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04/15/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the decade of the 1990s whenever the name of Shane Sellers was listed as the jockey for a racehorse, many a dollar would be automatically bet on that entry. Sellers was easily on his way to a Hall of Fame career as a jockey.
While that career has had some twists and turns, Sellers is back riding horses and this summer he will be plying his trade at Delaware Park. The historic track near Wilmington will begin its 73rd season of live racing on the first Saturday in May.
"I know Delaware Park has a tough competitive meet," said Sellers. "I know I am going to have to come here and work hard and do whatever I need to do, but I am hungry and I want it again. This place is really amazing. I love golf and it was pretty cool driving in and seeing the golf course right there. The racetrack and stable area are beautiful and it really reminds of Saratoga and Keeneland. A real laid back nice place. I have been to the track and it seems like a great track with a real good feel. I do not know if it is just because I am so happy to be back in the game or what, but so far I am really enjoying myself."
A Louisiana native, the 43-year-old Sellers will be coming to Delaware Park now that Fair Grounds Racecourse in New Orleans has completed its 2009-10 season. This year the veteran rider has 25 wins in 275 mounts for $965,286.
"I had an unbelievable meet on a lot of different levels," said Sellers. "I finished fifth in the standings and I finished near the top in purses earned. I went into the Fair Grounds meet with an open mind and with the attitude to change what everybody thought of me. If I accomplished that it would be have been a successful meet, and I did, though it took a little longer with some. I rode for some people that I thought would never give me a shot again, so it gave me hope that at 43-years-old I can still compete with these kids, even though I had been away from riding for nearly five years. On all those counts, I feel I was successful."
He finished fifth in the Fair Grounds standings with a record of 49 wins, 61 seconds, and 53 thirds with purses earned of $1,881,265.
"After the Fair Grounds meet, I wanted to find a track that would allow me to continue to ride good horses," Sellers said. "I left the game riding good horses, I rode good horses at the Fair Grounds over the winter and I wanted to find a track where I could continue to ride good horses. I have ridden at every possible level and I wanted to get back there. I thought about a couple different tracks. Cody Autrey mentioned something about riding some of his horses at Delaware Park. Honestly, it was something I never thought of, but there were so many people coming from the Fair Grounds to here, so I started talking to them and they said they would give me shot. So I really started thinking Delaware Park might be the right track for me. For six months I could go to a nice place and ride for these people and when they go back to the Fair Grounds, hopefully I will have the opportunity to ride for them there. It seemed like a win-win situation."
Following a retirement from the sport for more than four years, Sellers began a comeback last July at Evangeline Downs in his home state. Since stepping away from being a jockey he was working as a trainer.
"I understood that I left the game with some baggage and I knew there was going to be some people not coming my way, so I knew I had to depend upon my ability," noted Sellers. "When I was down and out and really did not have anybody, I turned to God. He got me back. That is what I ask every day. I do not ask to win. I ask for him to let me ride to the best of my ability and be confident. I understood for my comeback to be a success that was how I was going to make it happen."
Sellers has more than 2,100 wins in over 24,000 career mounts with total earnings of $124 million. He was 1998 Horse of the Year Skip Away's primary rider during the colt's three-year-old and four-year-old seasons. The pair posted wins in the Blue Grass Stakes, Travers, Woodbine Million and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, all in 1996. In 1997 they registered victories in the Massachusetts and Suburban Handicaps. Skip Away was voted champion three-year- old male in 1996.
In 1997 Sellers won the $1 million Juvenile Fillies with Countess Diana and the 1998 $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf aboard Buck's Boy.
He won back to back Florida Derbies in 1998 with Cape Town and in 1999 on Vicar. Sellers also has two wins in the Louisiana Derby, 1998 aboard Comic Strip and 2000 with Mighty.
He won the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland three times, in 1995 with Wild Syn, 1996 with Skip Away and 2004 with The Cliff's Edge. Sellers also has three victories in Keeneland's Ashland for three-year-old fillies, 1991 with Do It With Style, 1993 aboard Lunar Spook and with Rings a Chime in 2000.
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The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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