Für unsere Gäste » Tide moved to 4-5 this week, followed by O

Andy Murray returns to action at Indian Wells, and Barry Cowan has answered five key questions about the ATP World Tour Masters event. The British No 1 could pave the way for another showdown with Novak Djokovic, but first he must negotiate a competitive field which includes Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori.Sky Sports expert Cowan discusses the big talking points at Indian Wells... Is Murray well prepared? Murray guided Britain to a Davis Cup win over Japan I think Andy Murrays leading role in Britains Davis Cup win over Japan is perfect preparation for Indian Wells. I must confess going into it, I thought the match with Kei Nishikori was 50-50, because Nishikori had won a title, while Andy had been away from playing competitively because of the birth of his first child.But for Andy to dig deep and be physically and mentally strong in that fifth set was extraordinary. That kind of match was the best thing for him, going into Indian Wells, because he needed a tough test ahead of a crucial period of the season. Murray did well on the clay last year, but hes a better hard court player and these next couple of tournaments are important. A kind draw for Murray? The world No 2 will face Marcel Granollers in his opening match Obviously now there is less importance on the draw than there was over a year ago, when he was ranked a little lower. It was always is he going to be in Djokovics half or isnt he? Hes always in the opposite half to Djokovic now and its favourable early on.Juan Martin Del Potro plays Tomas Berdych in the pick of the second round matches. Thats going to be a real test for both and will tell you where Del Potro is at and how Berdych is playing. There are a few questions marks about Tomas at the moment. I think these two tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami are great, because you can learn so much about a players form. Youve had the first major, generally some of them had a bit of a break, and these two events can set the tone for the next few weeks. Davis Cup concerns about Djokovic? Novak Djokovic was made to work for a win over Mikhail Kukushkin in Serbias Davis Cup victory Novak was taken to five sets in last weeks Davis Cup win over Mikhail Kukushkin, but it was simply another match that Djokovic won. It was the same thing when he came through a five-set match against Gilles Simon at the Australian Open. There was a feeling that Djokovic was vulnerable, but he is only vulnerable if he loses those matches. History says that if Djokovic comes through a match like that, then it makes him even stronger.Just like Andy, Novak will benefit from a challenging match ahead of the tournament. What is a realistic aim for Rafa? Rafael Nadals confidence was dented by two semi-final defeats on clay I thought last year that Rafa could get back to his very best, but what I witnessed in South America, where he suffered two semi-finals defeats on clay, was alarming. I think there is a player who is playing with fear, that is almost putting too much pressure on himself on his best surface. Hopefully we will see him play the sort of tennis that he played at the end of the last year, which was very, very good. Barry Cowan on Rafael Nadal If you look last year, I think he played better on quicker surfaces where it forces him to be aggressive. He knows there is no compromise. He has to stand on the baseline to return serve and Indian Wells makes you do that. Hopefully we will see him play the sort of tennis that he played at the end of the last year, which was very, very good. Who else can challenge for the title? Stan Wawrinka won a recent hard court tournament in Dubai Stan Wawrinka has always performed poorly at this time of the year, but Ive got a feeling that he will do well. Nishikori is another player who has really struggled here, because there are totally different conditions, and the ball gets up high and is more difficult to control for the smaller players like Kei.But these conditions will certainly favour the big-serving players such as Milos Raonic, John Isner and Nick Kyrgios. Those types of players will become very dangerous. Watch Andy Murrays match against Marcel Granollers as part of tonights live coverage from Indian Wells, which starts at 7.15pm on Sky Sports 3. Also See: Murrays road to Masters glory WATCH: Dodig gives himself black eye Jerry Rice Super Bowl Jersey . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Dwight Clark Super Bowl Jersey . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. http://www.49ersofficialfanshop.com/terrell-owens-jersey-sales.html .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Mitch Wishnowsky Super Bowl Jersey .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. Jalen Hurd Super Bowl Jersey . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. This time, the Seattle Seahawks won -- and so did Las Vegas.The Seahawks used a last-second goal-line stand to beat the New England Patriots 31-24 Sunday night, capping a day full of underdog success stories and giving sportsbooks a little bit of revenge on one of their largest Super Bowl disappointments of the past.Underdogs covered the spread in nine of the 12 games on Sunday. The Philadelphia Eagles win over the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans upset of the Green Bay Packers produced the biggest wins of the early games for the books. All three underdogs in the late kickoffs covered the spread, highlighted by the Dallas Cowboys outright win over the favored Pittsburgh Steelers.But the Seahawks win over the Patriots -- especially when put in context with what happened in Super Bowl XLIX between Seattle and New England -- was the sweetest for the books.New England defeated Seattle 28-24 in that Super Bowl, with Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler picking off a slant pass from Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson at the goal line in the final seconds to secure the win in a game with a consensus closing line of pick em. It was a costly swing for multiple Las Vegas sportsbooks; both the Wynn and MGM sportsbooks said the Patriots winning caused seven-figure swings against the house.I wont ever forget it, Jay Rood, MGM vice president of race and sports, told ESPN. I was in the office, watching a smaller TV with a faster feed, while everyone else was watching the big screen that was a few seconds behind. Everyone was wondering why I was cussing and hitting the wall. They soon found out.Jason Simbal, vice president of race and sports at CG Technology, said Butlers interception produced the loudest roar from a sportsbook crowd he remembers. The reaction was the same across town.When Butler intercepted that pass from Wilson the place exploded, a Caesars sportsbook manager said. Between ecstatic Pats fans and pissed off Seahawks fans, and everything in between, its possibly the loudest reaction Ive ever heard in a sportsbook.In the hours leading up to kickoff on Sunday, four times as much money had been bet on Patriiots as had been bet on the Seahawks at the Westgate SuperBook.dddddddddddd. The action on New England was more than double than what was on Seattle at William Hills Nevada sportsbook.[It was a] good day, William Hill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich said in a text message.Odds and ends? A Saturday that saw a slew of top-ranked teams upset produced mixed results for the sportsbooks. No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Washington and No. 9 Auburn all lost Saturday.Everyone thought all those upsets were going to be great, the MGMs Rood said. But once you knock one big off like that, you scoop up all the parlay money and the rest of them are basically not great decisions, because you usually have sharp money on the dog side. If you have too many decisions like that you start flushing money to the sharps.Colorado, Washington State and Boise State produced big losses for the MGM at night, Rood said.We cant get anyone to bet Arizona [a 49-24 loser to Colorado], Rood said. The only night game we really won was USC [a 26-13 winner over Washington].? Alabama is now an odds-on favorite to win the national championship at the Westgate SuperBook. The Crimson Tide moved to 4-5 this week, followed by Ohio State (2-1), Louisville (6-1), Clemson (12-1) and Wisconsin (15-1). Washington dropped back to 20-1 after its loss to USC. Other teams still listed: Oklahoma (20-1), West Virginia (50-1), Washington State (50-1), Penn State (50-1).Louisville, one of only three teams with single-digit odds, is the Westgates largest liability at this point.? College basketball tipped off last week, with Duke beginning the season as the consensus favorite to win the national championship. Here are the preseason betting trends on the odds to win the national title at the Westgate:Top 5 teams by number of bets to win the national title 1. Syracuse 2. Kentucky 3. Wisconsin 4a. Michigan State 4b. DukeTop 5 teams by amount of money bet to win the national title 1. Kentucky 2. Duke 3. Syracuse 4. Oregon 5. Wisconsin ' ' '