida State QB Ponder will miss the Wake Forest game this week with a shoulder injury.

-- Notre Dame's defense ranks 83rd out of 120 I-A teams.

-- Cleveland Browns supposedly targeted Mike Holmgren as their #1 choice to head up their football operations.

-- Asante Samuel's first name means "thank you" in Swahili.

-- Jimmie Johnson wrecked on Lap 3, and his lead dropped from 184 to 73 points over Mark Martin with two weeks left in NASCAR.

[CNOTES]

Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday.......

13) TV analysts like to quote QB ratings like they are gospel; but to me, QBs are judged by a) Do they protect the ball? b) Do they move chains to improve field position? c) Are they productive in the red zone? and most importantly, d) What are they like in the 2:00 drill, with the game on the line? That is when QBs are made, not on the stat sheet.

12) Case in point, Philip Rivers in the Swamp Sunday night, as he led the Chargers 80 yards on eight plays in 1:46 for the winning TD. That was the personification of what makes a quarterback great. Not can he manage the game, handing off to a great runner-- given protection, can he carry the team on his shoulders and win the game? Rivers did Sunday.

11) Cardinals had 13 first downs on their first 20 plays in Chicago.....

10) Tom Brady is now 20-0 in Foxboro since they tore up the grass and put down FieldTurf.

9) I'm in the minority on this, but I like the Bucs' original uniforms.

8) Ravens have to sort out their kicking situation; they lost to Vikings because of it, and they lost a chance to tie Cincinnati because of it- they missed a 37-yard FG with 6:12 left that would have made it 17-10.

7) Why does the NFL throw flags for players celebrating, but Lambeau Leap is allowed? I'm just asking.......

6) Vince Young is now 20-11 as an NFL starter. Not too bad.

5) If I were a Packer fan, it wouldn't bother me that management let #4 walk; it would bother me a lot that the offensive line and special teams are a freaking joke. Bucs scored five TDs Sunday; a blocked punt, INT, and drives of 8 and 17 yards were our of them. Packers led 28-14 with 12:54 left, still lost by 10. To a previously winless team. Not good.

4) Lets check how teams did on first drive of each half: On the 1st drive of the game, teams scored six TDs, three FGs in four tries, turned ball over four times, punted nine times, lost ball on downs once. PPP: 4.25.

First drive of third quarter, teams scored six TDs, two FGs, three INTs and 13 punts. Points per possession: 4.00. Over was 6-6 Sunday.

3) Lions led 17-0 after the first quarter but couldn't cover as a 10-point dog, as Stafford threw his fifth pick of game, which was returned for TD with 0:22 left, giving Seattle a 32-20 win and Detroit investors a bad beat they won't soon forget. One of the worst I've ever seen.

2) If I were advising a gambler on how to win in the NFL, I'd tell him or her to wait until at least noon on Sunday; there is so much infornation now that comes in on injuries that is critical, that it is almost foolish to invest before you gather as much info as possible.

1) Case in point was Raven-Bengal game today; Baltimore DT Ngata was declared out of game around noon; he is a key part of DL, keeping enemy blockers away from Raven linebackers. Without Ngata, Ravens' defense against the run is greatly compromised. As soon as that was announced, Ravens became unplayable, Bengals became live.