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A sad, tragic end in MemphisBasketball Betting Lines07/29/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A body riddled with bullets was found in Southeast Memphis Wednesday afternoon in a thickly wooded area near FedEx's world headquarters. It was just another sad ending in a city that has become notorious for its gang problems and ever-increasing homicide rate. But, Lorenzen Wright was the last person they should have been caught up in the underbelly of Memphis. Wright spent 13 years in the NBA after being selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1996 draft. Raised near Oxford, Miss., the River City would become a constant in Wright's short life. The 6-foot-11 power forward played his high school and college ball in Memphis, and eventually ended up with the Grizzlies in 2001-02 when he was traded by the Atlanta Hawks along with Pau Gasol and Brevin Knight to the Grizz for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jamaal Tinsley. Although he never lived up to the billing of a top 10 pick, Wright carved out a niche that enabled him to make over $55 million dollars over his NBA career, and he never hesitated to give back to his hometown. During his first of three NBA stints in Atlanta, Wright, Penny Hardaway and two other Memphis-area NBA players (Todd Day and Elliot Perry) furnished $10,000 to Travis Butler, a 9-year-old boy who lived with his mother's corpse for a month out of fear he would be put in foster care if anyone found out she was dead. He also founded the Sierra Simone Wright Scholarship Fund designed to award students for academic achievement and heavy involvement in their school or community after the death of his infant daughter in March 2003. Now, all that's left of Wright's legacy is for police to figure out what happened to him in the early morning hours of July 19. The 34-year-old Wright was last seen alive on July 18 and was reported missing by his family four days later. A 911 call was received from Wright's cell phone at 1:00 am on the 19th and the caller, presumably Wright, was speaking with the dispatcher when several gun shots rang out. According to 730 Fox Sports in Memphis, Wright was shot at least a dozen times and possibly as many as 18 times, a fact that most investigators will tell you points away from a random act of violence. By Wednesday night, local media reports had nearly 200 people gathering in the area Wright's body was found as investigators combed the area for evidence and brought in a mobile command center. "We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Lorenzen Wright," Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley said in a statement. "We lost a member of the Grizzlies family. Lorenzen delighted fans on the court with his passion and off the court with his generosity in a Memphis community that watched him grow throughout his playing career at Booker T. Washington High School, the University of Memphis and the NBA." Family and friends, meanwhile, are having a difficult time coming to terms with Wright's tragic end. "Lorenzen's family has come together to mourn his loss and honor his legacy," his family said in a statement issued through their cousin, Camella Logan. "We appreciate your thoughts, prayers and condolences as they are comforting at this very difficult time. Additionally, we ask that you please respect our privacy as we try to cope with his sudden loss." "I cried, the emotions hit me immediately," Hardaway told Eyewitness News in Memphis. "It's sad because we lost a good person and a brother." Wright leaves behind six children and a mystery for Memphis to solve. "To end his career and his life like this here in some woods, that's not good," friend Stan McKinley said. "You don't do a dog like this. It's just a really sad day for the city as a whole."
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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit CardsMichael 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. Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs. |
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