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
03/09/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Here we go again.
The NHL has yet another chance to address the issue of blows to the head, and while it's never a good thing when a questionable hit brings the topic into the limelight, the latest infraction may been perfectly timed to affect change.
On Sunday, Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke leveled Boston Bruins star Marc Savard with a blind side hit to the head. Like several hits we've seen this year, it was vicious, and it once again brought to the forefront the debate on whether something needs to be done to better protect players.
Cooke's hit came just one day before the NHL's annual general manager meetings, putting even more pressure on the league to fix the problem. The GMs are currently gathered in Boca Raton and although it was already on the docket, the issue of head hits is really the only issue that matters now.
In short, they need to come up with some kind of an answer before the meetings conclude on Wednesday.
The league owes it players like Savard, who has been diagnosed with a Grade Two concussion as a result of the hit, to finally come up with something concrete that will in some way make players safer from head injuries. After all, Savard is a huge part of the Bruins' offense and may wind up missing the rest of the season because of Cooke's action.
Even Cooke's teammate, Sidney Crosby, seemed open to rule changes after Sunday's incident.
The Penguins captain and resident superstar said, "At some point there's got to be a clear indication from the league, because we've seen this so many times now."
And that's the most important thing for the NHL to come up with in Florida, some sort of "clear indication" as to what is illegal.
As of now, the NHL only considers it to be a dirty hit if an elbow is delivered to the head, and not if contact is made with a shoulder. All hits to the head have been banned in international play, and we didn't see anybody trying to cross that line during the Olympics, so maybe it could work in the NHL.
But what Crosby implied in his statement is what the NHL needs to come up with immediately -- a tangible rule change. It doesn't have to be a drastic change like the IIHF's zero tolerance policy on head hits. Not that we have to worry about that really, after all this is the NHL, which should never be confused with an organization receptive to big changes.
But, under the current NHL rules, the Cooke hit did not even draw a penalty, despite the fact that it caught a player from the blind side and was also delivered well after Savard released the puck. The officials apparently didn't think it was late and they saw that it was a shoulder hit so they let Cooke skate by without a penalty.
Yet when you watch the video, and see Savard lying unconscious on the ice, can you really feel that Cooke did nothing wrong? Is it possible that the GMs could watch that replay over and over and think that the rules of the game, as they are now, are sufficient to protect players?
A possible solution that is being kicked around in the blogoshpere is the banning of blind-side hits by the NHL. That would certainly draw a line against at least one type of dangerous hits.
After all, Savard wasn't irresponsibly skating with his head down, he was simply in the act of shooting when he was obliterated by a player he couldn't possibly have seen. Hardly seems fair.
A zero tolerance policy on blind-side hits, if enforced, would be a good starting point and would prove to the NHL Players Association that the league is serious about protecting its players.
The NHLPA has been way ahead of the league in identifying hits to the head as a major problem. Why wouldn't they be...the NHLPA has seen over 200 concussions reported by players over the last two and a half years and they have to answer to their members when it comes to medical coverage.
As far as Cooke's suspension, the penalty of games should reach double-digits, but as usual, the NHL brass will most likely fall short of expectations. Colin Campbell, the NHL director of hockey operations and the man in charge of suspensions, has routinely shown a lack of interest in making examples of players.
The league even failed to give Philadelphia's Mike Richards a single game for his notorious hit on Florida's David Booth earlier this season. That wasn't officially Campbell's decision, since he recused himself from ruling on the incident because his son Gregory plays for the Panthers, but clearly his underlings were just following the precedent the director has set time and time again.
Oh yeah, about the Richards hit, it occurred on October 24 and Booth didn't see action in another game until January 31. Not that the league knew Booth would miss over three months due to his concussion, but looking back, it seems impossible that Richards didn't have to sit out a single game for his head hit.
Missing the boat with Richards is just another reason why the NHL needs to seize their moment in Boca Raton. If they won't stand up for the players now, it seems unlikely that they ever will.
<< Dallas officially adds Hartman
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas acquired goalkeeper Kevin Hartman from
the Kansas City Wizards for a second-round pick in the 2012 draft and signed
him to a contract, the Major League Soccer clubs announced.
"I'm excited to be in
<< Rapids sign goalkeeper Joyce
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids signed goalkeeper
Ian Joyce, the Major League Soccer club announced on Tuesday. The Rapids also
announced the club released forward Facundo Diz and did not offer a contract
to 2010
<< Clark, Randle El to return to Steelers
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers have reportedly
agreed to terms with safety Ryan Clark and are also set to bring wide receiver
Antwaan Randle El back to the Steel City.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazet
<< Where do the Twins go from here?
