The Philadelphia Phillies take on the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the World Series. The Rays have ended their curse by eliminating the Devil from their nickname, now the Phillies try to eliminate the Curse of Billy Penn.

We will leave the 2,353 other media sources to rehash everything you know about the Rays dramatic series against the Red Sox and how the Phillies got here by beating the LA Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, here is the official betting preview.

Sportsbooks have this game close to a pick ‘em as Cole Hamels takes on Scott Kazmir. Will rust be a factor for the Phillies bats as they have not played since Oct. 15, while Tampa‘s AL series clincher was on the 19^th.

The Phillies would qualify as the slightly hotter team having lost just two playoff games, while Tampa has dropped four.

Philadelphia was horrible in Interleague play going 4-11 for -9.2 units with an OBP of .297. They are in fact, just 17-36 to the AL going back a few years, 8-23 in IL games against teams with a winning record. Tampa is 12-6 against the other league with a .290 batting average and .366 OBP.

Cole Hamels has a 1.23 ERA in his last three starts with a .864 WHIP. He’s gotten the decision in every start in his recent 5-1 run, never giving up more than two earned runs in that span.

Tampa has split Scott Kazmir’s last six starts and he sports a 6.06 ERA in those six games.

Who wins? The home page of OffshoreInsiders.com has all the World Series picks for bettors.

The World Series gets underway in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, with the Rays looking to take Game 1 of the set from the Phillies. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

If the Tennessee Titans are going to remain unbeaten on the season they’re going to have to knock off the rival Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football this week. The oddsmakers have the Titans listed as 4-point home favorites, with the total at 42 points.

The NFL’s two winless teams are also in action this week, with 0-6 Detroit hosting Washington, and 0-7 Cincinnati playing in Houston. The Redskins are 8-point favorites to continue Detroit‘s woes, while the Texans are 10-point favorites versus the Bengals.

NFL picks week 8 is the same as the college football spread betting picks and NFL picks for the first seven weeks. You should never place a bet without visiting OffshoreInsiders.com first.

The official injury report for NFL betting comes out Sunday morning on Lines-Maker.com but here is an early look.

Out includes: Carson Palmer, Tony Romo, Brodie Croyle, Laurence Maroney, Reggie Bush, Felix Jones.

Doubtful: Joseph Addai.

Questionable: Matt Hasselbeck, Anquan Boldin, Ike Hilliard, Deion Branch, Jeremy Shockey, Orlando Pace.

Probable: Brian Westbrook, Willie Parker.
 
Other Notable Events

The Rays will send Scott Kazmir to the mound in Game 1. Kazmir was up and down in the ALCS against the Red Sox, giving up five earned runs over 4 1-3 innings in his first outing, and then tossing six shutout innings in his second kick at the can. The lefthander won his only start in the ALDS, making him 1-0 with two no-decisions in the postseason.

Cole Hamels will counter for the Phillies. Hamels has rolled in each of his three playoff starts this month. The lefthander blanked the Brewers through eight innings in his only NLDS outing, and he held the Dodgers to three earned runs on 11 hits over 14 innings over two starts in the NLCS. That performance earned MVP honors for the lefthander.

The oddsmakers currently have Hamels and the Phillies pegged as -106 road favorites for Game 1, with the Rays listed at -104. The total for the game is sitting at just 7.5 runs.

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The Rest of the Schedule

There are five hockey games on the Wednesday schedule, including the Detroit Red Wings at the St. Louis Blues. The defending champs are 3-1-1 through five games, while the Blues have surprised with a 4-1-0 record. Other NHL games on the slate: Dallas at New Jersey, Florida at Ottawa, San Jose at Philly, and Edmonton at Chicago.

As well, there are six preseason NBA games set for Wednesday: Memphis at Orlando, Cleveland at Detroit, Philly at New Jersey, Chicago at Minnesota, Washington at San Antonio, and Portland at the Clippers. The exhibition schedule will end on Friday night.

