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07/10/2010 -
NEW YORK (AP) -When Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones had back spasms after one night in the team hotel in New York, his solution was easy: sleep on the floor.
Jones was back in the starting lineup in Saturday's 4-0 victory over the New York Mets after sitting out the previous night. He has spent two nights on the floor in his room and said he plans to also sleep there Saturday night.
``I don't have a problem with any of the other beds in the league except these,'' he said.
Jones said he was still bothered by his back Saturday. During one play in the infield, he let a ball go through his legs. He also said it hurt more to swing right-handed than left-handed.
But Jones said he has made adjustments for the pain.
``It was doable today,'' he said.
Manager Bobby Cox said before the game - perhaps jokingly - that the beds were uncomfortable.
Jones was booed during pregame introductions and each at-bat. He entered Saturday's game batting .319 with 42 home runs in his career against the Mets. He scored one run and had two hits in the Braves' second consecutive win against the Mets.
He isn't the only Braves player dealing with injuries.
Rookie outfielder Jason Heyward is on the 15-day disabled list because of a deep bone bruise in his left thumb that will keep him out of the All-Star game.
Heyward was scheduled to take batting practice with Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday night. He will travel to Anaheim, where the All-Star game will be held Tuesday. Heyward will not play, but will take batting practice Monday and Tuesday.
``Hopefully, he'll be back after the break,'' Cox said. ``But we don't know until he starts swinging.''
Braves outfielder Nate McLouth started a rehab assignment with Gwinnett on Friday night, going 1 for 3 against Charlotte. He's been out since June 9, when he collided with Heyward chasing a fly ball and hurt his head.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Dutch, Spain both eye history-making victory
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - History will be made at Soccer
City on Sunday in the final of the FIFA World Cup as either the Netherlands or
Spain will claim its first-ever World Cup title.
One of the two sides will becom
<< Soto and Castro carry Cubs past Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geovany Soto and Aramis Ramirez homered
and the Cubs scored six times in the first three innings to land a 7-3 win
against the Dodgers in the continuation of a four-game series from Chavez
Ravine.
<< Hudson dominates Mets
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Hudson's RBI double punctuated a four-run
fifth inning that propelled the Atlanta Braves to a 4-0 win over the New York
Mets.
Hudson (9-4) was masterful on the mound, limiting New York to four hits i
<< Wilcox leads by one in Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Wilcox fired an eight-under 64 Saturday
to grab a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Dakota Dunes Casino Open.
Wilcox completed 54 holes at 19-under-par 197 to break the three-round
tourn
Opportunistic Earthquakes edge Union >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes earned an
opportunistic 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer
action at PPL Park on Saturday evening.
The win was made possible because of a num
Awesome Gem edges Rail Trip to win Hollywood Gold Cup >>
Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Awesome Gem, ridden by David Flores, found
room along the rail and was able to hold off defending champ Rail Trip to
capture Saturday's $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park.
The seven-year-o
Heyward pulls out of All-Star Game >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Braves rookie right fielder Jason Heyward
won't play in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
Heyward, 20, was voted as a starter by the fans but is currently on the 15-day
disabled list with a thumb ailment. He
Furcal replaces Reyes on NL All-Star roster >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes will miss
the All-Star Game on Tuesday due to a strained right oblique.
Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal was chosen to replace Reyes and will make his
second appearance in
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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