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04/15/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dusty Baker makes his first return trip to Wrigley Field since his four-year stint as manager of the Chicago Cubs tonight, when the new Cincinnati skipper leads the Reds in a three-game series between the National League Central rivals.
Baker led the Cubs to the 2003 NL Central title and within five outs of an appearance in that year's World Series before the club fell to the eventual champion Florida Marlins.
The Cubs posted another winning season in 2004, but stumbled to just 66 wins by his final season in 2006.
Lou Piniella, who managed the Reds to a World Series title in 1990, took over in 2007 and guided the Cubs to another division championship last year.
Ace Aaron Harang starts on the mound for the Reds and looks for his ninth win in his 16th career start against Chicago. He is 8-3 with a 4.44 earned run average in 95 1.3 innings over 15 previous starts versus the Cubs.
In three starts so far in 2008, Harang has allowed 14 hits and five earned runs in 21 innings, picking up a win, a loss and a no decision.
Ex-Red Ryan Dempster starts for Chicago tonight. The 30-year-old native of British Columbia spent part of 2002 and all of 2003 with Cincinnati, going 8-12 in 37 appearances, including 35 starts.
He went to Chicago in 2004 but was limited by injury to just 23 appearances. He returned as the team's closer from 2005-07, posting 85 saves before moving to the starting rotation to begin 2008.
In two starts this season, he's allowed four hits and one earned run in 13 innings, striking out 10 and walking four.
The Reds enter this season after being swept in three games by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend. In Sunday's finale, Jason Bay hit a three-run homer and Ryan Doumit and Xavier Nady added two-run shots as the Pirates routed Cincinnati, 9-1.
Johnny Cueto (1-1) struggled through six innings of work for Cincinnati, giving up five runs on five hits while striking out six and walking a batter.
Ryan Freel went 2-for-5 with an RBI for Cincinnati, which has dropped five of its last seven overall.
The Cubs salvaged the finale of a three-game series in Philadelphia on Sunday. Ronny Cedeno scored the go-ahead run on Chase Utley's throwing error in the top of the 10th inning as the Cubs squeezed past Philadelphia, 6-5. Bank Park.
Cedeno drew a leadoff walk against Rudy Seanez (0-1), then moved to second on Ryan Theriot's sacrifice bunt. Geovany Soto also drew a free pass, and pinch- hitter Carlos Zambrano grounded to short with what looked like a dead double- play ball. But Utley's relay to first hit the dirt and skipped past Ryan Howard, allowing Cedeno to cross the plate.
Utley doubled off the wall in right in Philadelphia's final at-bat, but So Taguchi grounded out to end the game as Bob Howry picked up his first save.
Kerry Wood (1-0) earned the win for the Cubs with two scoreless frames. It backed a mediocre effort by starter Jason Marquis, who lasted through five innings but gave up two runs on four hits while walking five.
Derrek Lee went 3-for-5 and knocked in a pair of runs for Chicago, while Mark DeRosa added a disputed solo homer. The Cubs have won six of their last eight games overall.
These teams split 18 meetings in 2007, with Cincinnati winning five of the nine matchups held at Wrigley Field.
<< Sharks hope to rebound in Game 4 at Calgary
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-seeded San Jose Sharks will try to bounce back
from a rough loss, as they visit the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome
tonight for Game 4 of the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals.
The Sharks scored th
<< Report: Former Sonics owner to sue to get team back
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard
Schultz is reportedly planning to sue the current ownership to get the team
back, on the basis that the new owners violated the sale contract by not
making
<< Wild, Avs meet for Game 4 in Denver
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-seeded Minnesota Wild will try to grab a three
games to one lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals
tonight, when they visit the Colorado Avalanche for Game 4 at the Pepsi
Center.
Every game i
<< Streaking A's shoot for another Windy City win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dana Eveland tries for his third impressive outing to start
the season this afternoon, when the Oakland Athletics try to complete a two-
game sweep in their brief series with the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular
Field.
Providence set to hire Drake coach Davis >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keno Davis has reached a deal to become
the next head coach at Providence, according to FoxSports.com.
An official announcement is expected Tuesday afternoon.
Davis arrives in Providence after just o
Kentucky Derby preps provide few clues >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The favorite in the Santa Anita Derby
finished fifth. The favorite in the Wood Memorial got edged at the wire.
The favorite in the Illinois Derby finished fifth. The favorite in the Blue
Grass Stakes finished
Canadian Football League (CFL) >>
Named Tom Higgins director of officiating.
Memphis' Rose plans on heading to NBA >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis star Derrick Rose is expected to
enter the NBA draft after playing just one season for the Tigers, according to
The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Rose averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 assists per game
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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