11/25/2008 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli was named the winner of the 19th annual Tony Conigliaro Award on Tuesday.
The award is bestowed upon a Major League player who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage that were trademarks of Conigliaro, whose promising career was tragically cut short when he was hit in the face by a pitch at Fenway Park in 1967.
The Red Sox started the award in 1990, the same year Conigliaro died following an eight-year struggle after a severe heart attack left him handicapped. Nominations are submitted by each major league team and an independent 12-person panel does the voting.
Baldelli suffers from a mitochondrial disorder that slows muscle recovery and produces fatigue. Tampa Bay placed him on the 60-day disabled list in March with the condition, after he already missed the final 124 games of the 2007 season with a hamstring injury.
The 27-year-old returned to action on August 10 and hit .263 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 28 games and was part of the Rays' remarkable run to the World Series, where they eventually fell to Philadelphia.
Baldelli had a .200 average in the postseason but came up with some big at- bats in the League Championship Series win against the Red Sox, hitting .333 with a crucial three-run homer that helped seal a victory in Game 3 and an RBI single that plated the go-ahead run in Tampa Bay's 3-1, series-clinching Game 7 victory.
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Maui, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Harangody logged 29 points and 13 rebounds
and the eighth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish narrowly advanced to the
championship round of Maui Invitational with a nail-biting 81-80 decision
over No
<< Blues' Mason brilliant in shootout win over Preds
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Mason stopped all 47 shots he faced
through three periods plus overtime, then closed the door twice in the
shootout to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 1-0 victory over the Nashville
Predato
<< Cunningham paces Villanova to rout of Monmouth
Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dante Cunningham scored 19 points and had
seven rebounds, as 20th-ranked Villanova overwhelmed Monmouth for a 71-48
victory at The Pavilion.
Corey Stokes added 18 points and seven boards for the W
<< Pittsburgh pulls away to beat Belmont
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sam Young scored 33 points and grabbed seven
rebounds, as fourth-ranked Pittsburgh pulled away to beat Belmont, 74-60, at
the Petersen Events Center.
Levance Fields added 17 points and six assists for
LeBron leads Cavs to blowout of Knicks >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James led seven Cleveland players in
double figures with 26 points and the Cavaliers continued their incredible
early season push by blowing out the New York Knicks, 119-101, at Madison
Square
Ball State completes perfect season, advances to MAC title game >>
Muncie, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - MiQuale Lewis capped Ball State's perfect
regular season with a 120-yard, three-touchdown effort on the ground in No. 15
Ball State's 45-22 victory over Western Michigan to wrap up the West Division
of the
Ball State caps perfect regular season, reaches MAC title game >>
Muncie, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - MiQuale Lewis capped the Cardinals' perfect
regular season with a 120-yard, three-touchdown effort on the ground in No. 15
Ball State's 45-22 victory over Western Michigan to wrap up the West Division
of the
Curry held scoreless, Davidson rolls anyway >>
Davidson, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry was double-teamed all night and
held to no points, but 24th-ranked Davidson still routed Loyola-Maryland,
78-48, in the consolation round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Curry came into Tuesday
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 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.
MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.
(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977. Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.
Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer. In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season.
MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season. Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite. After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.
Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions. They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown.
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