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After losing the services of starting goalie Roberto Luongo for the indefinite future with a broken rib, the Canucks may have breathed a sigh of relief too soon after backup goalie Andrew Raycroft’s performance in his first game in relief. After an excellent effort in an overtime victory over Los Angeles, Raycroft was torched for four goals in two periods before being pulled from the game. The Canucks scored twice in the first five minutes of the game to lead 2-0 before giving up seven unanswered goals.

Anaheim has struggled to a 4-6-1 record this season, but rewarded their backers who chose to lay the -164 price as home favorites with the Ducks. The Canucks evened their record on the season at 7-7 with the loss. The 9 combined goals put on the board sailed OVER the posted total of 6. Anaheim has gone OVER in 6 of 11 while Vancouver evened their NHL totals record at 7-7.

The Ducks snapped a four game losing streak with the offensive outburst. After spotting Vancouver a 2-0 lead early in the game, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan each tallied two goals and an assist in the lopsided victory. Mike Brown had the eventual game winning goal in the second period with his first career shorthanded marker, and even enforcer George Parros got in on the act with his first goal of the year. Jonas Hiller was sharp in goal for Anaheim, stopping 36 of 38 shots in the victory.

Vancouver’s problem this season has been not getting enough shots on goal and giving up too many. In the shootout victory over Los Angeles on Thursday, they were outshot 29-12 in regulation. They’d been kept in a number of games they should have lost due to the goaltending virtuosity of Luongo, and this game didn’t bode well for his absence. This was only the second time in eight games Vancouver has allowed more than two goals, a testimony to the ungodly skill of Luongo more than their defensive tenacity. They actually held a 38-34 shots on goal advantage despite the one sided tally on the big scoreboard.

Raycroft is expected to be back between the pipes for Vancouver’s next game, a Sunday home date against the Colorado Avalanche. The Canucks will host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night before a road game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Anaheim will play at Phoenix on Saturday night before returning to the Honda Center for the next two games. They’ll host the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday before welcoming the Nashville Predators to southern California later in the week.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Vitor Belfort made his first appearance in the UFCs iconic octagon in five years, headlining the main event of UFC 103 in Dallas, Texas. Just over three minutes later, he had already become a top contender in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. Belfort dominated veteran Rich Franklin en route to a devastating knockout victory, and following the bout talk quickly shifted to The Phenom as a potential future opponent for both Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida.

The fight against Franklin was contested at a catchweight of 195 pounds, and Belfort took several tries to finally make weight on Friday afternoon. If he had been weakened by a difficult weight cut, he sure didn\’t show it as he entered the cage on Saturday looking noticeably larger than his opponent. The pace of the bout was tactical and deliberate until the very end\”Belfort landed a few leg kicks, but for the most part it was several minutes of the fighters circling each other. Belfort was clearly measuring Franklin for a big power shot, and he found it after a brief flurry in which neither man gained an advantage. Out of nowhere, Belfort floored Franklin with a nasty uppercut and quickly mounted a ground and pound assault on his fallen adversary. It only took three or four big shots to Franklin\’s head before the referee jumped in to call a halt to the proceedings.

At the post fight press conference, Dana White quickly endorsed the prospect of a matchup between Belfort and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva\”either for the title or at a\’5 catchweight. Silva has only three fights remaining on his UFC contract, after which hes insisted that hell retire (although he continues to toy with the idea of boxing against Roy Jones, Jr.). Obviously nothing has been signed, but White clearly wants to get his moneys worth out of the fights remaining on Silvas deal.

A changing of the guard was in evidence in the co-main event, as Junior Dos Santos defeated former PRIDE Open Weight GP champion and MMA legend Mirko Cro Cop by verbal submission. Cro Cop appeared to be moving much better on his surgically repaired knee than in recent fights and through the early part of the bout he was doing well with his straight left hand counter. As the fight wore on, however, Dos Santos began to pick Cro Cop apart and in the third round began to use his Muay Thai knee strikes to good effect. It was a knee strike to Cro Cops head followed by an uppercut that ended the fight\”Cro Cop suddenly indicated to the referee that he couldnt see and was unable to continue.

Earlier in the card, Paul Daley made the most of his role as a late substitute for injured Mike Swick as he stopped Martin Kampmann by second round TKO. Kampmanns defense was nonexistent, and his decision to stand and trade with a noted power striker was highly suspect. The end came after a brutal left hook knocked Kampmann to the canvas, after which Daley followed up with some ground and pound until the stoppage.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on World Cup soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

This is a great magic trick that you can do in bars or parties that is incredibly simple to learn, yet at the same time so fantastically amazing that you\’ll never have to buy another drink. This up close trick only requires one simple prop, and very little practice.

Here\’s how the trick looks to your friends. You tell them you have recently developed some telekinetic abilities. You can tell them you were hit by lighting, or a lamp fell in the bathtub while you were taking a bath or something. You skills are fairly new, so you are still working out the kinks. You can only repel small objects with the power of thought. You haven\’t yet learned how to lift up X-Wing fighters like Yoda.

You ask if somebody has a cigarette. Put the cigarette on the table, and begin to summon your newly found telekinetic skills. Hold your hand cupped behind the cigarette, and it will mysteriously roll toward you. You place both hands on either side of the cigarette, and it moves away from you. Drop your hands, and head, and command somebody to bring you a beer so you can recharge your mental powers. If you\’re lucky, you\’ll be three sheets to the wind without paying a dime.

