Wwwcubs Baseball Betting News

<< Wednesday's Major College Basketball Scores
Albany, N.Y. 71, Maine 55Colgate 54, Lafayette 51Delaware 78, UNC Wilmington 69Duquesne 111, La Salle 105Navy 70, Lehigh 65Northeastern 65, Towson 55Pittsburgh 60, West Virginia 47St. John's 66, South Florida 62Temple 109, St. Bonaventure 70Wisconsi

<< Islanders finally beat Flyers at home; Lalime wins season debut
Patrick Lalime's long-awaited Chicago debut was a successful one for the Blackhawks and fellow goalie Rick DiPietro made sure the New York Islanders finally had some success at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.DiPietro made 27 saves in his fifth

<< Heat looking healthier, but pain remains for Iverson
Playing hurt has never bothered Allen Iverson. Playing poorly is a different story.And now Iverson might not play at all for a few days.The Denver Nuggets lost again Wednesday night, but the news out of the locker room was the more troubling part. A

<< For Brewster
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - When he was hired three weeks ago at Minnesota, Tim Brewster vowed to start bringing big-time recruits to flyover country.He didn't have to look very far to start making good on the promise.One of the top recruits of his first cla

Kwame Brown's return won't happen soon >>
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Lakers center Kwame Brown, sidelined since spraining his left ankle Dec. 31, won't return to action any time soon.An MRI conducted by specialist David Porter in Indianapolis confirmed the Lakers' previous diagnosis of a severe spra

Mavs' Mbenga out for season with knee injury >>
DALLAS (AP) -Mavericks reserve center DJ Mbenga will miss the rest of the season because of a torn knee ligament.He is scheduled for surgery in two weeks, and there is no timetable for his return, the team said Thursday.Mbenga was hurt in the fourth

Kings forward hit with $1,942 in fees to recover seized dogs >>
LOOMIS, Calif. (AP) -Dogs owned by Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest have spent a total of 77 nights at the pound since July because of poor care by their owner, costing the NBA star $1,942 in boarding and impound fees, county records show.Placer

Shapiro working on extension with Indians >>
CLEVELAND (AP) -Mark Shapiro has one more contract he'd like to get finalized before the end of spring training - his own.The Indians general manager, in the final season of a two-year extension he signed in 2004, has had productive negotiations wit

Betting Football

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.