Bradford inks record deal with Rams
Football Betting Lines
07/30/2010 - Earth City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams quarterback and 2010 top overall draft choice Sam Bradford has reportedly agreed to a six-year deal that is worth a record $50 million in guarantees.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bradford's deal is worth a total of $78 million. The guaranteed money is the most ever for a single contract in league history -- for rookies or veterans.
Bradford, 23, will be counted upon to help a Rams franchise that went a league-worst 1-15 last season. He had been the Oklahoma Sooners' starting quarterback for the last three seasons, despite playing in only three games in 2009 due to an injury to his throwing shoulder.
The 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, Bradford helped lead Oklahoma to the National Championship Game that season before falling to Florida. That season, Bradford threw for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns, helping the school break an NCAA record for most points in a 14-game season with 716.
The Rams continued a popular trend of teams selecting a quarterback with the first overall pick. Dating back to the Colts' selection of Peyton Manning leading off the 1998 NFL Draft, quarterbacks have been picked first overall in 10 of 13 drafts. St. Louis last picked first overall in 1997 and took Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace.
The Rams have struggled mightily since "The Greatest Show on Turf," led by quarterback Kurt Warner and running back Marshall Faulk, produced two Super Bowl appearances, one title, three MVP winners and three straight top-ranked offensive teams from 1999-2001. St. Louis has posted one winning season in the last eight years and has won a total of six games in the last three campaigns -- the fewest in the NFL in that timeframe.
The club's quarterback for the last eight seasons, Marc Bulger, was released earlier in the offseason, so Bradford figures to be in the mix for the starting position as a rookie. The other three signal-callers currently on the roster are veteran A.J. Feeley, Keith Null and Thaddeus Lewis.
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista's grand slam and league-leading 31st home run highlighted a six-run fourth, as the Toronto Blue Jays won their fourth straight with an 8-1 rout of the struggling Cleveland Indians at Rogers Centre.
<< Joyce's homer lifts Rays over Yankees; A-Rod held homerless
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Joyce hit a three-run homer in the
sixth inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-2 win over the New York
Yankees in the opener of a critical three-game series.
The Rays entered the serie
<< Cavs sign G/F Graham
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed
guard/forward Joey Graham.
The 6-foot-7 Graham played in 63 games for Denver last season, starting 18,
and averaged 4.2 points and two rebounds per game.
He
<< Braves P Medlen leaves game
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Kris Medlen left
Friday's start against Cincinnati with a right forearm contusion after being
hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.
Medlen was plunked by the Reds' Johnny Cueto i
<< Thompson joined by Chappell in Cox Classic lead
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Thompson carded a six-under 65 Friday to
remain tied for the lead after 36 holes of the Cox Classic.
Thompson, who shared the first-round lead with Steven Bowditch, finished two
rounds at 14-under-pa
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Willingham and Roger Bernadina both stroked a two-run double to back a solid outing by Craig Stammen, as Washington cooled off the surging Phillies, 8-1, and, in doing so, spoiled Roy Oswalt'
Happ's Houston debut a gem as Astros down punchless Brewers >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.A. Happ pitched six scoreless innings in his
Houston debut, as the Astros handled the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-0, in the opener
of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.
Happ (2-0) and minor leaguers Jonatha
Eagles acquire RB Arrington from Broncos >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles acquired running
back J.J. Arrington from the Denver Broncos in exchange for linebacker Joe
Mays.
The Eagles will receive a conditional draft pick in 2012 if Arrington does no
Diamondbacks power past Mets to snap seven-game slide >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Johnson hit a go-ahead two-run homer in
the sixth and Miguel Montero tacked on a three-run shot later in the frame to
help the Diamondbacks snap a seven-game slide with a 9-6 win over the Mets.
Montero
Atlanta's Heyward comes through in extras in Cincy >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jayson Heyward delivered the game-winning
two-run double in the 10th inning as Atlanta upended Cincinnati, 6-4, in the
first of a three-game set.
Brian McCann homered and Chipper Jones added two hits,
NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl
The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.
Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.
The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
Sportsbook Betting Lines
Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?
There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
How the Opening Line Is Made
The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Why Sports Betting Lines Change
Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.