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Lakers set for downsized championship parade in LA

Basketball Betting Lines

06/21/2010 -

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Unlike the gritty comeback that gave the Los Angeles Lakers an NBA title against their rival Boston Celtics, this year's victory parade will have no rallies.

A compact championship parade - scaled back to rein in costs - is scheduled to stream through the streets of downtown Monday, minus the flashy rallies and side celebrations of past years.

This year's bash will begin at Staples Center and make its way down Figueroa Street to the edge of the University of Southern California campus. Much of downtown will be shut down for the event, and city officials are urging fans to use public transportation.

Lakers officials expect between 500,000 and 2 million fans to line the two-mile route as the team celebrates its second straight NBA title and 16th overall, earned with a Game 7 victory over Boston on Thursday.

Fans won't be without a chance to celebrate with the team - players are expected to address the crowd from a sound-equipped flatbed float instead of making speeches at large crowd-drawing rallies, officials said.

The more modest celebration will cost between $1.5 to $2 million - a tab the world champions plan to pay - to cover police overtime and other city services, team spokesman John Black said.

The city had to reach out to private donors to fund the 2009 celebration so that taxpayers wouldn't have to foot the $1 million bill as Los Angeles faced a more than $500 million budget gap.

An enormous rally at the end of last year's parade at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew about 95,000 people.

The Staples Center and Nokia Plaza, which were also once sites of parade-day revelry, will be locked and bars and restaurants will be closed during the parade Monday, AEG officials said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

<< Lakers set to celebrate with downsized parade
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Unlike the gritty comeback that gave the Los Angeles Lakers an NBA title against their rivals, the Boston Celtics, this year's victory parade will have no rallies.A compact championship parade - scaled back to rein in costs - will

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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