08/12/2008 - Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have released kicker Jay Feely, who spent just one season with the club, and will turn the duties over to rookie free agent Dan Carpenter.
Feely connected on 21-of-23 field goal tries during Miami's disastrous 1-15 campaign last season. The 91.3 percent accuracy rate was the best for a kicker in Dolphins history, but new head coach Tony Sparano said Carpenter has outperformed the veteran in camp.
"The decision was based purely on numbers, on performance, and Carpenter has outperformed him right now," said Sparano after Tuesday morning's practice. "That's the bottom line. We chart a ton of categories with the kickers and Carpenter has outperformed him. The numbers weren't close."
Carpenter, an undrafted free agent out of Montana, kicked field goals of 41 and 49 yards in Miami's 17-6 preseason loss to Tampa Bay last Saturday, as Feely sat with a groin injury.
Feely signed a three-year deal with Miami in March of 2007 after spending two years with the New York Giants. He played his first four NFL seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.
In 112 games, the Michigan product has made 80.8 percent of his field goal attempts and all but two of his 251 point-after tries.
<< Georgia loses OT Sturdivant for season
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Georgia sophomore offensive tackle
Trinton Sturdivant suffered a season ending knee injury on Monday and will
miss the entire season, according to head coach Mark Richt.
Sturdivant started all
<< Donald to miss rest of 2008 golf season
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Donald will miss the remainder of the 2008 golf season
after undergoing surgery on his left wrist Monday.
Donald was hurt during the final round of the U.S. Open in June. He hit a
drive on the 15th tee at Torrey
<< Report: Vikings S Williams to miss opening of season
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings safety Madieu Williams
could miss the first three weeks of the regular season due to a neck injury.
Williams, who signed as a free agent in the offseason, missed Friday's
presea
<< Report: Dolphins release Jay Feely
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have reportedly released
kicker Jay Feely, who spent just one season with the club.
According to the Miami Herald, Feely was told of the decision Tuesday morning
and said the team made t
Hamilton's Williams highlights CFL's weekly honor roll >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Richie Williams
was among those selected as the CFL's top players for Week 7.
Williams earned offensive honors after connecting on 15-of-24 passes for 293
yards with three to
The future is now for Safina and del Potro >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Perhaps we can stop using words like
"promising" when it comes to players like Dinara Safina and Juan Martin del
Potro, or in this case, specifically Dinara Safina and Juan Martin del Potro.
Both players a
NCAA Football Preview - Wisconsin Badgers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: The Wisconsin Badgers put together a 9-4 campaign in
2007, marking the fourth straight season they've won at least nine games.
However, it was a step back from their 12 wins in 2006. Th
Indians deal Byrd to BoSox >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians traded pitcher Paul
Byrd to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later or cash
considerations Tuesday.
Byrd, 37, was 7-10 with a 4.53 earned run average in 22 sta
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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