Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
09/08/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive this evening when they play the middle contest of a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana Field.
Toronto enters tonight's matchup 6 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the wild card race. The Blue Jays failed to gain any ground on the front- running Yanks on Friday, but picked up a win nonetheless, as Dustin McGowan hurled eight innings and struck out a career-high 12 in Toronto's 7-2 win.
McGowan (10-8) allowed just two earned runs on four hits, walking only one, before being lifted for Jason Frasor, who tossed a perfect ninth.
Matt Stairs went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, Gregg Zaun launched a three-run homer, and Aaron Hill and John McDonald each scored twice for the Jays, who have now won five of seven and moved a season-high four games over .500.
Edwin Jackson (4-14) was victimized by two big innings, lasting 5 2/3 innings in the losing effort for the Rays, surrendering seven earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking three.
Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford each scratched out a single and scored a run for Tampa Bay, which managed just four hits on the night and lost for only the third time in its last 10 tries.
Getting the call for the Blue Jays tonight will be A.J. Burnett, who has won three of his last four decisions. Burnett earned the win on Sunday in Seattle, as he held the Mariners to three runs and four hits in seven innings. He also struck out seven batters, while running his record to 8-7 to go along with a 3.71 earned run average.
Burnett has dominated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays over the course of his career, going an impressive 6-1 against them with a 2.57 ERA in 11 starts.
Tampa will counter with right-hander Jason Hammel, who is 2-4 with a 6.95 ERA. Hammel celebrated his 25th birthday with a win on Sunday against the New York Yankees, as he allowed just a run and five hits in seven solid innings. He also fanned seven batters without issuing a walk.
Hammel did not receive a decision in his only other appearance against the Jays back on August 1,
Toronto has won seven of its 13 meetings with the Devil Rays this season and is 30-20 in the last 50 matchups.
<< Brewers hope for some success in Cincinnati
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers haven't fared well against
Cincinnati this season. The club will try and turn things around versus the
Reds -- and hold onto their share of the division lead -- tonight in the
middle portion of a three-
<< Zambrano tries to put boo-birds behind him in Steel City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano wasn't happy when Cubs fans booed him
during his last start. Zambrano and the Chicago faithful will get a breather
from each other tonight when the ace makes a road start in the middle portion
of the Cubs' thr
<< Reeling Twins continue series against White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins try to avoid their sixth straight loss
this afternoon when they play the middle contest of a three-game set against
the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Twins lost for the ninth time in the
<< Glavine takes hill for Mets in middle tilt with 'Stros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York's Tom Glavine will try to win his sixth straight
decision when he takes the hill for the Mets tonight in the continuation of a
three-game series with the Houston Astros at Shea Stadium.
Glavine is 5-0 over his las
A-Rod goes for 50th homer in Yanks' matchup against Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez could become just the fourth player in
Yankees history to reach 50 home runs this evening when New York resumes its
three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Rodriguez belted his maj
Sabathia goes for 17th victory as Indians battle Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.C. Sabathia goes for win No. 17 this evening when the
Cleveland Indians continue their four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels
of Anaheim at Angel Stadium.
Sabathia, who is one win off the pace of New York's Chien-M
Zito squares off with Wells by the Bay >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Zito will try to extend his excellent pitching
efforts as of late for the Giants tonight when San Francisco plays the second
contest of its three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park.
Zito is pitchi
Dredge and Rumford lead in Switzerland >>
Crans Montana, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Bradley
Dredge and Brett Rumford are tied atop the leaderboard after Saturday's third
round of the Omega European Masters.
Dredge managed a three-under 68 Saturday at
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting