Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
02/19/2012 - Daytona Beach, FL Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR's eligibility requirements for the 2013 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway is returning to its roots.
The sanctioning body announced on Sunday -- prior to qualifying for the February 26 Daytona 500 -- the field for next year's preseason, non-points race will consist of pole winners in the Sprint Cup Series this season as well as previous winners of the Budweiser Shootout. The eligibility format will be the same one used from 1979 through 2008.
"Fans have expressed their desire to see this event return to its original eligibility rules," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president of racing operations. "We listened and decided it would be best to return to the eligibility rules of years past, adding further meaning to pole qualifying for each NASCAR Sprint Cup race."
The pole winner for the Daytona 500 will earn a spot in next year's Budweiser Shootout. Last night, Kyle Busch locked up a position in the field with his thrilling victory in the Shootout. Busch bounced back from two near wrecks and then made a last-lap pass on reigning series champion Tony Stewart. He beat Stewart to the finish line by 0.013 seconds, making it the closest margin in the history of that event.
Eighteen different drivers won a pole in NASCAR's premier series last season.
<< PSV, AZ suffer shock defeats
Groningen, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top of the Eredivisie table
remained unchanged following league play on Sunday as PSV and AZ Alkmaar both
suffered shock 3-0 defeats to Groningen and Utrecht, respectively.
Groningen edged
<< Celtic continues to roll with win over Hibs
Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic continues to pick up points at a
blistering pace in the Scottish Premier League as it earned a resounding 5-0
win over Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday.
The Bhoys have now won an astonishing
<< Bekker wins Dimension Data Pro-Am
George, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oliver Bekker shot a two-under 70 on
Sunday to secure a two-stroke victory at the Dimension Data Pro-Am on the
South African Tour.
Bekker finished the tournament at 13-under-par 276, two shots
<< Azarenka captures another crown
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victoria Azarenka just continues to win.
The top-seeded Belarusian beat No. 3 seed Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-2 in Sunday's
final at the Qatar Open.
Azarenka improved to 17-0 in 2012 and captured her third t
Arruabarrena-Vecino wins Bogota final >>
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino
defeated Russia's Alexandra Panova 6-2, 7-5 in the final of the Copa
Colsanitas tennis tournament Sunday.
Both Panova and Arruabarrena-Vecino played
Almagro beats Volandri for another Brasil Open title >>
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seed and defending champion Nicolas
Almagro outlasted Italian veteran Filippo Volandri in Sunday's final at the
$475,300 Brasil Open.
The Spanish Almagro needed two hours to emerge with a 6-3,
Sabres rout Penguins to end skid >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Roy tallied twice to go with an assist
while Jason Pominville lit the lamp and dished out two assists as the Buffalo
Sabres snapped a four-game losing skid with a 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh
Penguin
Kendall pulls out victory in Colombia >>
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Skip Kendall, playing in the final
threesome to tee off, birdied his last hole Sunday to earn the one-shot win at
the Colombia Championship.
The shot concluded his round of even-par 71 and put K
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting