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08/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods' 611th week as the world No. 1 was his worst.
Clarification: It was his worst week as a golfer. He's had many bad weeks as a man since last November.
But Woods has never been so bad between the ropes as a professional. He didn't just bomb at the Bridgestone Invitational, an event he's won seven times before, he nearly finished dead last in a field of the world's top players.
And so it's come time to face facts, finally, about the man from whom we have come to expect so much. Woods may have dodged another bullet Sunday to hold onto the No. 1 world ranking -- he's becoming golf's Neo in that regard -- but he is no longer the clear-cut best player in the world.
Like the Queen of England in many of her realms, Woods is a symbolic figurehead atop the world rankings, popping his head out occasionally to perform ceremonial duties, like cursing away the media and hitting pull-hooks into the trees.
Since he returned to golf following the sex scandal that dynamited his personal life, Woods has only posted two top-10s in eight tournaments.
They were a pair of big ones, however: fourth-place ties at the Masters, his first event back, and the U.S. Open.
For a while we held these finishes up as proof that Woods was close to being "back to normal." They were, after all, the two biggest tournaments of the season to that point.
Not anymore.
Now, those finishes appear to be the exceptions to an otherwise disastrous season.
Looking back, we should have known that Woods' game -- and mental state -- was in more trouble than he let on when he missed the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship, then lamented about having to deal with the paparazzi and helicopters and the media.
Woods withdrew from The Players Championship -- he was four-under at the time -- because of a neck injury, then tied for 19th at the Memorial, where he was the defending champion.
After the U.S. Open, he failed to break 70 at the AT&T National, an event he used to host and where he was also the defending champion. The tournament was played at Aronimink, a tough course that rewarded a very good golfer, Justin Rose, with the win.
Woods used to be the guy who thrived on the tough courses.
He was never really in contention at the British Open despite opening with a 67 at St. Andrews, one of his favorite courses, and things finally came completely undone over the weekend at Firestone.
Looking disinterested at times -- maybe he wishes the Bridgestone had a cut? -- Woods sprayed shots all over the course. His swing, in the words of Roy McAvoy, looked like an unfolded lawn chair.
Or, perhaps, a stuffy throne.
Among the dubious personal records he set during four painful-to-watch rounds at Firestone were: highest 72-hole score in relation to par (18-over), highest total score (298), and worst final round (77) and finish (tied for 78th) as a professional.
Only Sweden's Henrik Stenson finished worse. Winner Hunter Mahan beat Woods by 30 shots.
"It doesn't surprise me at all," Woods said Sunday of his performance, the first time in three days he talked to the media. "It's been a long year."
In fact, the only reason Woods remained No. 1 in the rankings was because Phil Mickelson failed to finish in fourth place or better after beginning the final round in a share of 10th.
Coming apart worse than Woods, Mickelson was actually one shot worse in the final round, shooting a 78 that knocked him all the way down onto a tie for 46th place.
Mickelson was trying to take the No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career. Instead, Lefty extended his record for most weeks as the No. 2 by playing like, well, No. 2.
He shot a 41 on the front nine, didn't make his only birdie of the round until the 17th hole and just generally stunk up the place.
In an interview with CBS after the round, Mickelson said the world ranking stuff will "happen over time" and that he believes he'll be No. 1 some day.
"It's hard to be upbeat after a round like today," Mickelson said. "I'll probably spend some time tonight licking wounds."
So who is the best player in the world? If it's not Woods, who has now been No. 1 in the world rankings for 270 consecutive weeks -- every day since June 12, 2005, when he snatched the spot back from Vijay Singh -- then who?
I would say there is no clear No. 1.
Mickelson is in the conversation, especially after claiming another Masters title this year. And Lee Westwood, the injured world No. 3, has been perhaps the most consistent player over the last two years.
Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Mahan and Rose have all won twice this season on the PGA Tour. It would be hard to move their names ahead of Mickelson and Westwood's, but they have all competed like the best players in the world at times this season.
In the absence of a clear No. 1, we are left with a situation similar to the women's world rankings, where three players have been No. 1 since Lorena Ochoa's retirement.
It's impossible to say whether Jiyai Shin is better than Cristie Kerr or Ai Miyazato. Shin and Kerr are in a virtual tie for the No. 1 ranking and Miyazato has won four times this season.
What would a free-for-all for the No. 1 ranking look like in the men's game, and are we prepared for a stretch where we no longer have Woods to hold up as The Best Player in the Game?
I think we're about to find out, especially with the PGA Championship set to begin this week. Woods lost to Y.E. Yang last year, the first time in his career he was beaten with the 54-hole lead at a major.
If Woods can't find his swing again and (gasp) misses the cut, we will know that Bridgestone was no fluke. We may already know. But if he moves into contention this weekend at Whistling Straits, could we find ourselves on the cusp of a season-saving run?
"It is what it is. I've got to be ready come Thursday," Woods said after the Bridgestone. "That's all that matters."
I guess what stands out is: We don't know what we'll get from Woods this week, the 612th week of his career where he has held the No. 1 ranking.
And it's going to take a while to get used to that feeling.
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Straits is historic.
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<< Cunningham double earns him MLS Player of the Week
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Safina wins Cincy opener >>
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Timberwolves sign Tolliver >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves officially
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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.
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