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With the NFL season fast approaching you might be looking for some expert advice on how this season is going to turn out.  Jimmy Boyd of Locksmith Sports is a football handicapping expert who provides weekly
football picks to his clients in order to help them beat the spreads for both pro and college football.
If you are having trouble beating the NCAA or NFL odds, take a look at what he has to offer.

Division winners:

NFC North - Minnesota Vikings - Adrian Peterson is a force on offense and the
addition of Jared Allen on defense makes this the team to beat.

NFC South - New Orleans Saints - We think this is the clear cut favorite after a
down 2007 season.

NFC East - New York Giants - It’s tough for us to go against the Super Bowl
champs here, even though the Cowboys and Eagles will be tough to turn away.

NFC West - Seattle Seahawks - They have owned the division in recent years, and
we don’t see anyone stopping them from capturing their fifth straight.

AFC North - Cleveland Browns - Last year wasn’t a fluke, this is the new team
to beat in the North.

AFC South -Indianapolis Colts - Six straight division titles is in the near
future for Manning and company.

AFC East - New England Patriots - If you doubt the Patriots this year, then you
are either crazy or just plain dumb.

AFC West - San Diego Chargers - This is the most talented team in the AFC, with
Pro Bowlers up and down both sides of the ball.  We think this is the early
favorite to win the Super Bowl.

Hope the site will help you to get the best picks.

The first Olympic mascot appeared at the 1972 Munich games, and since then they have become a key component of the Olympic image. These mascots visually represent the vitality of the games and also the individuality of the hosting nation, and also remind everyone of the fun, festive background to the games, amidst all the serious competitiveness.

Whatever shape the Olympic mascots have taken they usually aim to convey the theme of that particular games, and translate to the world some of the diverse geography, history and culture of the host country and also the host city. The first mascot in 1972 was called ‘Waldi the dachshund’ and represented the key attributes that embody the Olympic athlete, resistance, tenacity and agility. He was shown dressed in bright colors, to express the joy of this great Olympic event.

This years 2008 Beijing Games have 5 mascots, the Fuwa, drawing their inspiration from the Five Olympic Rings. They are intended to carry a message of good wishes and good luck from China to the rest of the world, and the first four take their images from China’s most popular and lucky animals, Beibei the fish, Jingjing the panda, Yingying the Tibetan antelope, and Nini the swallow. The fifth mascot is meant to represent the Olympic Flame and is called Huanhuan. The clever part is that when all the first sections of the names are read together they say “Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni” which means “Welcome to Beijing”. These mascots also show performance in live olympics before and after few events. You must have seen them doing gymnastic performance before athletic events, dressed with this same mascots.

The Fuwa mascots also aim to embody the landscape and spirit of the vast nation of China, and each mascot represents the five main elements of nature, sea, forest, earth, sky and fire. Symbols and signs are traditionally used in China to spread good luck, and the mascots are utilized in this way also. Fish and water symbols carry the message of prosperity; the panda represents happiness and harmony in nature, the antelope is swift and can cover long distances and so represents the vastness of China and the swallow represents the spread of good luck as it flies across the world. Also the word swallow is “yan” in Chinese, and Yanying was the ancient name for Beijing. Huanhuan is the main mascot and embraces the vitality and undying passion of the Olympic Spirit, and also the warmth of the blessing wished by the people of China to the rest of the world.

Finally, the must awaited even of the year is near - The Beijing Olympics 2008 is going to start from 8th August 2008 and China have invested lot of money for an unforgettable olympics experience. I am also going to visit Beijing for final 5 days coz of my work holidays. I am excited. China have invested 1000s of millions of dollars for the stadium preparations, security, environment, stay etc. Hope it goes all well.

BTW - the Olympics 2008 schedule is out and you can see the olympics schedule below in the picture :

Another exciting tournament is going to start from today 24th June 2008 where some of the great cricket teams of Asia will coalesce with each other to grab the Cup of the year - Asia Cup 2008.

The game will be played in Pakistan where 6 nations

Group A

• Bangladesh
• Sri Lanka
• UAD

Group B

• India
• Pakistan
• Hong Kong

will battle to claim the title of Asia’s cricketing superpower.

It will be a total excitement to watch these nations fight for the Asia Cup 2008. The teams are divided into 2 groups. Here is a Schedule of cricket matches to be played between them :

24th June
Bangladesh vs UAD
Lahore
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

24th June
Pakistan v Hong Kong
Karachi
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

25th June
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
Lahore
Time : 15:00 IST, 10:00 GMT

25th June
Hong Kong v India
Karachi
Time : 15:00 IST, 10:00 GMT

26th June
Sri Lanka v United Arab Emirates
Lahore
Time : 15:00 IST, 10:00 GMT

26th June
Group B - India v Pakistan
Karachi
Time : 15:00 IST, 10:00 GMT

28th June
TBC v TBC
Karachi
A2 v B2
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

29th June
TBC v TBC
Karachi
A1 v B1
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

30th June
TBC v TBC
Karachi
A1 v A2
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

2nd July
TBC v TBC
Karachi
B1 v B2
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

3rd July
TBC v TBC
Karachi
A1 v B2
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

4nd July
TBC v TBC
Karachi
A2 v B1
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

Sun 6nd July
Final - India vs Sri-Lanka
National Stadium, Karachi
Time : 16:00 IST, 11:00 GMT

Enjoy Cricketainment !!!

The Euro 2008 competition progressed with the first quarter final game between Portugal and Germany . The buzz before the game was immense, with both teams held by fans as two of the favourites to win the tournament. Both sides are exceptional world class teams.

Portugal have a very fluid approach and Germany are amazing tactitions and their set pieces are feared. Both sides have an abundance of skilled players. Germany have Ballack, Scweinsteiger and Podolski and Portugal have the amazing skills of Deco and Ronaldo to name but two. Ronaldo is tipped by many as the best player in the world.

Portugal may have a few holes in the defence but their attacking players make opportunities where most teams would give up. Germany are a very inconsistent team, on the right day they are capable of amazing football but sometimes they look like an amateur team.

The entire 90 minutes was fast and furious with a lot of scoring opportunities. The Portuguese team tried in vain to play the ball to their main man Ronaldo, as he was heavily marked he failed to receive a lot of the passes. Germany scored first at 22 minutes and only four minutes later doubled their lead with a header by Klose. Portugal however clawed a goal back through a joint effort by Ronaldo and Nuno Gomes. It was 2-1 to Germany as they went in for half time.

The second half saw Germany dominate early on and Ballack scored a brilliant header at 62 minutes. Portugal didn’t give up and piled the pressure on. Portugal reaped the rewards of their hard game and Postiga scored in the 87th minute. The final few minutes of the game were nerve racking, Portugal had chance after chance, however it was Germany who emerged victorious.

The game was a brilliant display of live football and Germany were a team worthy of progressing.

After a long IPL Cricketainment, here comes a small series of 3 Asian Countries in Bangladesh : The Kitply Cup, Bangladesh Tri Series June 2008. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be fighting for this Kitply Cup. This will be a great series and India - Pakistan Match would be exiciting as always.

There will be 4 matches including the Final. All matches will be played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. There is a reserve day between each match. Here is the Schedule :

• 1st Match - Sun 8th June
  Pakistan vs Bangladesh
• 2nd Match - Tue 10th June
  India v Pakistan
• 3rd Match - Thu 12th June
  Bangladesh v India
• Final - Sat 14th June
  Team 1st vs Team 2nd

All matches are Day-Night starting at 2:30pm IST ( 8:30am GMT ). Who you think will win ?