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
09/11/2007 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer is an up-and-coming league in the United States, but for it to get to the level Commissioner Don Garber envisions, the product on the field needs to continue on its current growth curve.
Nobody can argue that the addition of the designated player roster rule - which allows teams to pick one player on their rosters that don't have to fit under the salary cap - hasn't helped. Especially after the Aug. 18 slugfest at Giants Stadium between the Red Bulls and the Los Angeles Galaxy that saw New York prevail 5-4 in dramatic fashion behind the offensive prowess of two of the league's five designated players.
The game was played in front of a record 66,237 fans, most of whom were there to see the Galaxy's designated player, David Beckham, who recorded two assists in the game. New York's designated player, Juan Pablo Angel, also scored two goals, including the game-winner two minutes from time. Both players were pivotal in the free-flowing offensive shootout.
But even more pivotal was the fact that both teams seemed to throw defense out the window in an effort to give the record crowd something to cheer about. The result was one of the most exciting games in the history of the league.
"I think you saw tonight, two teams that wanted to play the right way, and that's going forward and attacking the other team, which is good," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said after the game. "I don't think we set out to (combine for nine goals in the game). You don't set out to do that, but I think you saw some good players on the field that were dangerous, and when you have that you are going to see an exciting game."
So why can't there be more games of this quality in MLS?
The answer is that most coaches prefer to win 1-0 or settle for a scoreless draw, especially when playing on the road. They are more concerned with wins and losses than attracting fans to the games - and rightly so, that is their job.
"We need to teach this sport a little better in America so people understand it more," New York's Clint Mathis said after the Galaxy-Red Bulls clash. "(That way) we can have more games like this for the non-soccer fans so it's more of an entertainment value for them... instead of them expecting a 1-0 game or a 0-0 game."
The trend in MLS seems to be changing to that more offensive mentality, which bodes well for its future.
"I think if you talk to Frank Yallop and I behind closed doors, we would tell you that we had a lot of breakdowns throughout the night, but having said that, that is all part of the game," New York coach Bruce Arena said after the classic tilt. "Scoring goals is an important part of growing the sport in this country."
MLS has made great strides since last season, and possibly more important than the designated player rule, is the fact that it has added a number of new head coaches who all seem to be preaching the same thing - offense.
Steve Morrow has FC Dallas attacking from everywhere, the Chicago Fire are battling for a playoff spot with Juan Carlos Osorio adding creativity to the league, D.C. United is currently tops in MLS thanks to Tom Soehn's ability to keep the team in an attacking mode and Kansas City's new coach, Curt Onalfo, is also earning a reputation in the league for his aggressive style. His offensive mentality not only has the Wizards in playoff contention, but they currently have the third most goals in the league, no small feat for a team that didn't make the playoffs a year ago.
PLAYOFF RACE HEATING UP
Red Bull New York, the Kansas City Wizards and the Chicago Fire would be the final three teams to make the playoffs if they started today, but the Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew are in position to make a run if the aforementioned teams falter in their final six-plus games.
New York currently has 36 points, Kansas City 33 and Chicago 29, while Columbus and Colorado are tied at 28. All of the teams have six games remaining except the Fire, who have seven.
New York looks to be in good shape, needing to win just three of its remaining games to clinch a spot with its remaining schedule against Chicago, New England, Real Salt Lake, Toronto, Kansas City and L.A. The Wizards also probably get in with three more wins, with matches against Columbus, CD Chivas USA, L.A., D.C., New York and Dallas remaining. The Fire probably need four wins against their remaining schedule of New York, Dallas, D.C.(twice), Chivas USA, New England and L.A.
D.C., Houston, New England, Chivas USA and Dallas have their spots pretty well locked up, barring a collapse down the stretch.
CONSPIRACY THEORIST?
New England coach Steve Nicol was dismissed from Sunday's 4-2 loss to D.C. in the 68th minute after a non-call by referee Abbey Okulaja allowed a turnover, leading to United's go-ahead goal.
"What are you supposed to do? We can set up to play against teams but we can't set up to play against officials," he said after the game. "I'm not talking about a hairline decision one way or the other. I'm talking about a free kick that everybody within 20 yards could see what it was. Not one of them saw it? That's what they'll probably tell you. And if they did see it - are you kidding me?"
So was he blaming the officials or just venting after a tough loss?
Let's hope Nicol wasn't blaming one non-call for the outcome of a game his team lost by two goals, especially considering most teams suffer worse calls by the league's full-time referees every week.
Revs star striker Taylor Twellman probably had it right when he said, "To be honest, D.C. outplayed us today."
GOALLESS STREAK CONTINUES
Last-place Toronto FC's current goal-less drought was extended to an MLS- record 732 minutes at Dallas Saturday. Without attackers Ronnie O'Brien and Jeff Cunningham, who are out for the season with injuries, and Danny Dichio, who will miss the team's game Saturday vs. Real Salt Lake with an injury, chances of the streak extending are better than average.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"There is a gimmicky-type thing in the beginning with it and we didn't really react. But he's a quiet kid, he's very humble and every day he kind of won us over with his work rate. He works his butt off. Guys get after him and he just responds by playing harder and that's what you want out of a young kid. He doesn't seem to get a deer-in-headlights when someone has a go at him or when it gets really physical. He responds by playing harder and that's all you want out of a young guy."
- CD Chivas USA forward Ante Razov said of Jorge Flores, who won Chivas USA's Sueno MLS contest earlier this year and made his professional debut against the Red Bulls Sunday.
<< United's Emilio named player of the week
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United forward Luciano Emilio earned
his third Major League Soccer Player of the Week award Tuesday after scoring
four goals in two games last week.
Emilio had two goals in a 2-2 tie with Chivas U
<< Blue Jays sign McDonald to extension
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays have signed shortstop
John McDonald to a two-year contract. The deal is worth $3.8 million and
extends him through the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
McDonald, 32, is batting .252 with
<< Drake moves ahead of San Diego in Mid-Major Poll
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After coming up just two points shy of
first-place last week, Drake edged past San Diego by one point in the Mid-
Major Top-10 poll announced by The Sportsbook Betting Lines on Tuesday.
Both teams received e
<< Chiefs bring in K Rayner
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to terms
with kicker Dave Rayner on a two-year contract.
Rayner spent last season with the Green Bay Packers and connected on 26-of-35
field goal tries with 31 extra poin
This Week in Auto Racing September 14 - September 16 >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR begins the "Chase for the Nextel
Cup" this Sunday in New Hampshire, while across the pond, the Formula One
championship heats up both on and off the track.
NASCAR
Nextel Cup
Sylvania 3
CFB - Blowout City >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The four most important games this past
Saturday all fell under the category of "decisive victory" for the winning
team - LSU destroyed Virginia Tech, Oklahoma did the same to Miami-Florida,
Oregon took care
Bengals Get Some Breaks, Outlast Ravens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The offense of the Baltimore Ravens tried its best to give
Cincinnati a win in its opener Monday night.
When that failed, the officials effectively tried to gift wrap the victory for
them.
That didn't work either, but w
Turnovers, Injuries, Penalties Mark Bad Night for Ravens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was a nightmare from which the Baltimore Ravens nearly
awoke.
The franchise's three most identifiable and arguably most important players -
quarterback Steve McNair, left tackle Jonathan Ogden, and linebacker Ray Lewis
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.
Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
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