Duval boots 7 FGs as Als rout Hamilton

Football Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal kicker Damon Duval tied a career-high with seven field goals as he helped lead the Alouettes to a commanding 37-14 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival Molson Stadium.

Duval finished the night with 22 points as Montreal (3-1) logged its third straight win after losing the season opener to Saskatchewan in overtime, 54-51.

Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo also had a strong outing as he converted 28-of-38 passing for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns, getting his team into the end zone for the first time in six quarters when he struck in the fourth period.

Kevin Glenn, who was named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after completing 29-of-36 passes for 336 yards with three touchdowns in a 28-7 decision over Winnipeg, hit on 16-of-32 for 201 yards for the Tiger-Cats (1-3) before being pulled in favor of Quinton Porter late in the contest.

Duval started off the night's scoring for the Alouettes with a pair of field goals in the first half, converting tries of 24 and 47 yards to provide the home team with a 6-0 advantage.

Hamilton and Sandro DeAngelis finally responded when the kicker knocked through a 19-yard effort, capping a 16-play, 64-yard drive.

In the second period Duval struck again for the Als, this time on a 27-yard effort, making the score 9-6.

DeAngelis took his turn later in the frame, booting a 27-yard field goal, but shortly after Duval added a 61-yard single to make the score 10-6 at the break.

Montreal struck first in the second half as well when Duval made good on a 45- yard field goal try.

On the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing Hamilton possession, John Bowman stripped Glenn of the ball and the Als recovered, putting them in prime position for a major. Unfortunately, yet another Montreal drive stalled prematurely and Duval was called upon to convert a 22-yard attempt, making the score 16-6.

"We had to show everyone that we can play football up front," Bowman said after the game. "We knew we had to give our offense a chance. We had a rough first half, but we gave them enough to change in the second...especially when it was 13-6 with what was my forced fumble on Kevin Glenn."

A blocked punt and subsequent recovery by Montreal's Michael Giffin once more gave the Als the ball deep in Hamilton territory, but once again Duval was brought in to convert a 21-yard field goal.

"I hate to see a blocked punt at a crucial time in the game," Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille lamented. "The forced fumble by John Bowman was a big play...for whatever reason the play broke down."

Finally Calvillo and the Montreal offense broke through in the fourth quarter when the signal-caller threw off his back foot and found Kerry Watkins with a 32-yard score. A two-point conversion toss to S.J. Green made the score 27-6 with under 13 minutes to play in the contest.

Another stalled drive by Montreal brought out Duval who knocked through a 45- yard field goal to push the score to 30-6.

Hamilton turned to Porter to supply some energy and he responded by finding Arland Bruce III with a 16-yard TD strike, with a pass to Maurice Mann on the two-point conversion cutting the deficit to 30-14 with under six minutes remaining.

Following the three-minute warning, Avon Cobourne weaved his way on a 16-yard run down to the one-yard line for the Als, but a penalty on the next snap moved the ball back to the six-yard line. From there, Calvillo fired over the middle into the end zone for Kerry Carter to make the score 37-14.

Montreal sealed the decision when Shea Emry intercepted a Porter pass with 1:36 remaining and the Als ran out the clock with reserve QB Chris Leak under center.

"It comes down to making plays and we just didn't make enough of them," Glenn said of his efforts. "The Als didn't do anything different...we had chances to make big plays but we didn't make them."

Game Notes

The TD for Watkins was the first for the Als in 115:39, dating back to the fourth quarter of the Edmonton matchup on July 11...Duval entered the night having made a total of seven field goals through the first three games of the season...Montreal receiver Ben Cahoon, who had two catches for 37 yards, now has 967 catches for his career, ranking him third all-time in the CFL behind Terry Vaughn (1,006 receptions) and Darren Flutie (972)...Montreal was a perfect 9-0 at home last season, the first time since 1955 that the club posted an unblemished record...Montreal has now won five straight over the Ticats and 13 of the last 14 encounters...Hamilton has not won in Montreal since 2002...The last defeat for the Alouettes overall at home was October 26, 2008 when the squad bowed to Winnipeg, 24-23.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.