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03/12/2010 - Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iowa State junior forward Craig Brackins will forgo his senior season and enter the 2010 NBA Draft, men's basketball coach Greg McDermott confirmed Friday.
Brackins ranked in the top-10 in the Big 12 in both scoring (16.5 points) and rebounding (8.5 rebounds) this past season. That was good enough to earn him an All-Big 12 Second-Team selection.
In 2008-09, the native of Palmdale, California was an All-Big 12 First-Team pick.
"Craig has been the face of our basketball program for the last two seasons and has always represented ISU in a first-class manner," McDermott said. "He has worked extremely hard on his game, especially in the weight room, and has looked at all of his options before making this decision. We certainly are excited to see him thrive as a professional next season."
<< Packers sign Pro Bowl S Collins through 2013
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers announced Friday that
the team has signed safety Nick Collins to a multi-year extension through the
2013 season.
Collins had been a restricted free agent, and the team previously
<< Stanford women drop Arizona, gain Pac-10 semis
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike tallied a game-high 25
points with 10 rebounds as No. 2 Stanford downed Arizona, 72-52, in the
quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament.
Jeanette Pohlen scored 15 points and Kay
<< LeBron returns against Sixers
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James was in the Cavaliers'
starting lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, returning from a
two-game absence.
James missed a loss to the Bucks last Saturday and a win over the Spurs o
<< Oregon QB Masoli suspended for entire 2010 season
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was
suspended for the entire 2010 season after pleading guilty to charges of
second-degree burglary on Friday.
Ducks head coach Chip Kelly made the announce
Lehigh tops Lafayette for Patriot League title >>
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. McCollum poured in a game-best 20 points
to go with seven rebounds, as the top-seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks punched
their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 74-59 victory over the third-seeded
Lafayet
Tight end shuffle: Browns sign Watson, release Heiden >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns shifted their focus at the
tight end position on Friday, signing unrestricted free agent Benjamin Watson
to a multi-year contract and also releasing Steve Heiden.
Financial terms of the
Bobcats' Wallace leaves game with ankle injury >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace left
Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers with a sprained left
ankle.
With 1.5 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Wallace stole the ball fr
Onuaku day-to-day with right quadriceps injury >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse forward Arinze Onuaku is day-to-day
with a right quadriceps injury.
Onuaku was hurt in Thursday's 91-84 loss to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of
the Big East Tournament. He underwent an MRI on
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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