08/23/2008 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Texans wide receiver Harry Williams will undergo surgery Sunday to repair a fractured vertebra sustained in Friday's preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The procedure will be performed by Dr. Drew Dossett, a member of the Cowboys' medical staff.
Houston head coach Gary Kubiak stated Saturday there was no change in Williams' condition.
"We have his family with him there in the Dallas area," Kubiak said. "He's in good spirits and after his surgery tomorrow, we'll have our doctors address the surgery."
Williams was carted off the field on a stretcher following a blow to the head early in the first quarter. The injury occurred on the ensuing kickoff after Houston capped the opening drive with a 44-yard field goal by Kris Brown. Williams was attempting to tackle Dallas' Isaiah Stanback when he slid off the runner and collided with teammate Nick Ferguson.
Williams lay face-down on the field and medical personnel immediately called for a stretcher. The game was delayed nearly 10 minutes while they tended to Williams.
Later, he was diagnosed with a fracture of the C3 vertebra.
Williams was originally selected by the New York Jets in the seventh round of the 2005 draft. He has appeared in three career games with the Jets and Texans.
<< Coe two clear in Ontario
Mississauga, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Coe fired his second straight five-
under 65 Saturday to grab a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Jane
Rogers Championship of Mississauga.
Coe completed 54 holes at 13-under-par 197. Th
<< Lee versus Kittleson in U.S. Amateur final
Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danny Lee and Drew Kittleson will meet in
Sunday's 36-hole U.S. Amateur Championship final after both advanced in
Saturday's semifinals.
Lee, 18, who can become the youngest U.S. Amateur champion
<< Phils' bats back Hamels in rout of LA
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Burrell had three hits, including a
three-run homer, and matched his career-high with five runs batted in, as the
Philadelphia Phillies thumped the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-2, in the second of a
four-ga
<< Penske teammates Castroneves, Briscoe on front row at Sonoma
Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite having to use their backup cars after
their primary ones were damaged in transporter fire earlier this week, Team
Penske drivers Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe managed to capture the front
startin
Braves snap slide, down Cards >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Prado had three hits with two RBI and
two runs scored as the Atlanta Braves doubled up the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4,
in the second of three games from Busch Stadium.
Jeff Francoeur and Greg Norton eac
Giants' Umenyiora leaves game >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants defensive end Osi
Umenyiora injured his left knee and was carted off the field in the second
quarter of Saturday's preseason game against the New York Jets.
The injury occurr
Cilic beats Fish for Pilot Pen title >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croatia's Marin Cilic defeated America
Mardy Fish in a three-set showdown to win the $708,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event,
a final U.S. Open tune-up.
The sixth-seeded Cilic, who had little trouble with
Redskins' Taylor leaves with knee sprain >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins defensive end Jason
Taylor left Saturday's preseason tuneup with the Carolina Panthers with a
sprained right knee.
Taylor got his leg caught in a pile of players during a secon
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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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 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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