05/09/2008 - Arlington, TX (Baseball Betting) - The Texas Rangers traded outfielder Kevin Mench to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday for cash considerations.
Mench, who in 2006 became one of just five players in MLB history to hit a home run in seven consecutive games, has not appeared in the majors this season, playing 29 games with Texas' Triple-A Oklahoma affiliate and compiling a .282 average with three home runs and 18 RBI.
The 30-year-old signed a minor league contact with Texas on Feb. 12 after spending last season with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he hit .267 with eight homers and 37 RBI in 101 games.
<< Sexson suspended six games, will appeal
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson
has been suspended six games and fined an undisclosed amount for his violent
and aggressive actions in the fourth inning of Thursday's game against the
Texas R
<< U.S. women to play Norway, Sweden in Europe
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States womens national team, ranked
No. 1 in the world by FIFA, will travel to Europe for exhibition games against
Norway and Sweden this summer.
The U.S., which is 12-0-1 this year, plays Norway on
<< Federer falls; Djokovic, Roddick reach Rome semis
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer
suffered a quarterfinal setback Friday at the hands of gritty Czech Radek
Stepanek at the $3.5 million Italian Masters. Meanwhile, Australian Open
champion Novak Djo
<< City in line for UEFA Cup spot
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City could secure a surprise
route into European football next season after UEFA revealed England have
finished top of the fair play standings.
One Premier League club will now be han
Russia, Finland win at Worlds >>
Halifax, Nova Scotia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the first shootout of the
tournament, Sergei Mozyakin and Alexei Morozov each scored in the shootout to
help Russia to a 4-3 win over Belarus at the 2008 World Hockey Championships.
Russi
Padres release veteran OF Edmonds >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres released struggling
outfielder Jim Edmonds on Friday.
The 37-year-old Edmonds, who was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis
Cardinals in December, was batting just .178 wit
Murphy named AL's top rookie for April >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder David Murphy was
named the American League Rookie of the Month for April.
In 27 games last month, the 26-year-old Murphy batted .277 with two home runs
and 14 runs batted in.
Soto receives NL Rookie of the Month award >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was named
National League Rookie of the Month for April.
The backstop recorded a .341 average (29-for-85) with five home runs and 20
RBI in 23 games for Chicago, which h
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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