The United States is the favorite in the President’s Cup 2009 according to golf odds. Cole Hamels wife Heidi Strobel Hamels gone into labor and some top handicappers have picks on tonight’s Missouri-Nebraska game.

On the NFL injury front, Eli Manning missed practice again today for the NY Giants.

Colliding on the gridiron . . .

The lone college football contest on the Thursday schedule is a ranked matchup between No. 21 Nebraska and No. 24 Missouri. The Cornhuskers are coming off a 55-0 shutout of Louisiana-Lafayette, with Roy Helu rushing for 83 yards and two touchdowns. The Tigers beat Nevada 31-21 in their last game, as Blaine Gabbert connected on three scoring passes. Oddsmakers have Nebraska pegged as the 3-point road favorite for Thursday night, with a total of 53.5 points.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

It’ll be Jon Lester (15-8, 3.41 ERA) vs. John Lackey (11-8, 3.83 ERA) on Thursday night as the Red Sox and Angels begin their best-of-five ALDS in Los Angeles. Lefthander Lester excelled in his final tuneup for the playoffs, holding the Indians scoreless on two hits over 6 1-3 innings of work to grab the victory. Righthander Lackey went just two innings against the Rangers in his last trip to the mound, surrendering two runs on four hits. Lackey last won on September 20.

As well, both NLDS will hit Game 2 on Thursday, with Colorado leading late at Philadelphia and St. Louis at the Dodgers. Out west the Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw (8-8, 2.79 ERA) to the hill Thursday; the Cards go with Adam Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA).

The MasterLockLine is 89-52 this year in football betting. The Dutchman is a former professional tout who in 1996 retired to a Hawaiian getaway. However the Dutchman still bets up to $10,000 per game and in an EXCLUSIVE he must report by contractual agreement every 10K personal real money best bet. He releases about 15 or so per year. Missouri/Nebraska side

Sports service out of Midwest is the No. 1 all-time CFB service in units won. Their highest rated plays are Executive Plays. They are a remarkable 14-3 this year. Missouri/Nebraska over/under Click now to purchase sports betting picks from the top sports services or you can get more information and a free sports pick   

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

The NHL offers up a dozen games on Thursday, including the Red Wings looking to break into the win column against the division-rival Blackhawks. Detroit lost both of their season-opening games against St. Louis in Sweden, giving up nine goals in those two contests. Chicago is 1-0-1 after splitting a pair of games with Florida in Finland over the weekend. Patrick Kane had four points in two games.

Also on the ice on Thursday night: Anaheim at Boston, the Rangers at Washington, Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, the Islanders at Ottawa, Phoenix at Buffalo, New Jersey at Tampa Bay, Atlanta at St. Louis, Colorado at Nashville, Minnesota at Los Angeles, Calgary at Edmonton, and Columbus at San Jose. The Sharks are a disappointing 1-2 to kick off the 2009/10 campaign, and they fell 6-4 to the Kings on Tuesday. Dany Heatley has five points over three games.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

Finally, the 2009 Presidents Cup gets underway on Thursday, with the United States pegged as the -280 Vegas favorite on their own soil. The International team is the +240 underdog for the event at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will lead an American team that also includes Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, and Jim Furyk. Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, and Mike Weir highlight the International team, which doesn’t include Europeans.

Looking at the Twins vs Yankees odds, it’s easy to see to the heavy hitters are. In NASCAR, it’s the same as we head to the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California as Jimmie Johnson, a California native, as dominated the fall race on the West Coast. Who else should you watch in the fourth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup?

California Odds – Sunday, October 11, 3:15 PM ET

Jimmie Johnson (+350) – The No.48 driver has three wins in his home state, including the last two fall races. He led 228 laps last year, became the first driver to win from the pole at California, and he came in ninth in the spring race that was won by Matt Kenseth earlier this year. After last week’s slip-up that possibly cost Johnson a win, instead settling for ninth at Kansas, look for the No.48 Chevy to be on the prowl this week.

Jeff Gordon (+500) – Gordon, also a California boy, is one of three drivers with Johnson and Kenseth with three wins on the West Coast, and his second-place finish to Kenseth in the spring race was his ninth top-five in 18 trips to California. His 10.9 average is fifth among active drivers, and he may have sparked his Chase chances in your sports book with a runner-up finish to Tony Stewart at Kansas last week.

Mark Martin (+500) – The points leader has an 18-point lead over Hendrick teammate Johnson after a seventh-place run at Kansas, and he won this race back in 1998. Martin has seven top-10s in 16 California races, but he suffered an engine failure in the spring. 

Greg Biffle (+800) – The No.16 driver has a victory at California, taking the spring race in 2005, and he finished fourth here in the spring. Biffle had the dominant car at Kansas, leading 113 laps, and it seemed to work better on two tires than on four. Biffle is Roush-Fenway’s best title hope, and we’re betting management at RFR thinks the same.

Juan Pablo Montoya (+1000) – This is the driver to watch throughout the Chase: Montoya said that they’d race for wins once they got to this point, and he has three top-fives in a row. Once he gets a win on an oval under his belt, there’s no telling how good this team can be.

Sports Picks – He has the best starting average, and the best finishing average at California. Until further notice, Jimmie Johnson is the king at Auto Club Speedway.

What a day! The MLB playoffs are here and Missouri hosts Nebraska in one of the better Thursday night football games in some time. Nebraska is a 3.5 point favorite with a total of 50.5. Some sportsbooks have Missouri +3.5 at just -105.

Who is hot and who has the big plays? We will start out with the best in the land ever: GodsTips led by Grandmaster sports handicapper Joe Duffy.

