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06/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Perhaps when the Florida Marlins solidified plans for their new ballpark recently, they should have gone with a circus tent to cover the field rather then a retractable roof. It would fit with the overriding theme surrounding the team, because Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is quickly becoming the biggest clown in the game.
Despite the Marlins being just two games under .500, Loria on Wednesday fired the winningest manager in club history, Fredi Gonzalez.
"We believe we can do better and be better," Loria said. "We owe it to our fans to put this team in the best possible position to win. Everyone knows how I feel about winning. That's the reason we're making this change."
Let's be honest here. Despite Loria's proclamation this spring that his club was a playoff team, the Marlins were not expected to do anything this season. They certainly were not going to be better than Philadelphia, and most people thought the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets were better than the Fish.
Are they underachieving? Maybe a little, but they are not exactly the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Doesn't Gonzalez deserve the benefit of the doubt? The Marlins have been better in each of the last three seasons and his 276 wins were the most in team history. At the very least, he earned the right to finish the season.
Not to mention that he has won at a steady clip while being handicapped with one of the lowest payrolls in the game. On Opening Day the Marlins ranked 26th of 30 teams with a $57 million payroll, last in an NL East that also includes the Washington Nationals, a franchise that was owned by Loria when it was in Montreal.
The Washington Nationals have a higher payroll than the Marlins, and Loria thinks his club was a playoff team?
I gave Loria a pass when he fired Joe Girardi after one season, a year in which he won the National League Manager of the Year. I didn't agree with it, but there was obviously a personality conflict that could not be overcome even for the sake of the team.
But upon reflection, with decisions like that and the Gonzalez firing, it almost makes sense that the Expos went belly-up on Loria's watch.
Perhaps Loria should let star shortstop Hanley Ramirez run the team, since you could argue that he's running it now. It was Ramirez who publicly ripped Gonzalez after the manager had the gall to bench him for not hustling in a game against Arizona on May 17, then sitting him out the next day. Ramirez stated that he had lost respect for Gonzalez, making it a point to mention that he had never played in the big leagues.
Maybe Ramirez didn't get Gonzalez fired with that indictment, but do you think Gonzalez would be gone if Ramirez was in his corner?
Reports circulated last May that Loria was talking to Bobby Valentine, and those same rumors started again this past winter. My guess is that he will be the guy down there at some point. And an even better guess is that the immense egos of Loria and Valentine will clash at some point.
As for the future of Gonzalez, I like to judge moves like this on just what kind of demand there is for the fired party. In Girardi's case, he instantly went to the top of the list for just about every team that was looking for a manager in 2007.
In Gonzalez's case, I expect the same thing to happen.
I wouldn't feel so bad for Gonzalez, who should end up with plenty of options that will look much better than the job he is exiting. Bobby Cox is retiring at the end of the year. Gonzalez was his third base coach for years, and most thought he was being groomed to one day succeed Cox anyway. I would be shocked if he is not named some sort of advisor, or placed directly on Atlanta's staff, in the coming weeks. Such a move would put Gonzalez in position to take over the team at the end of the year.
Remember that Girardi sat out a year, took the job he always wanted, and won a World Series. Hopefully the same happens for Gonzalez. And if it happens in Atlanta, think how much sweeter the champagne will taste, knowing that Gonzalez had to step on Loria and the Marlins to get there.
<< Mets sign Ramon Ortiz to minor league contract
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Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Venus Williams,
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Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the Northeast Conference champion set
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"
Hornets owner: "We will continue to build around Chris Paul" >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn
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Phil Jackson leaning toward retirement >>
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson says he's leaning toward retirement, but will wait until next week to make his final decision.The 11-time NBA champion said Wednesday he'll get the results of another battery of medical
Oak Tree at Santa Anita set for 2010 >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The annual Oak Tree at Santa Anita racing meet
has been confirmed for this year. The announcement came at Tuesday's meeting
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The announcement put an end to spec
Grizzlies hold 3 1st-round picks, many options >>
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -The Memphis Grizzlies have three first-round draft picks and many options Thursday night.They can package picks and trade for a current NBA player, combine picks and one of their players to move up or simply use all three to bol
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.
It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.
We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.
Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.
Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.
Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.
NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.
The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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