Young, Merriman and Brown earn AFC weekly honors

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12/27/2006 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and Houston kicker Kris Brown have been honored as the AFC's top players for Week 16 of the NFL season.

Young kept his team in the playoff race with a pair of touchdown passes and a rushing score in Tennessee's 30-29 victory over Buffalo. The rookie is 8-4 since taking over as the starting quarterback for the 8-7 Titans.

Last April's No. 3 draft pick completed 13-of-20 passes for 183 yards without an interception against the Bills to take the offensive award for the week.

Merriman earned defensive honors for the second time in his career, as his three sacks helped the Chargers notch a 20-17 victory at Seattle. He became the second San Diego defensive winner this year, joining Jamal Williams in Week 5 and his selection gave the Chargers a player of the week for the third consecutive time as LaDainian Tomlinson had taken the offensive award each of the past two weeks.

Brown captured his fifth career special teams award and third with the Texans, as his 48-yard field goal on the game's final play helped Houston earn a 27-24 win over Indianapolis. He also kicked a 42-yard field goal earlier in the fourth quarter, as the Texans beat the Colts for the first time in 10 all-time tries.

Other nominees for the top offensive player included Houston running back Ron Dayne, who posted a career-best 158 rushing yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in the victory over the Colts; Tennessee running back Travis Henry, who ran for 135 yards in his return to Buffalo; and Jacksonville rookie running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who ran for 131 yards with a pair of touchdowns in a 24-21 loss to New England.

Defensive consideration went to Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who returned to the lineup after missing six games and recovered a fumble in the closing minutes of the victory over the Jaguars; Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, who had an interception and a fumble recovery that led to 14 first-half points in the Broncos' 24-23 win over Cincinnati.

Also up for the special teams award was New York Jets kicker Mike Nugent, whose second field goal of the game was a 30-yarder with 10 seconds to play that provided the difference in a 13-10 win against the Miami Dolphins.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.