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11/23/2011 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have offered arbitration to free agent outfielders Josh Willingham and David DeJesus.
Both players have until December 7 to accept or decline the offer. Should they decline the offer and sign with another team, Oakland would receive compensation in the 2012 draft.
Willingham set new career-highs with 29 home runs and 98 RBI in 136 games last year for the A's, his first with the club. The RBI were the most by an Athletic since Frank Thomas had 114 in 2006.
He is a .262 career hitter with 132 home runs and 434 RBI in 799 games over eight seasons with Florida (2004-08), Washington (2009-10) and Oakland (2011).
DeJesus hit .240 with 10 home runs and 46 RBI in 131 games with the A's last year. The 31-year-old left-handed hitter was acquired from Kansas City for Vin Mazzaro and Justin Marks on November 10, 2010.
In 1,007 career games over nine seasons with Kansas City (2003-10) and Oakland (2011), DeJesus has hit .284 with 71 home runs and 436 RBI.
<< Montana's Pflugrad is Big Sky coach of year
Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montana's Robin Pflugrad was named the Big Sky
Conference Coach of the Year by fellow conference coaches on Wednesday.
Pflugrad, in his second season guiding the Grizzlies, led them to a 9-2 record
in the regular
<< Breitenstein, Russell honored in SoCon
Spartanburg, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southern Conference Sports Media
Association named Wofford junior fullback Eric Breitenstein its offensive
player of the year and Georgia Southern junior nose tackle Brent Russell its
defensive player of t
<< Bills to face Jets without Fred Jackson
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills will be without running
back Fred Jackson for Sunday's important matchup against the New York Jets
because of a right leg injury.
Jackson appeared to injure his calf during last S
<< Smith, Miller, Edelman earn AFC weekly honors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith,
Denver linebacker Von Miller and New England return specialist Julian Edelman
have been selected as the AFC's top players for Week 11 of the NFL season.
Smith p
Texans place Schaub on IR >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Texans will play the remainder of
the 2011 season without quarterback Matt Schaub, who was placed on injured
reserve Wednesday because of a foot problem.
Schaub was hurt during the team's la
Kings' Doughty fined >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League has fined Kings
defenseman Drew Doughty $2,500 for a cross-check against Blues forward T.J.
Oshie during Tuesday's game.
Doughty was issued a two-minute minor for the wais
Dolphins K Carpenter ruled out against Cowboys >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins will be without kicker
Dan Carpenter for a second consecutive game on Thursday against the Dallas
Cowboys.
Carpenter injured his groin during last Thursday's practice and missed Mia
Packers RB Starks questionable for Thursday >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Green Bay Packers running back James Starks
is listed as questionable for Thursday's game against the Detroit Lions.
Starks was limited in practice the last two days after missing Monday's
session.
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
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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.
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