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07/24/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew extended their lead atop Major League Soccer's Eastern table with a 3-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
Edgar Renteria scored in the first half, and Andy Iro and Leandre Griffit added goals in the final 10 minutes to help the Crew (10-3-4) to their second straight league win and 10th of the season overall.
After the teams battled to a stalemate for the first half-hour, Renteria took advantage of a mistake by Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall, who was starting because of an abdomen injury to veteran Pat Onstad.
Hall, who was making just his second MLS start, misplayed a long ball at the top of the Houston penalty area and fell to the turf, allowing Renteria to scoop up the loose ball and walk into the net for his fourth goal of the season in the 34th minute.
The Dynamo's chances of coming back took a hit late in the second half when central defender Bobby Boswell picked up his second yellow for a hard foul on Renteria, forcing his team to play a man down the rest of the way.
The Crew capitalized in the 84th minute when Iro deflected a Guillermo Barros Schelotto free kick past Hall for his third goal of the season.
Late substitute Griffit collected a Schelotto rebound in the area and slotted home his first MLS goal to make it 3-0 in the closing seconds.
The Dynamo (5-8-4), who are now winless in their last seven MLS fixtures, will try to earn the full points when they host Red Bull New York next Saturday, while the Crew travel to take on Chivas USA later the same night in their next MLS fixture.
<< Isner, Fish reach final in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded American John Isner advanced to
the final of the Atlanta Tennis Championships after defeating Kevin Anderson
in three sets.
Isner will have an opportunity for his second career title agai
<< Loney's HR in 13th gets Dodgers past reeling Mets
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney hit the game-winning home run
in the bottom of the 13th to lift Los Angeles to a 3-2 win over New York in
the third meeting of a four-game set.
George Sherrill (1-1) tossed a scoreless
<< Ordonez leaves with broken ankle
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez left
Saturday's game against Toronto with a fractured right ankle.
Ordonez was thrown out at home trying to score on a Miguel Cabrera double in
the bottom of the thi
<< Power edges teammate Castroneves for Edmonton pole
Edmonton, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power won the pole for Sunday's Honda
Indy Edmonton, while his teammate, Helio Castroneves, qualified on the outside
pole to give Team Penske another front row start in the IZOD IndyCar Series
this se
Cueto, Reds blank Astros >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Cueto dealt eight scoreless innings, and
Joey Votto slugged his league-leading 25th home run in Cincinnati's 7-0 win
over Houston in the middle installment of a three-game set.
Cueto (10-2) allowed
Young, Baker carry Twins over Orioles >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young went 4-for-4 with a two-run
homer to help back seven strong innings from Scott Baker, as the Minnesota
Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2, in the continuation of a four-game set.
Bake
Rays finally end long losing streak in Cleveland >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Zobrist's replay-reviewed three-run homer
began a stretch of six unanswered runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays finally snapped
their losing streak in Cleveland with a 6-3 win over the Indians.
Carlos Pena als
Blue Jays edge Tigers, who lose Ordonez, Guillen >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista knocked in two runs to back a
solid outing from Shaun Marcum as Toronto clipped Detroit, 3-2, in the second
of a four-game set from Comerica Park.
Vernon Wells drove in the other for the
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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