08/22/2008 - Forest Hills, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Czech Lucie Safarova and Chinese Shuai Peng will square off in Saturday's final at the $74,800 Forest Hills Tennis Classic, a final U.S. Open tune-up.
The unseeded Safarova upended third-seeded fellow Czech Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-4, while the unseeded Peng pasted fourth-seeded French Open quarterfinalist Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-1, 6-2 in Friday's semifinals on the hardcourts at The West Side Tennis Club -- the former home of the U.S. Open.
Suarez Navarro, seeded fourth this week, also succumbed to Peng at the Beijing Olympic Games last week. The Spaniard beat the Chinese in a Fed Cup semifinal meeting back in April.
The 21-year-old Safarova will perform in her sixth career final, going 3-2 in her previous ones. Her last title came at Gold Coast, Australia in 2006.
The 22-year-old Peng will appear in her second career WTA Tour final, with the other one resulting in a loss in Strasbourg in 2006.
Peng is 1-0 lifetime against Safarova, with the victory coming four years ago in Prostejov.
Saturday's winner will collect $22,000.
<< Second-place clubs square off at Crew Stadium
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake travels to Columbus to take on
the Crew in Major League Soccer action between two second-place teams on
Saturday.
While neither team was in the playoffs a year ago, both seem to have a be
<< Revs aim to extend Eastern lead at Toronto
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution will aim to extend
their lead in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference table when they travel
north of the border to take on Toronto FC on Saturday at BMO Field.
The Revs are c
<< D.C., Colorado battle for positioning in respective conferences
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United hosts the Colorado Rapids on
Saturday in a Major League Soccer match between two clubs desperate for a
positive result.
United is coming off a mid-week fixture that saw it fall to Easter
<< Wizards, Hoops searching for consistency
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas hits the road when it travels to
take on the Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer action at
CommmunityAmerica Ballpark on Saturday.
The teams have identical 6-7-7 records, but
Houston, New York aim to extend respective winning streaks >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo will be going for
their fifth straight Major League Soccer win when they travel to take on the
New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The two-time defending
RSL acquires Johnson from Fire for draft picks >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake acquired 21-year-old
forward Will Johnson from the Chicago Fire in exchange for conditional
SuperDraft picks in 2009 and 2011, the team announced on Friday.
"Johnson is an ex
Rangers get Blalock back >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers reinstated Hank
Blalock from the 15-day disabled list Friday after the infielder
recovered from inflammation in his right shoulder.
Blalock, who had been on the
Spurs welcome back Finley >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs re-signed guard
Michael Finley on Friday. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed.
Finley, who was one of two Spurs to participate in all 82 regular-season games
a year ago,
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.
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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