in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthe

LAS VEGAS -- And then there were eight ...The Friday Football Showdown at the Golden Nugget is down to the eight quarterfinalists that qualified for its head-to-head playoffs. The contest, which is in its second year of being open to the public, drew a field of 96 entrants at $2,000 apiece. Participants made seven plays per week (NFL and NCAA sides and totals were used) for the first eight weeks and then nine plays each of the last two weeks.RoughRider39, a longtime advantage player and consistent top player in Las Vegas contests, finished with the best record at 50-22-2 (69.4 percent) for 51 contest points, as 1 point is awarded for each win and half a point for each push. FrankyP finished at 49.5 points, followed by @LasVegasCris & The D Las Vegas at 48 and then Hells Kitchen, Anthony Curtis and Mucked Nuts tied for fifth place at 47.5.The eighth spot in the playoffs goes to the winner of what the Golden Nugget called the Wild-Card Chase with the best record in Weeks 9-10. @LasVegasCris went 15-3 and FrankyP was 13-3-2 over the last two weeks, but since they already qualified, the last spot went to BBQ Guy, who went 13-4-1 to just edge out Big Lib (9-0 in Week 9 but only went 4-5 in Week 10 to finish 13-5).Each of the playoff qualifiers earns $3,000 to guarantee they all make a profit for the $192,000 contest, but now their records are wiped clean for the head-to-head matchups that will be held over the next four Fridays (thus the Friday Football Showdown name) on The Las Vegas Sportsline radio show with co-hosts Matt Youmans and Dave Cokin from 2-3 p.m. PT on ESPN AM 1100 here in Vegas and online at lvsportsnetwork.com. All entrants had to agree to appear on the radio show if they made the playoffs or designate a substitute to give out their plays. The only advantage for the top regular-season finishers is they get to choose (in seeding order) which weekend they want to compete. The Golden Nuggets Tony Miller and Aaron Kessler worked Tuesday to contact the qualifiers and here are the quarterfinal matchups:Nov. 18: No. 4 Derek Stevens vs. No. 5 Nancy Clark Nov. 25: No. 1 Randy McKay vs. No. 8 Michael Wright Dec. 2: No. 2 Frank Perez vs. No. 7 Christopher Kozak Dec. 9: No. 3 Cris Zeniuk vs. No. 6 Anthony CurtisThe quarterfinal winners will each win another $2,000 and advance to the semifinals on Dec. 16 and 23. The championship match is slated for Friday, Dec. 30. The remaining $160,000 is split up with $96,000 to the eventual champion (for a total haul of $101,000), $40,000 to the runner-up, $8,000 each to the semifinal losers and $8,000 to the winner of a bonus mini-contest held in NFL Weeks 15-17 for all contestants (even those eliminated earlier).SuperContest getting crowded at the topBy this time of the NFL season, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest usually has one or two players that have pulled away from the field. However, after 10 weeks there are five SuperContestants tied for first place with another nine within one game of the lead.Early-season leader Ripsaw has been able to stick around and is 32-15-3 (68.1 percent) for 33.5 points and tied with Johnny Vegas, Janknation, Mark Davis and Underdobs. Ripsaw was 0-3 this past weekend before winning with Seattle +7.5 on Sunday night and Cincinnati +2 on Monday night to maintain a portion of the lead.A record 1,854 entrants are in the SuperContest this year. They paid $1,500 to enter and make five NFL plays a week against the contest spread while playing for more than $2.5 million in prizes (after an administrative fee of 8 percent was taken out) and a first-place prize of $895,482 with payouts to the top 50.The top five consensus picks went 0-5 last week and are a woeful 15-33-2 (31.3 percent) through 10 weeks. Those plays are often the games that are off by the most points between the time the weekly lines are locked in on Wednesday afternoons and the deadline for picks at 11 a.m. PT Saturday, but those popular plays have been struggling all season. The overall consensus of all Week 10 games was 3-11 ATS (21.4 percent) and is just 63-79-3 (44.4 percent) for the season to date to hold down most records.In fact, the five co-leaders are the only players left that are over the 67-percent threshold that the Westgate splits among those that exceed that mark at the end of the season. Since the explosion of the SuperContest field started in 2011, the bonus has been paid out every year, but that streak is in jeopardy this season. The SuperContest also has a $20,000 mini-contest over the last three weeks on the NFL schedule. Wholesale Shoes Brands . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. Wholesale Shoes 2020 . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.wholesaleshoes.us.org/ .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. Wholesale China Shoes Free Shipping . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Replica Shoes Wholesale .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. WEST BROMWICH, England -- Middlesbrough maintained its unbeaten start to life back in the English Premier League by drawing 0-0 with West Bromwich Albion in a match of few clear-cut opportunities at The Hawthorns on Sunday.Promoted last season after seven years in the second-tier League Championship, Middlesbrough has five points from its opening three games under coach Aitor Karanka -- the former assistant of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.West Broms best chances fell to defenders Brendan Galloway and Craig Dawson, but Middlesbroughs American goalkeeper Brad Guzan wasnt seriously tested.ddddddddddddCristhian Stuani and Daniel Ayala had shots saved by West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster late in the game.West Brom has a win, a draw and a loss so far this season. ' ' '