2011 April at LinesMaker

Pavlik Still in Denial About Alcoholism

Believe what you want about Kelly Pavlik. For years, the for­mer mid­dleweight cham­pion decried the intense scrutiny he received from the good folks in his home­town of Youngstown, Ohio. Pavlik, per­haps the most pop­u­lar ath­lete in his city’s his­tory, would rou­tinely moan about the “rumors” that sur­rounded him. Those rumors always seemed to involve Pavlik being drunk and found in the seed­ier parts of town with some less-than-desirable figures. Kelly Pavlik is get­ting set for his ring return after a stint in alco­hol rehab. But are his prob­lems really in the past?() When... 

Legendary Moura Discusses Aldo’s Evolution

“When he (Jose Aldo) gets the chance to show his jiu-jitsu, peo­ple will be very sur­prised. He could be a black belt world cham­pion in jiu-jitsu if he wanted to.” – Rob­son Moura Before Jose Aldo became a bur­geon­ing super­star, he was a food-deprived teenager who lit­er­ally lived in a Brazil­ian jiu-jitsu gym and slept on the mats. One man who has wit­nessed Jose Aldo’s extra­or­di­nary evo­lu­tion up close and trained exten­sively with the champ is Rob­son Moura, Vice Pres­i­dent of Nova Uniao, the Rio De Janeiro-based pow­er­house that has pro­duced many of... 

Webber Delighted with Fightback

High­lights – Chi­nese Grand Prix Mark Web­ber said his stun­ning race in Shang­hai, where he con­verted a start posi­tion of 18th to a third place fin­ish, was “very good for the team”. The Australian’s mis­er­able qual­i­fy­ing for the Chi­nese GP was com­pounded by not hav­ing the Kers power-boost sys­tem avail­able to him dur­ing the race. But he put all that behind him to surge through the field in thrilling fashion. He said: “I had to pass every­body, I really earned it. The car put up such a fight and the guys never gave up.” Web­ber ecsta­tic after... 

Elvis, Ali Photos Tell Stories of 2 American Icons

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. —In a cul­ture sat­u­rated with celebrity mag­a­zines, paparazzi and red car­pets, it’s hard to imag­ine cap­tur­ing an image of a young Elvis Pres­ley alone on the side­walk in New York. Or a pic­ture of Muham­mad Ali at play with neigh­bor­hood kids in a park­ing lot. No scream­ing fans, no cam­era flashes, no entourages. These unguarded moments are among dozens fea­tured in “Ali and Elvis: Amer­i­can Icons,” a pair of pho­tog­ra­phy exhibits shar­ing gallery space through May 15 at the James A. Mich­ener Museum in Doylestown, Pa., about 25 miles... 

Claude Patrick – 12 Straight Wins and Counting

“I will bring all of my tricks and tac­tics to the table, do my best and hope­fully get a con­clu­sive win.” – Claude Patrick Claude Patrick is tired of talk­ing about his near-death expe­ri­ence in 2008. All the Toron­ton­ian really cares to dis­cuss is his fast-approaching bat­tle with Daniel Roberts at UFC 129. And even then – when the topic is his next foe – Patrick has lit­tle to say, seem­ing like a single-minded man in the mid­dle of a meta­mor­pho­sis he doesn’t want inter­rupted. The win­ner of 12 straight bouts has set his intense gaze on becom­ing an... 

NBA Betting: Boston Downs New York

The 26 points scored by Kevin Gar­nett on Sun­day helped Boston Celtics to defeat New York Knicks for 101–89 and fin­ish their first-round play­off series with a four game sweep. Draw­ing nearly 65% of the NBA bet­ting action, the Boston Celtics were the clear favorites against New York among Lines­Maker bet­tors. With the NBA lines at –3.5, Boston delighted the major­ity of bet­tors by defeat­ing the Knicks. Gar­nett con­tributed with 10 rebounds while Rajon Rondo scored 21 points along with12 assists for Boston, who ini­tially had a 23-point lead and then endured a Knicks rally... 

NHL Betting: Nashville Beats Anaheim

Nick Spal­ing scored on the go-ahead goal to help the Nashville Preda­tors rally over the Ana­heim Ducks 4–2 on Sun­day in play­off series first round. Attract­ing nearly 60% of the NHL bet­ting action, the Nashville Preda­tors were the clear favorites against Ana­heim among Lines­Maker bet­tors. With the NHL lines at –143, Nashville delighted the major­ity of bet­tors by defeat­ing the Ducks (+132). Spal­ing net­ted in first and then again with 4:53 enter­ing the final period to help the Preda­tors take a 3–2 lead.  Pekka Rinne turned aside 25 shots for Nashville to... 

Yoshihiro Akiyama Vs. Vitor Belfort Booked for UFC 133 in Philadelphia

A tan­ta­liz­ing matchup between mid­dleweight super­stars Yoshi­hiro Akiyama (13–3 MMA, 1–2 UFC) and Vitor Belfort (19–9 MMA, 8–4 UFC) has been booked for UFC 133. UFC pres­i­dent Dana White today revealed the book­ing to ESPN . White also con­firmed the long-rumored Aug. 6 event will take place in Philadel­phia. The city’s Wells Fargo Cen­ter is expected to host the pay-per-view event. “Ver­bal agree­ments are in for a bat­tle between two of the most excit­ing fight­ers in the mid­dleweight divi­sion,” White told ESPN. “Com­ing off three straight ‘Fight... 

Jon Jones Injured; Rashad Evans Vs. Phil Davis Booked for UFC 133

The grudge match will have to wait. So will Jon Jones’ first title defense. A hand injury has knocked the new UFC light-heavyweight cham­pion out of action for the time being, leav­ing the UFC with­out a main event for its upcom­ing return to Philadel­phia in August. As a result, the pro­mo­tion has booked a fight pit­ting Jones’ sched­uled oppo­nent Rashad Evans against ris­ing star Phil Davis. The UFC 133 fight was con­firmed by the UFC on Mon­day morn­ing. It was first reported by the Cana­dian Press. The full extent of Jones’ injury and his reha­bil­i­ta­tion time... 

Happy Easter from LinesMaker

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