05/09/2008 - Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of Major League Soccer's biggest markets will clash when the New York Red Bulls travel to California to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center.
Both teams are trying to establish their spots in their respective conference tables, with the Galaxy currently third in the West and New York second from the bottom in the East.
The Galaxy are the hotter of the two lukewarm teams, unbeaten in their last three including a 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake in their last league fixture. David Beckham scored two goals less than five minutes apart to give L.A. a share of the points on the road.
"It's what great players do," Galaxy defender Chris Klein said of Beckham. "He delivers good balls, and you have to step to him because he can strike a great ball. On the free kick, everyone knows what he can do there. We're going to need a few of those this year, and he's been known to provide them. I think this is a tip of what he can do, and what everyone has been waiting to see."
All four goals in the 2-2 draw came before the first half break.
"We started coming back into the game just before then and when you're coming back into the game it's important that you keep your eyes on the play," Beckham said. "It was my turn to score the goals tonight instead of Landon (Donovan, who leads MLS with 8 goals), but it's important that all the players take a part of scoring goals and winning games and getting the team back into the game."
"His attitude in those two moments to make the difference," Donovan of Beckham. "Obviously, he has the quality to make the difference. Other people can try it, but can't pull it off - he can. Him saying, 'I'm going to make a difference because we're struggling right now,' then he went and did it - that was the difference between tying the game and losing."
The Red Bulls aren't as confident heading into the match, with number of injury concerns.
Striker Juan Pablo Angel has an injured back, midfielder Claudio Reyna's has a left calf strain, striker Jozy Altidore missed two days of training because of an allergies, and defensive midfielder Seth Stammler suffered a lower back injury at training Wednesday afternoon. Neither Reyna or Stammler will be in action Saturday.
"It's sore," Angel said of his back after the team's draw at Toronto last week. "It got very tight at the end. But I'm happy I managed to play 90 minutes, it'll be good for my fitness. We're just going to have to wait and see how it reacts in the next couple of days ... if it reacts well, that means I'm getting better."
There was some good news from the training room, however, with Dane Richards and Hunter Freeman playing their first minutes of the season last week after coming back from injury. Both Angel and Altidore are expected to play Saturday as well.
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Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer
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champion Novak Djo
<< City in line for UEFA Cup spot
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<< Rangers not looking past Dundee United
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers will attempt to capture its first
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A's reliever Foulke activated off DL >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics activated reliever Keith
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He had been on the DL since April 19, retroactive to April 11, with neck
stiffness.
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Russia, Finland win at Worlds >>
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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 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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