L.A.'s Buddle playing like namesake

Soccer Betting Lines

04/20/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edson Buddle was handed unreasonable goals by his father, Winston, on the day the younger Buddle was born.

Edson was named after his father's favorite player, Brazilian Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele.

Upon his birth, Buddle trailed the legendary player by well over 1,000 goals. Ten years into his MLS career, he's still well over 1,000 goals behind, based on Pele's unofficial total.

While Buddle's father surely didn't expect Edson to live up to his namesake, a quick look at the first four matches of the season makes the comparison a little harder to ignore (although the two are obviously still oceans apart).

Buddle, overshadowed on a Los Angeles Galaxy team featuring English star David Beckham and U.S. star Landon Donovan, has scored all seven of his team's goals through four games - all wins.

He is the first player in MLS history to score a team's first seven goals, and has the most goals in league history for a single player after four matches.

Buddle is no stranger to Pele's second home, the back of the net, as he has 82 goals in his career. He's scored a career-high 15 goals two years ago, and has hit double digits two other times.

But seven goals in four matches?

"I don't know if I've ever seen a player in this league be this on fire," Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis told Fox Soccer Channel after a 2-1 defeat to L.A. on Saturday.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like it," Donovan told the Daily Breeze after Saturday's match.

"Everything he's touching at the moment is going in the back of the net," L.A. midfielder Chris Birchall added.

Buddle's two-goal performance on Saturday was his third multi-goal game of the season. His second goal, a half-volley in the 76th minute, left RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando to chance to make a save.

Kreis, who scored 108 goals as a player in MLS, said Buddle was the difference in the game.

"The first [reason's] got two names: Edson Buddle. That's two fantastic goals by him, that second goal especially," Kreis said. "Opponents beware."

"His performance has been outstanding. I don't know how else to describe what he's done to date," L.A. coach Bruce Arena remarked.

"What more can you say?"

How about, Bob Bradley, are you watching? Buddle has played just one match for the U.S. national team and that was back in March of 2003 when he came off the bench against Venezuela.

Buddle has never been used by current U.S. coach Bradley, but his form beckons for a call-up on the eve of the World Cup. If nothing else, Buddle could get a chance to showcase himself in training before the World Cup.

If his current form holds, it might be impossible for Bradley to leave him out of the picture. Especially with concerns about injured strikers Charlie Davies and Brian Ching, who Bradley may leave off the plane to South Africa.

L.A. wouldn't mind, even though there is a break in the schedule for the World Cup. But for Buddle, who turns 29 next month, it sure would be an amazing rise in such a short time.

"I don't know why, at least, he doesn't get an opportunity," Kreis told the Los Angeles Daily News. "This is the highest level (of soccer) in our country, and if you're on form and certainly the type of tear he is (on) I think you have to kind of force hands at that point."

Buddle played only 11 minutes in that match for the U.S. eight long years ago, so he obviously hasn't been holding his breath for another chance.

He is not an equal to Pele, to be sure (but really, is anybody?), and Buddle knows that so much is out of his hands. He might not score again this season, or he might break Roy Lassiter's single-season scoring record of 27, which has stood since the league's first season in 1996.

He might be in South Africa in two months, wearing the U.S. jersey once again, or on his couch in the U.S. watching along with the rest of the world.

Buddle is "just enjoying it right now," and added, "I hope to keep scoring.

"I've always stayed levelheaded because, like I said, there are always ups and downs."

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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