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08/12/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rod Thorn wasn't out of work long, as the former New Jersey Nets president has landed the same role with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Thorn spent 10 years as team president and general manager of the Nets, but announced last month he was stepping down. New Jersey then named former Sixers general manager Billy King as their new GM.
In his new role, Thorn will be working with Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski, who took over for King in December 2007 and had held the dual roles of GM and president. Thorn and Stefanski worked together for seven years with the Nets.
"I look forward to working with him as we go forward," Thorn said at a Thursday press conference. "He understands me and I think I understand him. I think we make a good team."
The 69-year-old Thorn was the NBA's Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations from 1986-2000. Before that he served as GM of the Chicago Bulls and was instrumental in the club's selection of Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to do some really good things here," remarked Thorn. "I've done a lot of different things over the course of time in professional basketball. Having seen many different organizations, that's the key thing, you have to have passion to win."
Thorn said his decision to resign with the Nets was in fact that, and he was not forced out with the new ownership. He added that the Nets offered him a lucrative contract to remain with the franchise.
"Over my time with the Nets, most of it was great," said Thorn. "The last few years we dismantled the team, on purpose, because of a corporate decision and that wasn't much fun. My feeling is, that time had run its course there."
Thorn helped build a Nets franchise that reached the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. The team went to the playoffs for six consecutive years from 2001-02 until 2006-07, then began to falter before this past season's club went a franchise-worst 12-70.
The Sixers were 27-55 this past season and will start the 2010-11 campaign with a new coach in Doug Collins.
<< Liverpool acquires Poulsen from Juventus
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool acquired Danish midfielder
Christian Poulsen from Juventus on Thursday and signed him to a three-year
contract.
Poulsen, 30, cost Liverpool about $7 million. The defensive midfielde
<< Dodgers send Kershaw to the hill in finale with Phillies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Dodgers plan on leaving the City of Brotherly Love
with a series win over Philadelphia this evening, starting pitcher Clayton
Kershaw may have to do something he's never done before.
Kershaw is scheduled to pitch in
<< First place in AL Central on the line in Twins-White Sox finale
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First place in the American League Central is on the line
tonight in Chicago, where the White Sox wrap a three-game series with the
Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Twins and White Sox entered this series tied
<< Internacional wins first leg of Copa Lib final
Guadalajara, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Giuliano and Bolivar scored in a four-
minute span of the second half, and Brazil's Internacional defeated Mexico's
Guadalajara, 2-1, on Wednesday night in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores
final.
Cards send a message in Cincinnati >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the St. Louis Cardinals manage to hold on and win
their second straight National League Central title, they may very well point
to Tuesday as being the turning point in their season.
And, they will have Cincinnati sec
Play finally underway at PGA Championship >>
Kohler, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first round of the 92nd PGA Championship at
Whistling Straits got underway after a three-hour, 10-minute delay due to fog.
The last time the PGA Championship was halted by weather was in 2008 at
Oakl
Portugal's Carvalho completes move to Real >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricardo Carvalho passed his physical at Real
Madrid on Thursday and officially signed a two-year contract with the Spanish
giants.
Carvalho played under Real coach Jose Mourinho at Porto and Chelsea, and jo
Dortmund's Dede out 3-4 weeks with ankle injury >>
Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund left back Dede tore a
ligament in his right ankle in training this week and will miss the start of
the Bundesliga season.
Dede will be sidelined three to four weeks. Dortmund opens
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.
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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