Coast Guard calls off search for missing boaters

Football Betting Lines

03/03/2009 - Clearwater, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Coast Guard held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to announce they have suspended the search for three missing boaters, including Oakland Raiders linebacker Victor "Marquis" Cooper and Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith, as of 6:30 (et) Tuesday.

Also missing is William Bleakley, a former player for the University of South Florida. The fourth boater, Nick Schuyler, also a former USF player, was rescued by the Coast Guard on Monday.

Schuyler was discovered clinging to an overturned vessel 35 miles west of Tampa Bay, Florida. He said the boat was anchored before being flipped in rough seas Saturday evening. The Coast Guard had narrowed their search off the coast of Clearwater Pass based on information provided by Schuyler and discovered a unmanned life vest and cooler believed to be from the boat earlier Tuesday 16 miles southeast of where the boat capsized.

Copper's father, Bruce, and close friend, Dallas Cowboys player Tank Johnson, held an impromptu news conference after the Coast Guard's announcement stating they were not giving up hope and made a plea for help from the private sector.

"We will not give up hope that Marquis is out there fighting and trying to return. That is our attitude. At some point maybe reality will set in and we'll discover otherwise," said Bruce Cooper.

"What we're asking for is experienced aviation pilots who are interested in helping us find the remains, if not Marquis floating on the water," Johnson said. "The Coast Guard did a wonderful job but when you're looking for someone, a family member, there is a certain connection you're looking for. We feel like if we get the chance to go out there...anything can happen, stranger things have happened. We still have faith."

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., received a call around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning saying that four boaters, Cooper, Smith, Skylar and Bleakley, did not return as scheduled from their fishing trip. The four men left Clearwater Pass about 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning in a 21-foot center console boat.

"Today's news is a sobering reminder about how truly precious and fragile life can be. We will continue to pray for a miracle, though we fully understand and respect the decision of the Coast Guard," a statement released by the Detroit Lions said. "We were thrilled yesterday with the news of Nick's rescue, and it gave all of us hope that Corey, Will and Marquis would also be found alive. While we still have that hope, we have begun to cope with the grim reality of this sad and tragic situation. We cannot adequately express our heartfelt appreciation to the Coast Guard and all the Florida authorities involved in the rescue mission. Their heroic efforts saved at least one life, and we know they did everything possible for Corey, Will and Marquis."

Smith, 29, had 30 tackles, three sacks and an interception in 12 games last season for the winless Lions. The 6-foot-2, 250-pounder had 83 tackles, 8 1/2 sacks and the pick in 62 career games with Tampa Bay, San Francisco and Detroit.

The 6-3, 215-pound Cooper had played sparingly over the past three seasons, appearing in only 13 games and recording just 10 tackles. After recording 32 tackles in 26 games with Tampa Bay from 2004-05, the 26-year-old Cooper bounced between Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Seattle and Jacksonville before settling in Oakland for the 2008 season.

Smith and Cooper were teammates on the Bucs in 2004.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

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According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

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