MLB steam! It’s that time of the year—GodsTips is ramping it up with more data and we are 9-3 the last 12 in football. Get the Thursday night football Nebraska-Missouri side and both remaining MLB playoff picks, fresh of an MLB sweep yesterday. Click now to purchase GodsTips.

Now to power of 620 sports services behind every selection, the MasterLockLine, which is 89-52 with all football betting picks going back to the NFL preseason. Here is today’s sports service rundown.

MASTERLOCKLINE EXCLUSIVE: The Dutchman is a former professional tout who in 1996 retired to a Hawaiian getaway. However the Dutchman still bets up to $10,000 per game and in an EXCLUSIVE he must report by contractual agreement every 10K personal real money best bet. He releases about 15 or so per year. Missouri/Nebraska side

Sports service out of Midwest is the No. 1 all-time CFB service in units won. Their highest rated plays are Executive Plays. They are a remarkable 14-3 this year. Missouri/Nebraska over/under

Baseball service out of Detroit became the first service EVER to have three straight MLB seasons in which they won at least 40 units (one unit per bet) in 2006-08. We ride history in 2009. Their Mandated Bets have an unprecedented rate of return of any sports service rated bets in any sport. The Phillies win yesterday now it’s the Twins/Yankees

Silk City Sports out of Rhode Island rates plays 500, 750 and 1,000*s, No. 1 all-time runline handicapper. Already 1-0 with 1,000* in the postseason with runlines, another 1000* runline today

Now to the man that has the bookmakers back-peddling, Stevie Vincent AKA the Great One. Stevie Vincent is light years ahead of the bookmakers thanks to groundbreaking forensic sports handicapping. Unload with his Level 5 side for Missouri/Nebraska and a Level 5 pro baseball over/under. His entire card is $40 at OffshoreInsiders.com.

Why do his plays cost more than anyone else? Vincent shows gamblers get what they pay for.

Now to the winningest handicapper on a large network of websites handicapper Matt Rivers.

2-0 with my 300,000* including: Washington (+19) OUTRIGHT vs. USC
Maryland (+ 12 ½) OUTRIGHT vs. Clemson. This play is even more power and it is being released early for a reason. Get down on this first ever 400,000 star NFL Dog of My Life before the lines moves. Yesterday Matt nails his only play on the Phillies.

Thursday 75,000* NL Playoff Lock plus bonus lock. 75,000* St. Louis–Los Angeles. 50,000* Nebraska-Missouri. Yes, if you got the NFL Dog of My Life, log back in for the Thursday card Click now to purchase any or all of the above.

UNIVERSAL PASS: Get total access to the “Bet It Trinity”: Stevie Vincent’s BetonSports360, and the MasterLockLine, and Joe Duffy’s GodsTips for just $64 per pick and even less for long-term pick packs.

Are you looking for the Rockies-Phillies broadcast or do you need game tickets to the Cardinals-Dodgers, Red Sox-Angels? The Guy Store has tickets for this game or if you would rather listen to it at home, sign up for the Sirius/XM package and get your FatHeads as well. 

The MLB odds has Cole Hamels -155 to Aaron Cook. BetUs Sportsbook has the total of 8.5.

Herta Muller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of the top sportsbooks Paddy Power has Nobel Peace Prize odds: Seema Samur as the favorite, followed by Piedad Cordoba, Hu Jia, and Ghazi bin Muhammad.

The Nobel Prize has become notoriously left-leaning, rarely missing a chance to take a political potshot at George W. Bush. Hence US President Barack Obama would be a reasonable long shot at 14/1.

Today’s free pick comes from legendary tipster handicapper Matt Rivers. Boston minus 110 at Anaheim at BetUs Sportsbook.
 
It’s certainly not easy to travel across the country and deal with Mike Scioscia’s Angels but I love Jon Lester and at this near pick-em price I’m all about the visitors.
 
John Lackey is a really good pitcher and at times a total bulldog who will eat up innings and dominate. But something lately has not been right with the righthander and to get a stud in Lester and the Sox at this price is definitely fine with me.
 
Boston did not play great at times down the stretch, I understand that, but they are still a very deep and dangerous team with Pedroia, Ellsbury, Bay, Lowell, Big Papi and a few others and will be just fine today. Lackey does not seem right of late as he has allowed 12 earned runs and 21 hits in his last 13 innings. In the last start he left after two innings and allowed a pair of runs on four hits. I just do not think this guy can match the dominant Southpaw that Boston is throwing out there.
 
Lester is a total stud and being a lefty certainly does not hurt against the running and small ball team which the Angels are. I’m not saying that Vlad, Abreu, Napoli or Hunter can’t go deep because without a doubt they can but the Halos are built around running the bases and being pesky with a guy in Chone Figgins leading the way.
 
Anaheim could win this series and I would not be too shocked but Jon Lester is awesome and I flat out just do not trust Lackey at this point, period, end of story!

For more information: The Living Legend Matt Rivers is 2-0 with my 300,000* including: Washington (+19) OUTRIGHT vs. USC; Maryland (+ 12 ½) OUTRIGHT vs. Clemson. This play is even more power and it is being released early for a reason. Get down on this first ever 400,000 star NFL Dog of My Life before the lines moves. Yesterday Matt nails his only play on the Phillies.

Thursday 75,000* NL Playoff Lock plus bonus lock. 75,000* St. Louis–Los Angeles. 50,000* Nebraska-Missouri. Yes, if you got the NFL Dog of My Life, log back in for the Thursday card Click now to purchase