San Jose, Seattle hope to get back on track

Soccer Betting Lines

04/24/2009 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes travel to Seattle for their first ever meeting with the expansion Sounders FC on Saturday night.

The 'Quakes will be aiming to get back in the win column after going 0-1-2 in their last three Major League Soccer fixtures, the most recent being a 1-1 draw vs. California rivals Los Angeles this past weekend. San Jose actually had a lead before giving up a late goal and settling for a draw in that game.

"In the first half we had some good moments going forward, and we should have gotten the second goal," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "That would have made a difference, but we didn't quite get there.

"Obviously, taking the lead again in the game and not winning was not good for us. I think that we haven't played very well, which is disappointing. I thought that in the attacking third, it was decent and dangerous, but our defensive side of the game, we just give up to many chances to the opposition and we are not quite on our game in that way."

The key for the 'Quakes (1-2-2) will be their ability to hold a lead if they get it. They have led in all three of their previous games without earning a win in any of them. They have conceded tying goals in the final quarter-hour each of the last two games.

"It's almost like we're waiting for the other shoe to drop," San Jose defender Chris Leitch said. "The tendency has been if we score first, we are a little bit tentative playing. I'm not saying we need to go full bore and throw caution to the wind and commit guys forward. But we've identified the problem and worked on it in training; that we need to continue to play and continue to string passes together to at least possess the ball in their half of the field so that we're relieved and not under so much pressure."

The Sounders (3-2-0) will be aiming to get back on track after losing their last two league fixtures. The team has come back to earth since starting their inaugural season in MLS 3-0 and are now just one loss away from being a .500 club.

"Early in the season, we played with two holding midfielders and our wide guys attacked more," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "Now, [with Freddie Ljungberg] we're more of a diamond in the middle of midfield and I don't think we've sorted out all our roles and responsibilities within that yet."

The Sounders should get a boost with the return of goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who has been out the last game-and-a-half after earning a red card on April 11. He has yet to give up a goal in three-plus games of action in MLS.

But the key for the team will be its ability to score. After going 350 minutes without allowing a goal to start the season, Sounders FC have now gone 225 minutes without scoring a goal.

Out for Seattle is forward Jarrod Smith, defender Taylor Graham and midfielders Stephen King and Peter Vagenas are questionable, and defender Tyrone Marshall and midfielder Osvaldo Alonso are probable with various injuries.

The 'Quakes will be without defender Jason Hernandez, while defenders Kelly Gray and Ryan Cochrane, and midfielders Shea Salinas and Darren Huckerby are probable with their own injuries.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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