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
07/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Carpenter goes after win No. 12 this evening when the St. Louis Cardinals try to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Carpenter won his second straight start on Tuesday against Philadelphia, as he held the Phillies to a run and five hits in eight innings to run his record to 11-3 on the year, while lowering his earned run average to 3.05.
"I had good command of my sinker-ball near the bottom of the strike zone," said Carpenter of his dominant outing. "I also threw some good curveballs and kept them off- balanced."
Carpenter, who has allowed just two earned runs in his last two starts spanning 16 innings, beat the Cubs the last time he faced them and is 10-3 lifetime against them with a 2.73 ERA in 18 starts.
The Cubs made it two straight over the Cards on Saturday, as Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro homered to support six solid innings from Tom Gorzelanny, as Chicago eked out a 6-5 win.
Castro finished with three hits, two runs scored and two runs batted in, while Colvin scored twice and walked for Chicago, which has won the first two games over their rivals to claim its first series against a division foe in 11 tries.
A win on Sunday would give the Cubs their first home sweep of the Cards since turning the trick in a four-game set from July 27-30, 2006. Chicago also had a three-game sweep at home over the Cards earlier in that season.
Gorzelanny (6-5) earned the win after allowing three runs on seven hits while walking three and fanning three for Chicago, which has claimed a series over a division foe for the first time in 11 tries. Carlos Marmol set down the Redbirds in the ninth to record his 18th save.
Blake Hawksworth (4-6) suffered the loss after allowing six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings while walking three and fanning four for the Cardinals, who have dropped three straight.
"The amount of pitches I'm throwing is just too many," said Hawksworth. "I'm just not locating the ball, especially my fastball. I'm falling behind guys and just throwing too many pitches. That's the factor right now, it's not the home runs, just my location is off."
Chicago, meanwhile, will pin its hopes tonight on righty Ryan Dempster, who is 8-7 with a 3.70 ERA. Dempster is unbeaten in his last three starts, but did not get a decision on Tuesday against Houston, which managed seven runs (four earned) and eight hits in five innings of his team's 14-7 win.
Dempster was hit hard by the Cards back on May 30 for six runs in 6 2/3 innings and is 6-7 in 42 games against them with a 4.55 ERA.
St. Louis took two of three from the Cubs earlier in the season at Wrigley.
<< Padres hope to get the brooms out in Pittsburgh
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres will try to complete a three-game
sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon at PNC Park.
The Padres won for the sixth time in eight games since the All-Star break on
Saturday, as Everth Cabrera an
<< Braves, Marlins play rubber match in South Beach
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jair Jurrjens tries to win his fourth straight decision
this afternoon when the Atlanta Braves close out a three-game series with the
Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium.
Jurrjens has gone 3-0 in his four starts since ret
<< Tigers, Blue Jays play two at Comerica
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Due to the postponement of the contest on Friday, the fans
at Comerica Park will get a double dose of baseball this afternoon when the
Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays wrap up their four-game series with a
traditional dou
<< Twins go for series win in Baltimore
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins hope to continue their recent strong
play on the road this afternoon when they close out their four-game series
against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
The Twins have posted just a 22-26 mark awa
A's, White Sox close set at Coliseum >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Ben Sheets hitting the disabled list Dallas Braden
will head to the hill for Oakland, as the Athletics battle the Chicago
White Sox this afternoon in the finale of a three-game set at the Coliseum.
Sheets, who was su
Hunter tries to stay perfect, as Rangers finish set with Halos >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hunter will try to remain flawless on the season when
he takes the hill for the Texas Rangers this evening in the finale of a four-
game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Rangers Ballpark in
Arlington.
Shin denies Pressel, Thompson at Evian Masters >>
Evian-les-Bains, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin
birdied the 18th hole Sunday to earn a one-shot victory at the Evian Masters,
her seventh win on the LPGA Tour.
Shin made five birdies for a five-under 67, fi
Mets wrap up disastrous road trip at Chavez Ravine >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - R.A. Dickey targets his first win in six starts this
afternoon when the New York Mets wrap up what has been a disastrous road trip
with the finale of their four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at
Dodger Stadium.
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on 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