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Houston hopes to start win streak at ColoradoSoccer Betting Lines08/27/2010 - Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston manager Dominic Kinnear summed up the Dynamo's 4-3 win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night perfectly when he said, "Thank goodness for Brian Ching." Ching scored a hat trick, including a spectacular bicycle kick, as the Dynamo snapped a 10-match winless run in Major League Soccer. Ching doubled his goals total for the season, and put Houston in position to make a playoff run. Although Kinnear's team has struggled this season without midfielders Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden, who are both now playing in Europe, Houston sits just five points behind the Colorado Rapids for the final playoff berth. Houston (6-10-5) visits Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night to battle Colorado (7-6-7), which has just one win in its last 10 matches. Ching has been the missing ingredient this season, as the absence of Clark and Holden - two U.S. internationals - has proven to be two huge voids to fill. Kinnear added Saturday night that Ching always "leads by example," and for the U.S. striker able to score "with teams keying on him shows what a presence he is in the box for us." Houston still has other teams to overtake in the standings, but Ching could be the difference-maker over the Dynamo's final nine matches. Houston lost six of its games during the winless skid, but a win over Colorado could give the team the confidence it needs to be a factor down the stretch. Colorado has been struggling just as much as Houston, and considering its lone win during its current 10-game MLS slide was thanks to an own goal from goalie Jon Busch in a 1-0 win over San Jose, the Rapids are also in need of a spark. The Rapids were on the verge of a season-changing result last week at Columbus after Pablo Mastroeni scored in the 45th minute to cancel an early goal, but the Crew responded with two second-half goals in a 3-1 win. Coach Gary Smith can at least feel good that Colorado has earned nine points during its skid and still sits in a playoff spot. But with Houston among three teams within five points, the race is getting tighter each week. "The feeling in the changing room was the guys felt they could go on and win the game," Smith said after the loss to the Eastern Conference leaders. "Disappointing that we start the second half just appalling. We've not scored lots of goals in games all year. And that second goal was just gift-wrapped," Smith added. "Even then, I felt we might just get ourselves back in the game."
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College Football Betting Tips From a ProWhile 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. Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence. The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night. MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds. A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family. A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital. Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards. |
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