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03/03/2009 - Hamilton, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Canadian Football League has extended a deadline imposed to reach a stadium agreement with the city of Ottawa in the continued effort to bring a CFL franchise back to the country's capital.
The announcement was made from the league's winter meetings otherwise known as the CFL Congress and the Board of Governors voted Tuesday to extend the March 18 deadline an additional six months.
Bill Shenkman, Roger Greenberg, John Ruddy and Jeff Hunt make up the Ottawa ownership group that earlier was granted a conditional CFL franchise, with the condition being that they reach a suitable stadium agreement with the city by the original March 18 deadline.
"Our Board of Governors is united in our desire to not only bring a CFL team to the great city of Ottawa, but to someday deliver the Grey Cup, and the tens of millions of dollars of economic activity that comes with it, to the nation's capital," CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said.
"We have the prospective owners in place to make that happen successfully, gentlemen with local roots, deep resources and a passion for Canadian football and building their community. And we have a league led by governors who understand the importance of returning to a city that's a major market and the symbolic centre of our country."
The move would mark the third CFL franchise for the Canadian capital. The Rough Riders won nine Grey Cups in their long stay (1876-1996), but ultimately folded due to falling attendance numbers.
The league came calling again in 2002 with the Renegades, but the league suspended the club four years later when their ownership wasn't prepared to take on millions of dollars in likely losses.
The exact date for expansion has not been determined, but 2010 is the earliest season in which the club may take the field.
Attempts to generate interest in Atlantic Canada for a possible 10th franchise, specifically in Halifax, Nova Scotia, also failed.
The CFL currently sports eight teams, split into East and West Divisions.
<< Jets ink free agent S Leonhard, re-sign FB Richardson
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets agreed to terms with
unrestricted free agent safety Jim Leonhard and re-signed fullback Tony
Richardson to a one-year deal on Tuesday.
Terms of Leonhard's contract were not
<< Preds G Rinne named top rookie for February
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nashville rookie goaltender Pekka Rinne
has been selected as the NHL's top rookie of the month for February.
Rinne was 9-2-1 for the month with a 1.72 goals-against average and a pair of
shutout wins a
<< Around College Basketball: It's tournament time
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first college basketball tournament I
covered was so long ago that many basketball fans wouldn't even remember the
name of the conference.
I spent the first weekend of March, 1979 covering the Pacific
<< City's Bellamy could miss three weeks
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wales international Craig Bellamy could
be sidelined for up to three weeks with the knee injury he picked up in
Sunday's 1-0 defeat at West Ham United.
The Manchester City star has already
Falcons re-sign nine players >>
Flowery Branch, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Falcons have re-signed
tight end Justin Peelle, linebackers Coy Wire and Tony Gilbert, defensive
tackle Jason Jefferson, offensive lineman Ben Wilkerson and safety Jamaal
Fudge,
Bucks' Redd has successful surgery >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Bucks sharpshooter Michael Redd
had successful knee surgery Tuesday to repair a season-ending injury he
suffered in a January 24 game against Sacramento.
In the game, a 106-104 win for
Nuggets sign G Hart for remainder of season >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets signed guard Jason Hart for
the remainder of the season on Tuesday.
Hart was waived on February 27 by the Los Angeles Clippers after averaging
11.1 minutes in 28 games this season. He po
Suns' Nash returns after missing three games >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash returned
to the court on Tuesday vs. the Orlando Magic after missing three games with a
sprained left ankle.
The Suns went 2-1 without Nash during the stretch.
The two
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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.
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