Here\’s the secret. When you have your hand cupped behind the cigarette, simply blow into your hand. The wind will circulate, and cause the cigarette to roll toward you. Holding both hands on either side of the cigarette, it will naturally roll away from you. Most people are afraid to try this to fear of getting caught, but it almost never happens. With the right set up, people will be looking at the cigarette and not your face.

It is a good idea to practice before hand, so you know exactly how to position your lips, and how to quickly blow without detection. Also make sure you aren\’t doing this in an area with any transient wind, like from an overhead fan or an open window. Like any other simple trick, this works best with a long, convoluted setup, and then quickly doing the trick and removing the prop. Be careful not to spend too much time \”in position\” than you have to. After a few practice sessions, you\’ll expertly be able to blow your breath without detection from others.

It goes without saying that the best place this works is in bars or parties, and when you are talking about something other than magic. Just covertly introduce the idea of you suddenly having psychic powers. Place the cigarette on the table in front of you, and get on with your patter for a while before you do the trick, that will increase their focus on the cigarette itself, and not you. A great way to cover yourself, is to act surprised every time the cigarette moves, as if you still can\’t believe your telekinetic powers. Have fun with this.

If you want to learn some fantastic Magic Tricks Revealed, Have a look at Miles Sunkest\’s Magic Tricks Revealed page today.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira left a lot of questions unanswered in the wake of his UFC 92 loss to Frank Mir. He had been dominated in his defeat to Mir and in the process suffered the first stoppage of his career. After the fight it was revealed that hed suffered from a staph infection during training, severe enough to land him in the hospital for five days. He insisted that the loss was entirely attributable to his illness. At UFC 102 from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, Big Nog made a compelling case that his loss to Mir was a definite aberration. Nogueira dominated a determined Randy Couture over three rounds, en route to a unanimous decision victory over the UFC Hall of Famer. Nogueira\’s decisive victory culminated the UFC\’s first ever event in the Pacific Northwest and after a bit of hand wringing over slow ticket sales the show came off very well on PPV.

Nogueira entered the arena first to his usual entrance music of Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones. Couture lived in suburban Gresham, Oregon for a number of years and trained at Team Quest before leaving to start Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Hes still a beloved figure in the Portland area, and his wide grin during Bruce Buffers introductions give the impression that he still has a lot of affection for his former hometown.

Despite the lopsided outcome of the fight, The Natural gave his fans plenty to cheer about. Though hes no longer able to outwork opponents and earn victories, hes still an amazing physical specimen for a 46 year old man. Furthermore, he still has the amazing toughness and resilience that made him a legend. He was knocked down twice, and came close to being choked out in each of the three rounds. In the first, he fought off a DArce Choke before Nogueira relented to conserve his energy. In the second, he worked out of a dangerous arm triangle choke and in the final frame withstood a ground and pound beating and a rear naked choke attempt.

Couture in no way embarrassed himself, but he never really threatened Nogueira either. The former PRIDE heavyweight champion looked every bit his old self, displaying a formidable standup game to compliment his top of the food chain groundfighting and submission skills.

Earlier in the event, Thiago Silva demonstrated why hes considered among the most underrated fighters in the UFC as he dismantled Keith Jardine. Silva perfectly countered one of Jardines kicks with a nasty straight right hand. He followed up with a quick ground punching barrage before the referee called a halt to the fight early in the first round.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

TV watching has changed completely with the rise of digital formats — back 15 years ago, the idea of watching a show on VHS from start to finish just wasn\’t convenient or very common at all. Now, it\’s par for the course, and the brilliant, addictive nature of some of TV\’s finest series can be seen by everyone. Here are 5 that will keep you hooked.

#5 \”Gossip Girl\”

Sure, it\’s just like every other one of those TV series full of rich jerks messing around on each other. But there\’s something about the particular nature of these Gossip Girl shows that just keeps you drawn in — whether it\’s the NYC setting or the contemporary mores and \’expose\’ feel of its pulpy plots, you won\’t be able to turn it off.

#4 True Blood.

There\’s just something about a bunch of crazy vampires and the metaphor of the gay community and the loads of crazy sex and over-the-top violence that makes people nuts for this show. If Bill the southern gentleman vampire doesn\’t turn your crank, you\’ve got Anna Paquin\’s Sookie Stackhouse to make you crazy, too. Addictive as anything!

#3 Jersey Shore

It\’s rare to find a reality show this compulsively watchable, but these semi-crazy people and their antics in a shorehouse for the summer make people absolutely keep watching. This is a TV series about crazy extroverts, a bunch of lions in a den all together, repeatedly exploding. You can\’t stop.

#2 The Office

Talk about addictive — not only is this show hilarious in its send-up of corporate culture and office inefficiencies, it also amazingly inserted a wonderful romance that has its many, many fans clamoring for more. If you go through the show on DVD, you\’ll really see how wonderfully it\’s been done.

#1Lost

Undoubtedly done to be one of the most addictive series ever made, Lost keeps a global viewing population riveted to their screens with the oldest trick in the book — cliffhangers and the \’serial\’ model that reveals, bit-by-bit, a little piece of the whole. There\’s really nothing like it.

Haven\’t got a chance to watch any of the series mentioned above? Go for it! TV on DVD is a great source of entertainment. Browse Internet for cheapest DVD Collections and enjoy your favorite movies at home.