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06/16/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After nearly homering in his first-ever plate appearance at historic Fenway Park last night, Barry Bonds continues his assault on Hank Aaron's all-time record when his San Francisco Giants play the middle test of a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox this afternoon.
Bonds hit a towering drive off Red Sox starter Julian Tavarez well above the right-field foul pole in the first inning of Friday's 10-2 Boston victory. Following a brief consultation by the umpiring crew, the ball was ruled to be foul.
The superstar slugger ended up popping out in that at-bat and finished the game 1-for-3 with a single and a walk. Bonds remains eight homers shy of matching Aaron's historic mark of 755.
While Bonds' Fenway debut received all the pregame attention, Red Sox rookie Dustin Pedroia wound up as the contest's offensive star. The second baseman went 5-for-5 with a two-run homer and knocked in a career-high five RBI to spark Boston to the rout.
Pedroia's five hits were also a personal best and raised his season average to .331, tops among all rookies.
J.D. Drew added three hits, three RBI and three runs scored to help the Red Sox bounce back from consecutive home losses to Colorado on Wednesday and Thursday. Boston was outscored by a 19-3 margin in those defeats.
Tavarez (4-4) allowed six hits and two runs over seven innings, fanning three and walking two. His counterpart on Friday, Barry Zito, had a rough night on the mound for the Giants.
Zito (6-7) yielded seven runs (six earned) on five hits and issued four walks before being removed after 5 1/3 frames. It was the high-priced lefty's second consecutive defeat.
Today's game features an intriguing pitching matchup, as the struggling Daisuke Matsuzaka goes to the post for the Red Sox opposite Giants' hard-luck right-hander Matt Cain.
Cain has been the more effective pitcher of the pair this season, although the hard-throwing youngster has just two wins to his credit for the year. He's recorded a respectable 3.31 earned run average over 13 starts in 2007, but San Francisco has provided him with two or less runs of support in eight of those outings.
The 22-year-old was victimized by his offense once again on Sunday. Cain limited Oakland to a run and five hits while registering eight strikeouts over eight innings, but wound up on the wrong end of a 2-0 decision. He shut out the Athletics over the first seven frames before yielding a solo homer to Marco Scutaro in the eighth.
This will be the first career appearance against Boston for Cain, who has posted a 2.62 ERA in seven road starts this season.
In contrast, Matsuzaka has won seven games for the Red Sox so far despite bringing a 4.52 ERA into today's showdown. However, the Japanese sensation has also been hindered by his club's offense as of late.
Matsuzaka has taken a loss in each of his last three starts, although he's pitched well enough to win his two most recent times out. The right-hander held Arizona to two runs and four hits while fanning nine over six innings in a 5-1 loss on Sunday. Five days earlier, Matsuzaka gave up just two runs and struck out in seven innings, but got little help in a 2-0 setback at Oakland.
The 26-year-old is 3-2 with a 5.62 ERA in six Fenway Park starts this season.
Last night's encounter was the first meeting between the teams since 2004, when the Giants won two of three games from Boston in San Francisco.
<< Glavine hopes to end recent woes as Mets, Yankees resume battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maybe another edition of the Subway Series was all the New
York Mets needed to get back on track. The struggling National League East
leaders will shoot for a second straight victory over the crosstown rival
Yankees
<< Haren dominates again; A's spoil La Russa's return to Oakland
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Haren threw seven strong innings to win his
eighth consecutive decision, as the Athletics spoiled Tony La Russa's return
to Oakland with a 14-3 milestone victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jason Kenda
<< Lowe fans 11 as Dodgers edge Angels
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Lowe outdueled Ervin Santana, as the
Dodgers edged the Angels, 2-1, in the latest edition of the Freeway Series
at Dodger Stadium.
Lowe (7-6) allowed just one run and four hits over seven i
<< Chatman, LSU agree on settlement
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LSU and former women's basketball coach
Pokey Chatman reached an agreement on a $85,000 settlement after the coach's
resignation from the school in March.
Combined with the $75,000 the school agr
Woe Canada: Nationals try to end struggles in Toronto >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Levale Speigner hopes to duplicate the best outing
of his brief big-league career when he takes the mound today for the
Washington Nationals, who play the second of three straight interleague games
with th
Dodgers shoot for second straight win over rival Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers take aim at their fifth win in a
row today, as they tangle with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the latest
edition of the Freeway Series from Dodger Stadium.
Last night Derek Lowe outdueled
Berdych, Baghdatis advance to Halle final >>
Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and
eighth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis were semifinal winners Saturday at
the $900,000 Gerry Weber Open, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up.
Berdych, who was
Reeling Orioles face Randy-less Diamondbacks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles will try to put the breaks on a
season-high six-game losing skid tonight, when they tussle with the Arizona
Diamondback in the second tilt of a three-game series at Camden Yards.
In Friday's
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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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