Utley, who has played in at least 156 games in each of the past two seasons,
sprained the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb sliding into second
during Monday's 7-3 loss to Cincinnati. He was forced to come out of the
game in the ninth inning, and the team disabled him after seeing the results
of an MRI on Tuesday.
The leading vote-getter for NL second basemen, Utley is batting .277 with 11
homers and 37 RBI in 72 games this season.
Polanco, who is leading the votes for NL third baseman in All-Star balloting,
has been dealing with a left elbow injury for over a month. He received a
cortisone shot in recent days, but the team felt it necessary to place him on
the disabled list.
In 62 games for the Phillies this season, he's batting .318 with five home
runs and 27 RBI.
To replace the two players on the roster, infielder/outfielder Greg Dobbs and
shortstop Brian Bocock were recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
<< Tigers' Zumaya done for season after elbow injury
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya will
miss the rest of the season after suffering a non-displaced fracture
of the olecranon in his pitching elbow in a game against Minnesota on Monday.
The
<< Report: Nowitzki opts out of contract
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Mavericks star forward Dirk Nowitzki has
reportedly elected to opt out of the final year of his contract and become an
unrestricted free agent.
The report is according to the Dallas Morning News. Sho
<< San Diego will host Fed Cup final
White Plains, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 Fed Cup final between the host
United States and reigning champion Italy will be held at the San Diego Sports
Arena in California.
The best-of-five tie will be held from November 7-8 and mar
<< FIFA has no choice but to embrace technology
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FIFA President Sepp Blatter apologized to
both England and Mexico on Tuesday for officiating errors, and admitted it was
time to take another look at goal-line technology.
Perhaps Blatter should start by r
<< Nets send Yi to Washington
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have reportedly sent
forward Yi Jianlian to the Washington Wizards for guard/forward Quinton
Ross on Tuesday.
The Newark Star Ledger is reporting that the move will be official
Heat waive Jones >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat requested waivers on forward
James Jones on Tuesday.
Jones has spent the past two seasons with Miami and in the 2009-10 campaign he
appeared in 36 games and averaged 4.1 points in 14 minutes
Report: Oilers waive Moreau, two others >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers have apparently waived
captain Ethan Moreau and forwards Robert Nilsson and Patrick O'Sullivan,
according to a report on TSN.ca on Tuesday.
The reported moves were necessary as th
Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Lendl to play at MSG >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York's Madison Square Garden will host an
exhibition tennis event in February, as Pete Sampras will play former long-
time rival Andre Agassi and John McEnroe will take on former arch-rival Ivan
Lendl.
Yao exercises player option with Rockets >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has exercised
the player option in his contract that will allow him to return to the team
for the 2010-11 season.
Yao had the option of terminating his contract early
Trail Blazers waive Ryan Gomes >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday waived
forward Ryan Gomes.
Gomes and Luke Babbitt, the 16th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, were
acquired by Portland in a draft day trade with the Minnesota T
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.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
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.
RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.