10/20/2008 - St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov was among Monday's first-round losers at the $1.49 million St. Petersburg Open.
Slovakian veteran Dominik Hrbaty surprised the Moscow native Tursunov 6-1, 6-1 on the indoor carpet SCC Peterburgsky.
Other Day-1 results saw improving Romanian Victor Hanescu humble Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-1, 6-2 and German Rainer Schuettler shut down Russian Igor Kunitsyn, as the host nation players went 0-3 on Monday.
This week's top seeds are defending champion Andy Murray of Great Britain and Russian crowd favorite Nikolay Davydenko. The U.S. Open runner-up Murray, fresh off his big title at last week's Madrid Masters, beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in last year's St. Petersburg finale.
The 2008 titlist here will collect $171,000.
<< Rivermen lose Bishop, gain Schwarz
Peoria, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peoria Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop has been
called up to the American Hockey League club's NHL affiliate, St. Louis Blues
resident John Davidson announced on Monday.
To make room on the NHL roster for
<< This Week in Golf - October 23rd through October 26th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - FRYS.COM OPEN, Grayhawk Golf
Club (Raptor Course), Scottsdale, Arizona - The PGA Tour returns to Arizona
for the first time since February.
Former Masters champion Mike Weir got up and d
<< Cubs, Hendry agree to contract extension
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs and general manager Jim Hendry
have agreed on a four-year contract extension through the 2012 season.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Hendry has been the club's general mana
<< Quiros, Turnesa make big jumps in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alvaro Quiros claimed his second European
Tour win Sunday and leaped 202 places to 94th in the official world golf
rankings.
Marc Turnesa claimed his first PGA Title and moved 138 spots to No. 152 i
Romo's status "to be determined" >>
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said
Monday that quarterback Tony Romo's status for this week's game against Tampa
Bay is "to be determined."
"I think he's going to be similar to where he was last
Around FCS: We could have been contenders >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As a kid, I remember Muhammad Ali being
unjustly stripped of his heavyweight crown, and boxing officials coming up
with a rather curious way to determine a new champion.
They staged a series of elimination
Saints waive P Weatherford; sign Ben Graham >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints announced Monday
that they have waived punter Steve Weatherford and signed Ben Graham to
replace Weatherford.
The Saints lost 30-7 on Sunday at Carolina and fell to 3-
Cornet wins Linz opener >>
Linz, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eighth-seeded Alize Cornet of France
highlighted Monday's opening-round winners at the $600,000 Generali Ladies
Linz tennis event.
Cornet whipped Chinese Jie Zheng 6-3, 6-2 on the indoor
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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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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