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04/20/2009 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tenth-seeded Spanish favorite Nicolas Almagro and 12th-seeded Russian Igor Andreev were among Monday's first-round winners at the $2.6 million Barcelona Open.
Almagro was tied with Victor Hanescu 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 2-2 when the Romanian retired due to some cramping problems on the red clay at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona. Before Hanescu called it quits, Almagro saved a pair of match points in the second set.
Meanwhile, Andreev snuck past capable Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 and 15th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych was leading Martin Vassallo Arguello 5-2 when the Argentine quit with a back injury.
In some other opening-round play, Italian Potito Starace overcame Latvian Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, Argentine Jose Acasuso erased Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4, 7-5, Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela got past Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, and Russian Igor Kunitsyn took out Spanish hero Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). The wild card Ferrero is a former world No. 1 and captured the ultimate clay-court event, the French Open, back in 2003. He won this Barcelona tournament in 2001.
Additional Day-1 wins came for Spaniards Santiago Ventura, a qualifier this week, and wild card Alberto Martin, Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil, Belgian Christophe Rochus, Kazakhstani qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin, and Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.
This week's top seeds are Spanish favorites Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, Russian Nikolay Davydenko and another Spaniard, David Ferrer. Nadal is the reigning four-time Barcelona champ. He beat Ferrer in last year's popular all-Spanish finale here.
The reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic titlist Nadal is fresh off his fifth straight Monte-Carlo championship, having beaten Serb Novak Djokovic in Sunday's finale in Monaco.
Nadal will open defense of his Barcelona title against the aforementioned Gil.
This week's champion will pocket $370,000. The top-eight seeds all received first-round byes.
<< AFL's Avengers fold
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Avengers of the suspended
Arena Football League have decided to cease operations.
In a statement on the team's website, the Avengers announced their decision to
fold.
"The entire Aven
<< Wild re-sign D Scott
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild have re-signed defenseman
John Scott to a one-year, $550,000 contract, the team announced Monday.
The 26-year-old Scott played in 20 games for the Wild this past season and
posted one
<< Pompey boosted by Kranjcar
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Niko Kranjcar has provided Portsmouth
with a timely boost after scans revealed he suffered no major ankle damage in
the weekend victory over Bolton.
The Croatia winger was stretchered off in the
<< Line of Scrimmage: Draft '09 - The Mocking Continues
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though Anquan Boldin and/or Braylon
Edwards could screw this thing up any second now, below is the latest
installment of my 2009 mock draft for your perusal:
1. Detroit Lions (0-16) - Matthew Stafford, QB,
Red Sox complete sweep of Orioles in Patriots Day blowout >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Pedroia went 4-for-6 with three RBI and
three runs scored as the Boston Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the
Baltimore Orioles with a 12-1 blowout on Patriots Day at Fenway Park.
Jacoby Ellsb
Kanu unsure over Portsmouth future >>
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portsmouth striker Nwankwo Kanu has
revealed he is unsure of his Fratton Park future beyond the end of the season.
Kanu, 32, scored the winner in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Bolton with his
firs
This Week in Golf - April 23rd through April 26th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS,
TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana - After weather delayed action on Saturday
last year, Andres Romero returned to the course Sunday and closed out rounds
of 65-6
Van Buyten expresses Barca interest >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich defender Daniel van Buyten
has suggested he would like to join Barcelona should teammate Franck Ribery
make the move to Spain in the summer.
France international Ribery is reported to
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.
Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.
The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
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