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Bettor's best friend (BBF): Helpful tips for all of Friday's action


No swine here

According to a report in the Times-Picayune, Tulane’s football team is entirely symptom-free from the Swine flu bug that swept through the team in August. All the players who were sick were back on the field for full practices this week.

Head coach Bob Toledo said Saturday’s practice – the first in which all players returned – was a sluggish effort.

Tulane is a 13.5 home dog tonight at home against Tulsa. The total is set at 64.

Atlanta or bust

Carl Edwards should give gymnast Keri Strug a call if he plans on doing a back flip out of his car this weekend.

The always exciting No. 99 will start his engine at Atlanta Sunday night with a broken foot. Edwards suffered a fracture in his right foot while playing Frisbee this week.

"I know this probably sounds ridiculous to a lot of people and I could hardly believe it myself," Edwards said in statement. "I was playing frisbee with a couple of buddies and we both went for the Frisbee at the same time. I put my foot on it, my friend dove for it, and the next thing you know ... we all heard a pop.

"I knew it was broken and we all kind of looked at each other in disbelief that of all things, I would break my foot playing frisbee."

Despite the injury, Edwards is scheduled to start the Pep Boy Auto 500. He has three wins at Atlanta in just 10 career starts at the half-mile oval. In his most recent running at AMS, Edwards finished third in the Kobolt Tools 500 back in March.

Edwards sits fifth in the points standings despite not having won a race this season.

New QB takes over at Tulsa

G.J. Kinne, a sophomore transfer from Texas, will make his first start tonight for Tulsa, the Tulsa World reports. Kinne will take over the most potent offense statistically in the nation over the past two years and head coach Todd Graham said he wants his new QB to “just manage the game and use the talent that surrounds him.”

The good news for the Golden Hurricane is their playing a Tulsa defense that seemed to have no problems giving up more than 40 points against conference foes last year.

Faster, please

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was again fined by major league baseball for slow play. It’s now happened so often, his fines are up to five figures according to the pitcher.

The quirky Papelbon says he’ll have to make adjustments though he swears they won’t affect his play.

“Anytime you have changes or adjustments, there’s a period in which you have to get comfort with it,” Sox pitching coach John Farrell told the Boston Globe. “So if it’s a quicker tempo, a little bit more of a quicker pace to his overall game, that’s going to take some harnessing. The one thing he has shown repeatedly is that any adjustments that has been presented to him, he’s adapted very quickly and continued to pitch well.”

In case you hadn’t noticed, the Jays suck

The Blue Jays have only won four of their last 22 games. Things have to improve sometime though, right?

“Right now, it's kind of tough to see how we're going to be better before the end of the season," manager Cito Gaston told the Toronto Star after last night’s throttling at the hands of the Yankees.

The problems are too numerous to mention, but they mostly have to do with hitting, pitching and fielding. The Jays are -105 against the Yankees with a struggling Roy Halladay on the mound tonight.