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09/06/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Appalachian State quarterback DeAndre Presley, Gardner-Webb linebacker Jeffery Williams, Southern special teams performer Corey Cushingberry and Northern Arizona running back Zach Bauman have been named The Sportsbook Betting Lines/Fathead.com FCS National Players of the Week for the season-opening games which ended Sept. 5.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DeAndre Presley, Appalachian State, Junior, 5-11, 170, QB, Tampa, FL
Following the legendary Armanti Edwards as Appalachian State's No. 1 quarterback hasn't fazed Presley, who was scintillating in his season debut. He engineered a 42-41 comeback victory over Chattanooga. The third-ranked Mountaineers trailed 28-7 late in the third quarter before Presley guided the offense to 253 yards and five touchdowns in the final 17:29 of the game. Overall, he completed 22-of-29 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 25 yards and two touchdowns, and was credited with a touchdown reception by picking up wide receiver Matt Cline's fumble and weaving 33 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 6:05 left
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jeffery Williams, Gardner-Webb, Senior, 6-0, 222, LB, Frisco City, AL
Injuries limited Williams last season, but the 2008 Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week demonstrated in Gardner-Webb's season opener against Brevard that he is back at full strength. The hard-hitting linebacker collected 18 tackles, including nine solos, in a 28-14 victory. The Runnin' Bulldogs defense was on the field for 37 minutes, 18 seconds against Brevard's triple-option attack and Williams seemed to be everywhere. He had two tackles for loss, including a half-sack, and intercepted a pass to end a 12-play drive in Gardner-Webb territory. Williams became the eighth player in Big South history to surpass 300 career tackles, upping his total to 304.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Corey Cushingberry, Southern, R-Senior, 5-9, 175, WR/RS, Baton Rouge, LA
Southern trailed Delaware State throughout the second half of the MEAC/SWAC Challenge until Cushingberry's clutch punt return late in the game. He returned the punt 64 yards for a touchdown to erase Southern's 27-23 deficit. The Jaguars went on to give the SWAC its second win in the sixth annual game between conferences of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Cushingberry finished with 175 all-purpose yards, returning two punts for 71 yards and five kickoffs for 104 yards.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Zach Bauman, Northern Arizona, Freshman, 5-10, 200, RB, Chandler, AR
A true freshman, Bauman made it look easy in his first collegiate game, rushing for 167 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries as Northern Arizona beat Western New Mexico, 48-0. He scored three times in the first half and then raced for a 66-yard touchdown in the third quarter, giving him an FCS- leading 24 points after the first week of action. Most of the preseason focus was on All-America quarterback Michael Herrick, but Bauman's emergence will help keep defenses honest. Bauman played for two state championship teams at Hamilton High in Chandler, Ariz.
<< Saints ink LB Clark
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have reportedly
signed linebacker Danny Clark on Monday.
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Clark was signed to add depth to
a linebacker corps that has lost Jonatha
<< Washington fails to clinch playoff spot
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Freedom failed to clinch the
final playoff spot in Women's Professional Soccer on Sunday as they suffered a
2-1 defeat to the Chicago Red Stars.
The Freedom entered Sunday's game needing a
<< Kuznetsova exits the Open
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova
was a fourth-round upset victim Monday at the U.S. Open.
Talented Slovak Dominika Cibulkova cut down the 11th-seeded Kuznetsova 7-5,
7-6 (7-4) at the USTA Billie
<< Rangers promote INF German, designate Cora
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers purchased the contract of
infielder Esteban German from Triple-A Oklahoma City and designated infielder
Alex Cora for assignment on Monday.
The 32-year-old German has been with Oklahoma
Kuyt sidelined by shoulder injury >>
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Netherlands striker Dirk Kuyt is
expected to miss the next few weeks after he suffered a shoulder injury in
training, Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk confirmed on Monday.
Kuyt sustained the
Miyazato remains No. 1 in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ai Miyazato remained No. 1 in the world
rankings for women's golf for the third week in a row.
Miyazato grabbed the No. 1 ranking from Cristie Kerr following a win on August
22, her third victory on th
Anelka confirms international retirement >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - France striker Nicolas Anelka confirmed his
retirement from international soccer on Monday having been given an 18-match
suspension by the French Football Federation for his conduct at this past
summer'
2010 World Basketball Championship update - September 6th >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
USA 121, Angola 66
Russia 31, New Zealand 27 - Halftime
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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