Beltran named NL Player of the Week

Baseball Betting Lines

08/20/2007 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran was named NL Player of the Week for the period ending August 19.

The switch-hitting Beltran hit .375 with four homers and eight runs scored in the week. The 30-year-old center fielder also recorded a 1.000 slugging percentage, 24 total bases and an on-base percentage of .448 during the week.

Beltran hit two home runs on August 19 versus Washington, helping the Mets to an 8-2 victory and a series sweep of the Nationals. It was his fourth multi- homer game of the season. The four-time All-Star also homered in two different games at Pittsburgh, and posted three consecutive multi-RBI games during the same series.

This is the second time this season that Beltran won NL Player of the Week, having also won during the week of April 16-22.

Foorball365 Baseball Betting News

<< Rain postpones Cup race again
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR's Nextel Cup race at the Michigan International Speedway was postponed due to rain for the second consecutive day. The 3M Performance 400 has been pushed back until Tuesday and the green flag is

<< Athletics place OF Buck on DL
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics place outfielder Travis Buck on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. The move is retroactive to August 18. Buck left the team's game against Kansas City last Friday

<< August turns ugly for Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sooner or later the Washington Nationals would fall from grace after their hot start this month. As Homer said to Bart during an old April Fool's episode of The Simpsons, "You couldn't fool your mother on the fooling

<< Vick set to plead guilty in dogfighting case
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Vick has decided to plead guilty to charges stemming from a dogfighting ring. Vick's attorney, Bill Martin, released a statement Monday to announce that his client has accepted a plea agreement

<< Robredo wins opener at Pilot Pen
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo was a second-round winner Monday at the $650,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final tune-up for the U.S. Open. Robredo handled Frenchman Marc Gicquel 6-4, 6-4 on the hardcour

Casillas out for Spain's friendly with Greece >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas has been ruled out of Spain's squad for this week's friendly against Greece after he suffered an injury in training on Monday. The Spanish Football Federation said t

Iowa suspends pair of players >>
Iowa City, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Iowa suspended sophomore wide receivers Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman for an indefinite period of time Monday. Both players were arrested Sunday by University of Iowa police

Kings sign Klemm >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings signed free agent defenseman Jon Klemm to a one-year contract on Monday. Per team policy, financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Klemm, 37, is a two-time win

Robredo, Fish win second-rounders at Pilot Pen >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo and unseeded American Mardy Fish were second-round winners Monday at the $650,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final tune-up for the U.S. Open. Robredo handled Frenchman Marc

This Week in Golf - August 20th through August 26th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - THE BARCLAYS, Westchester Country Club, Harrison, New York - The first event of the new FedEx Cup playoffs, The Barclays, heads the list of golf events this week. Last year, Vijay Singh

How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

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.