NBA odds on proposition bets have been posted, such as who wins the league MVP (we don’t think Doug Christie), who wins the championship, the first coach to be fired (George Karl isn’t even the favorite), and much more.

Others may be saying, “I hate your guts Jim Norton,” but the sportsbooks say the same thing about Curt Thomas, the only full-time NBA handicapper and part of the Dream Team at GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com   

News from the Wire

Brett Myers and James Shields are slated to pitch in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night, with Jamie Moyer vs. Matt Garza the expected matchup when the set heads to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Saturday . . . the Colts might get running back Joseph Addai back from his hamstring injury for the Monday nighter . . . Canadiens forward Andrei Kostitsyn missed Monday night’s win over Florida with his head injury…David Beckman may leave the LA Galaxy for AC Milan.

A Peek at the Future

The Broncos will sit out Week 8 after getting pounded by the Patriots on Monday night; New England, though, will be back in action on Sunday with a 1:00pm ET game at home against the Rams . . . No. 1 Texas will host No. 7 Oklahoma State in college football action on Saturday. Other ranked matchups include No. 3 Penn State at No. 10 Ohio State, No. 9 Georgia at No. 11 LSU, and also No. 8 Texas Tech at No. 19 Kansas.

Political Betting Odds

We know that the odds for President say it will take a miracle to defeat Barack Obama, but there are other odds posted. Partisans can insert their own joke, but what will happen with George W. Bush’s legacy? The odds are posted on the next landmark to be named after him and the next US Treasury Secretary.

One would think it’s more significant that talking about Sarah Palin’s clothes or Morning Joe’s ratings.

Five NHL games, some preseason hoops, and a single college football matchup make up the schedule for a low-key Tuesday sports night. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

There’s one college football game on the schedule for Tuesday night, but don’t get too excited – it’s only Ohio at Temple. Those two Mid-American teams are sitting near the bottom of the their conference standings, with both of them posting 2-5 records to date. However, both the Bobcats and the Owls have been moneymakers for their supporters, as they’re a combined 9-4 against-the-spread (Ohio is at 4-2 ATS, Temple is 5-2 ATS).

The Owls are coming off a 24-14 loss to Central Michigan, but they still opened as a 5-point home favorite in this contest. The Bobcats beat Kent State 26-19 in their last game. No total was listed at press time; the two teams are a combined 4-9 on the O/U.

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Other Notable Events

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be looking for their first win of the season when they take to the ice in one of five games on the National Hockey League schedule for Tuesday night. The 0-2-3 Bolts were blanked 1-0 by the Minnesota Wild in overtime on Saturday, and they’ll try again for a victory when they host the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night

Also on the NHL’s Tuesday calendar: Boston at Buffalo, Anaheim at Toronto, Vancouver at Columbus, and Washington at Calgary. The 3-1-1 Capitals fell in overtime to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night; that snapped their three-game win streak.

The Rest of the Schedule

Tuesday is a busy night for exhibition basketball, as there are eight games on the slate including Cleveland at Philadelphia, Memphis at Miami, Boston at New York, Indiana at New Orleans, Chicago at Dallas, and Denver at Toronto. As well, it’s Phoenix at the Clippers in Los Angeles, and Charlotte at the Lakers at the San Diego Sports Arena.

News from the Wire

Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle suffered a torn MCL on Sunday and will miss the rest of the year . . . . . . Saints running back Reggie Bush could be out of action for weeks after suffering a knee injury as well . . . Clippers guard Baron Davis has a finger injury that might force him to miss the start of the season . . . Jazz guard Deron Williams has a sprained ankle . . . the Padres are set to shop around ace Jake Peavy in the offseason.

A Peek at the Future

The Rays will have home-field advantage in the World Series thanks to the American League’s win in the All-Star Game; they’ll play host to Game 1 on Wednesday night, and they opened at around -150 favorites to win the series . . . the Sprint Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway this week for Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500; Jimmie Johnson takes a big 149-point lead on Greg Biffle in the driver standings into that event.