Rapids, Dallas both gunning for points in Western showdown
Soccer Betting Lines
07/30/2010 - Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids host FC Dallas at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night.
The Rapids (6-5-5), who are winless in six league fixtures, should have their hands full because not only is Dallas (6-2-8) unbeaten seven, but only has one road loss this season.
"I think its a physical thing," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman told mlssoccer.com of his team's recent surge. "The guys are prepared for the contest, for the war. I think it's a mental thing where every time we find ourselves coming back, it just builds confidence that we can come back. If we keep working hard, we know we'll get the goal and the result."
A lot of it also has to do with the lay off 2010 MLS All-Star David Ferreira, whose four goals and two assists over the last 10 games only show part of what he has been contributing for his team.
"We're starting to put it all together," Hyndman said. "This is a huge game for us. This is a really important game because Colorado just lost on the road and they're behind us, so it's a six-point swing. They're looking for something to feel good about."
The Rapids are coming off a 2-1 loss at Seattle last week in which they gave up two goals for the first time in four games. The Rapids are winless this season when they allow more than one goal.
"The start killed us, but after that we played all right," Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens told mlssoccer.com. "They had limited chances, but they scored. We had way more opportunities than they did. Being away from home, it's overall a decent performance, but we didn't get the points. Giving up two goals is just unacceptable on the road. We need to really tie it down."
Rapids coach Gary Smith was happy with his squad's performance after the first 20 minutes, when both goals were scored by Steve Zakuani.
"They showed a lot of spirit, a lot of determination," he told mlssoccer.com about his team. "For probably the vast percentage of the game we were the better team overall. Better chances, more clear-cut chances, better football; I thought we looked the more composed and more efficient. The two big stats were the goals that they scored, and they've gotten the points."
Now the Rapids will be gunning for the points on Saturday in an effort to move into a tie with FC Dallas.
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC will go for their third straight win on Saturday when they visit Buck Shaw Stadium to face the San Jose Earthquakes. The Sounders followed a 1-0 win over D.C. United with a 2-1 vi
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Hilliard and David Tyree each signed contracts this week to retire as members
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Hilliard played in 98 games, starting 92, during his career
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extension with Hendrick Motorsports.
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Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mountain West's non-conference
straight-up records point in a favorable direction at 41-28 over the last two
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against outside c
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a disappointing season to so for the Kansas City Wizards, but the Major League Soccer club is hoping it can use a 2-1 win in an exhibition against English premier League side Manchester United
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Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers have signed three
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AL Central: Twins putting the heat on Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins continue to prove that it takes more
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offseason, Minnesota stayed
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Youzhny ousted in Gstaad quarters >>
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seed Mikhail Youzhny was a
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2-6, 7-5 in 2 hours, 12
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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