Union take aim at three points against Revs

Soccer Betting Lines

08/27/2010 - Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams coming off of disappointing losses last time out hook up at Gillette Stadium on Saturday as the New England Revolution play host to the Philadelphia Union.

Both sides enter the weekend on the outside of the playoff picture in Major League Soccer, meaning that the three points on offer will be vitally important.

The Union suffered a 2-0 defeat at Eastern Conference cellar-dwellers D.C. United last Sunday, and the loss drew particularly harsh criticism from Union coach Peter Nowak.

"I told the guys in the locker room, I'm extremely disappointed, not only with the result, but with the way we played," Nowak told mlssoccer.com following the game. "There was no substance in the whole game today. From the back, with the simple mistake we could have cleaned up, and in the overall game, even offensively."

"I think that was the worst performance I've seen in the eight months with this team," he said. "We have to be real about the situation that this stuff is not going to fly with me."

The coach has not had a lot to be happy about lately with his team extending its winless streak to six games with the loss, and with his team sitting in seventh place in the East, a playoff spot is highly unlikely barring a major turnaround.

Revolution coach Steve Nicol was not quite as upset after his team's 4-1 defeat to the Kansas City Wizards, but he also knows that an immediate response is needed if his team is to improve its own playoff hopes.

"We need to get rested and get after it again," Nicol said. "The only thing I can tell you is that we will have to do that. I'm confident of that - it'll never be in question. We just need to do things better moving forward when we have it and when we don't have it."

The Revs clearly didn't have it last Saturday as they entered the game having given up three goals in their previous five games, but then yielded four goals to the Wizards.

New England will also have an eye toward the SuperLiga final on Wednesday as they will host Mexican side Morelia.

Footballchancesports Soccer Betting News

<< Phillies put P Baez on DL, promote Bastardo
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies placed right-handed relief pitcher Danys Baez on the 15-day disabled list and recalled left-hander Antonio Bastardo from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday. Baez's move is retroactive

<< NBA suspends Pacers' Rush, Heat's Hasbrouck, Kings' Evans
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA announced Friday it has suspended the Indiana Pacers' Brandon Rush, Miami Heat's Kenny Hasbrouck and the Sacramento Kings' Tyreke Evans for separate incidents. Rush received a five-game

<< Nuggets name Ujiri to front office position
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets on Friday named Masai Ujiri as the team's executive vice president of baseball operations. Ujiri has a lot of history in the Nuggets' and Magic's scouting departments, having worked for f

<< Tottenham tries to regain focus for Wigan
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham enjoyed one of its biggest moments in the history of the club on Wednesday as Spurs overturned a 3-2 deficit from the first leg to win 4-0 against Young Boys, booking themselves a place i

<< Middle Tennessee St. QB Dasher suspended; reinstatement sought
Murfreesboro, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Middle Tennessee State has declared quarterback Dwight Dasher ineligible for competition because of a violation of the NCAA amateurism legislation, but is seeking his reinstatement. Athletics direc

Cleveland Browns 2010 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's a new sheriff in town in regards to the Cleveland Browns, and it hasn't taken long for Mike Holmgren to show an organization that's been trying in vain to achieve sustained success who's boss. The former Super Bowl

OF Hawpe agrees to minor league deal with the Rays >>
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to terms on a minor league deal with veteran outfielder Brad Hawpe.Hawpe was released earlier this month by Colorado. He'll report to Class-A Charlotte of the Florida State League.Hawpe was o

Brewers P Gallardo robbed at gunpoint >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo and a clubhouse attendant were robbed at gunpoint early Friday morning. According to a story on the team's website, a Brewers spokesperson said Gallardo w

Petrova reaches Pilot Pen final >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nadia Petrova prevailed in an all-Russian semifinal Friday to reach the championship match at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up. The eighth-seeded Petrova snuck past

Pujols eyes unprecedented record, but is it meaningful? >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The greatness of Albert Pujols has been well documented within the world of baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals slugger has been turning heads since his rookie season in 2001, compiling three Most Valuable Playe

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

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.

Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.