Young, Merriman and Brown earn AFC weekly honors
Football Betting Lines
12/27/2006 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and Houston kicker Kris Brown have been honored as the AFC's top players for Week 16 of the NFL season.
Young kept his team in the playoff race with a pair of touchdown passes and a rushing score in Tennessee's 30-29 victory over Buffalo. The rookie is 8-4 since taking over as the starting quarterback for the 8-7 Titans.
Last April's No. 3 draft pick completed 13-of-20 passes for 183 yards without an interception against the Bills to take the offensive award for the week.
Merriman earned defensive honors for the second time in his career, as his three sacks helped the Chargers notch a 20-17 victory at Seattle. He became the second San Diego defensive winner this year, joining Jamal Williams in Week 5 and his selection gave the Chargers a player of the week for the third consecutive time as LaDainian Tomlinson had taken the offensive award each of the past two weeks.
Brown captured his fifth career special teams award and third with the Texans, as his 48-yard field goal on the game's final play helped Houston earn a 27-24 win over Indianapolis. He also kicked a 42-yard field goal earlier in the fourth quarter, as the Texans beat the Colts for the first time in 10 all-time tries.
Other nominees for the top offensive player included Houston running back Ron Dayne, who posted a career-best 158 rushing yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in the victory over the Colts; Tennessee running back Travis Henry, who ran for 135 yards in his return to Buffalo; and Jacksonville rookie running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who ran for 131 yards with a pair of touchdowns in a 24-21 loss to New England.
Defensive consideration went to Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who returned to the lineup after missing six games and recovered a fumble in the closing minutes of the victory over the Jaguars; Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, who had an interception and a fumble recovery that led to 14 first-half points in the Broncos' 24-23 win over Cincinnati.
Also up for the special teams award was New York Jets kicker Mike Nugent, whose second field goal of the game was a 30-yarder with 10 seconds to play that provided the difference in a 13-10 win against the Miami Dolphins.
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta has placed forwards Scott Mellanby and Steve Rucchin on injured reserve, and activated defenseman Garnet Exelby, team executive vice president and general manager Don Waddell announced on Wednesd
<< Hurricanes and Wolf Pack meet for first time
Boise, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winners of their last two bowl appearances, the
Nevada Wolf Pack try to bring an end to a torturous 2006 campaign for the
Miami Hurricanes in the 10th Annual MPC Computers Bowl from Bronco Stadium
in B
<< Bulldogs face Hokies in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A couple of schools that have not met in over 70
years hook up in the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl, as the Georgia Bulldogs tangle with
the 14th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies from the Georgia Dome.
The Bulldogs' reg
<< Texas Tech and Minnesota duke it out in Insight Bowl
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Tech Red Raiders will make their
seventh consecutive bowl appearance when they collide with the Minnesota
Golden Gophers in the Insight Bowl, which is being held at Sun Devil
Stad
<< Gamecocks and Cougars go in pursuit of Liberty
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis, Tennessee is the site of the Autozone
Liberty Bowl that features the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Houston
Cougars.
While South Carolina's 7-5 overall record is solid, the team finish
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea and England national team captain John Terry will reportedly see a specialist in France and to have exploratory surgery on a disc problem in his lower back. The center defender has missed the de
New executives named at NTRA >>
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Thoroughbred Racing Association
(NTRA) has announced that former Churchill Downs president Alex Waldrop has
been appointed president and CEO of the organization. In addition, Robert
Ellisto
Jackson, Kampmann and Gould earn NFC's weekly awards >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson,
Green Bay Packers defensive end Aaron Kampmann and Chicago kicker Robbie Gould
have been selected as the NFC's top players for Week 16 of the season.
Jackson ear
Fernandez tagged as head coach of struggling Real Betis >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spanish La Liga club Real Betis announced
Wednesday that it will appoint Luis Fernandez as head coach.
According to the club's website, the 47-year-old former France international
will be announced to
QB squeeze: Lemon to start for Dolphins >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins will reportedly start Cleo
Lemon at quarterback for Sunday's season-finale against Indianapolis.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel cited a source as saying Lemon will get the nod
ahead of Joey
Sportsbooks to bet on football
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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