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07/19/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics will be without their leading hitter, Ryan Sweeney, for the rest of the season after he elected to have surgery on at least one of his ailing knees.
It was announced earlier Monday that Sweeney was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right patella tendinitis. The A's official website indicated he had a cortisone shot for the knee last Monday and received platelet-rich injections during the All-Star break to no avail.
Sweeney was quoted on the site as saying, "it wasn't a matter of if I needed the surgery. It was a matter of when I was going to get it. So we just had to make that decision."
The surgery is not yet scheduled, but is to be performed by Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colorado. The recovery time is expected to take 4-to-6 months. Sweeney will also have his left knee examined, and a second surgery is not out of the question.
The 25-year-old batted .294 with one home run and 36 runs batted in over 82 games this season. In 364 career games with the Chicago White Sox and Oakland, Sweeney is a .286 hitter with 13 home runs and 144 RBI.
<< Donnie Murphy homers in ninth to lift Marlins over Rockies
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy hit a two-run homer
off Huston Street in the bottom of the ninth, as the Florida Marlins edged the
Colorado Rockies, 9-8, in the opener of a four-game series at Sun Life
Stadium
<< Pujols, Cardinals charge past Phillies
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols crushed a two-run homer as part
of a five-run fifth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame an early
deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4, in the opener of a four-game
series
<< Tigers lose 3B Inge for 4-6 weeks with hand fracture
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit's Brandon Inge was hit on the left hand
by a pitch in Monday's game versus Texas and suffered a non-displaced fracture
of the fifth metacarpal bone. He's expected to miss the next 4-to-6 weeks.
Rangers
<< Rangers' Nippert takes line drive off head
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers reliever Dustin Nippert was
drilled on the side of the head by a line drive off the bat of Austin Jackson
during Monday's game versus the Tigers at Comerica Park.
The right-hander tried in
Barnes apparently to play for Raptors >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free agent forward Matt Barnes has apparently
agreed to play for the Toronto Raptors.
Barnes posted on his Twitter account Monday that he will be playing for the
Raptors next season. He thanked the Orla
Astros use 17-hit attack to defeat Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Lee slapped a two-run double to
highlight a five-run first inning, as Houston capitalized early on mistakes
from Carlos Silva and beat the Chicago Cubs, 11-5, to begin a three-game set
at Wrig
Capuano picks up win as Brewers down Pirates >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rickie Weeks hit a two-run homer and Chris
Capuano picked up his first win in over three years, as the Milwaukee Brewers
earned a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a four-game
series
Callaspo's hit lifts Royals over Blue Jays in 10 >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Kendall lofted a game-tying sacrifice
fly in the bottom of the 10th inning and Alberto Callaspo singled home the
winning run, as the Kansas City Royals rallied to beat Toronto, 5-4, in the
opener
Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.
Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.
That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.
Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.
After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.
The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).
To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.
NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV
New England Patriots 8/1
Dallas Cowboys 9/1
New York Giants 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1
Indianapolis Colts 12/1
San Diego Chargers 12/1
Baltimore Ravens 14/1
Tennessee Titans 16/1
Carolina Panthers 18/1
Philadelphia Eagles 18/1
New Orleans Saints 20/1
Atlanta Falcons 25/1
Denver Broncos 25/1
Green Bay Packers 25/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1
Minnesota Vikings 25/1
New York Jets 25/1
Arizona Cardinals 30/1
Chicago BearS 30/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1
Buffalo Bills 35/1
Houston TexaNS 35/1
Miami Dolphins 35/1
Washington Redskins 35/1
Seattle SeahawkS 50/1
Cleveland Browns 55/1
Cincinnati Bengals 60/1
San Francisco 49ers 60/1
Oakland Raiders 75/1
St. Louis Rams 75/1
Detroit Lions 100/1
Kansas City Chiefs 100/1
Odds as of: 2/2/09
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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