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - You could almost hear a collective groan this morning, from
Minneapolis all the way down to Fort Myers, as the news began to circulate that
Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan could be lost for the season because of a
torn liga
Edwards receives three-race probation for Atlanta incident >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards avoided suspension but
received a three-race probation period from NASCAR after intentionally
wrecking Brad Keselowski in last Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor
Speedwa
Rangers acquire Ramirez from Yankees >>
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have acquired pitcher Edwar
Ramirez from the New York Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.
Ramirez was designated for assignment in late February when the Yankees signed
Chan Ho Park
Sorgi to back up other Manning >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants inked quarterback
Jim Sorgi on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Wisconsin product, who was the backup to Peyton Manning in
Indianapolis for the past six seasons, now gets the chanc
Turf to Dirt Angle Works Best >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both of Saturday's three-year-old
Kentucky Derby preps were won by horses that raced on the turf in their
previous start. One was favored at Aqueduct while the other was the sixth
choice in the betting at S
Check out all of the NFL football betting promotions at the best online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. At this Sportsbook they provide the best NFL & College Football betting lines, promotions, and free contests.
More Props Equals More Fun
There is quite simply no one else in the World that offers you more proposition and futures wagers than we do. Player Props, Scoring Titles, Scoring by Quarter and by half. Dozens of daily Golf Matchups. Racing Fans will be in heaven with our selection. There is quite simply only one way to show you.
If Win and If Action Sports Betting
On an NFL Sunday there are less than 15 minutes between the morning games and the afternoon games. How do you get your second bet down? We have just the solution for you, If Bets. Its a simple bet in which you wager a fixed amount on one team and if that team wins, then the same amount as your original wager is placed on a different team.
Football Teasers up to 15 Teams
You can tease together up to 15 teams removing as many as 10 points off the spread. We offer 6, 6.5 and 7 point teasers as well as 3 team 10 point teasers. Click here to see our full Payout Table. You can tease NCAA & Pro games together as well.
Football Parlays up to 12 Teams
We offer parlays from 2 to 12 teams, paying up to 1,800 to 1. You can parlay teams from different sports, you can parlay totals and sides and you can even parlay together our huge selection of proposition wagers.
Progressive Parlays - Football betting
We were the first to create Progressive Parlays and now the world has followed. Play an 8 team parlay and if 6, 7, or 8 teams win, you win. Play a 4 team parlay, if 3 or 4 teams win, you win. Even if you dont win all the games in your parlay, you can Still Win!
Double Your Money Mondays NFL Football Betting
Free contest for Members! Double your winnings with our Sportsbook during football season! On specific football games throughout the year, our Sportsbook will have regular contests where you can double your winnings on selected games.
$1,000.00 Weekly Pigskin Payout NFL Football Contest
Make a free football bet on us! We're giving our members a chance to walk away with a part of $1,000.00 in v-chips for free every week this football season. Simply fill out our weekly $1,000 Pigskin Payout entry form and you're eligible to win.
Free NFL Football $10 No Risk Bet
We offer a risk free football prop bet to active members. It is posted on the main page once you login. Make a $10 bet and enjoy the profits if you win and we'll refund the wager if it loses. The refund is credited automatically to your account.
Buy Points - Adjust the spread for Football Betting
We offer you the chance to adjust the odds in your favor. You can now buy up to 3 points off the "spread" and "total" numbers for football and basketball games. Get the advantage in your betting with our Sportsbook.
$100,000 Weekly Football Challenge
As a member you can "log in" and pick 13 teams from our selection of listed games under the heading $100,000 Challenge and when they all win against the spread, you win the ultimate handicapping prize, $100,000.00 CASH.
Football In Game Betting
We are now proud to bring you LIVE In Game Betting odds. Follow the plays and put a wager down as the game goes. Odds will be posted on our site under "In Game Betting" once the game starts and throughout the whole game.
NFL Player to Score First Contest
If our randomly selected player scores the first Touchdown in a selected game, we'll refund the wagers on ALL other players in our "Player to Score First" future.
No Juice College Football Game of the Week
Every Saturday we will pick one afternoon nationally televised game and offer the game at even odds, lay $100 to win $100. No Juice! What better way to kill a Saturday afternoon and make some quick cash.
NFL Football Betting Shutout Refund
We have to be the only place to bet the Money Lines. If your NFL team is shutout, we will refund All Money Line Bets. It's that simple, a shutout means a Full refund!
Free Printable NFL Office Pool Sheets
Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week.
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.
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