05/09/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox start up a 10-game road trip with tonight's visit to Seattle's Safeco Field, where the club will begin a three- game series with the badly-struggling Seattle Mariners.
Seattle has dropped eight of its last nine games, including three straight matchups with division-rival Texas, and owns the American League's worst record at 14-22 right now.
The Mariners have also not scored a run in 22 consecutive innings and were shut out in each of their last two losses to the Rangers.
In Thursday's series finale, Seattle mustered just four hits off five Texas pitchers and suffered a 5-0 defeat.
The game featured a benches-clearing brawl in the fourth inning, with Seattle first baseman Richie Sexson receiving an ejection after charging the mound upon getting a high-and-tight pitch from Texas starter Kason Gabbard.
Felix Hernandez (2-3) took the loss for the Mariners after giving up four runs on six hits and walking three batters over the first five innings.
Seattle will attempt to break out tonight against Sox starter Jose Contreras, who brings a 2-3 record and a 4.08 earned run average into this evening's tilt.
Contreras tossed a complete game in his last outing, which took place Sunday in Toronto, but was hung with a loss in his team's 4-3 setback. The Cuban veteran allowed six hits and did not walk a batter in his eight innings of work.
The 36-year-old has faced Seattle five times previously (4 starts) and gone 2-2 with a 4.18 ERA lifetime against the Mariners.
Carlos Silva gets the call tonight for Seattle and hopes to rebound from a horrid last start. The right-hander lasted just three innings in a loss at New York on Sunday, with Silva getting pounded for eight runs and 11 hits by the Yankee bats.
The 29-year-old had pitched well prior to that shellacking, as Silva had gone 3-0 with a solid 2.79 ERA over his initial six starts of the season.
Silva has not fared well against Chicago over the course of his career, however. In 18 appearances (16 starts) versus the White Sox, the former Minnesota Twin is just 4-9 with a 5.55 ERA.
Chicago comes in off an encouraging home series with Minnesota in which the Sox took two of three meetings. In Thursday's rubber match, Juan Uribe and Jermaine Dye each homered to lift Chicago to a 6-2 triumph.
John Danks (3-3) earned the win for the White Sox by allowing two runs on six hits while fanning five in a five-inning stint. The Chicago bullpen, anchored by Bobby Jenks, pitched four scoreless innings and surrendered just two hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Dye and Carlos Quentin each tallied two hits, while Joe Crede scored twice for the White Sox, who had lost a season-high six straight games prior to the Minnesota series.
Seattle dominated the White Sox a year ago, winning seven of the eight matchups and taking the final five meetings between the squads. Chicago lost all five of its games at Safeco Field last season and are 1-8 over their last nine visits to the Emerald City.
<< Red Sox make trip to Metrodome
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The defending world champion Boston Red Sox make their lone
regular-season visit to the Metrodome this weekend, when the American League
powerhouses start up a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins that begins
this evenin
<< O's try to continue dominance of KC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles will attempt to maintain their
recent dominance of the Kansas City Royals when the two teams continue a four-
game series tonight at Kauffman Stadium.
Baltimore has now won 10 straight encounters wit
<< AL West rivals square off in Arlington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of American League West members on good recent
rolls begin a three-game series tonight in the Lone Star State, where the
Texas Rangers take on an Oakland Athletics squad in search of a fifth
consecutive victory.
O
<< Tribe hopes to solve its struggles at Progressive Field
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Beginning tonight against Toronto, the Cleveland Indians
will play each of their next seven games at home.
While that usually is a blessing for any team, the Indians are just 8-11 at
Progressive Field. Last weekend, they w
Keystone Clash: Pens host Flyers in Game 1 of East finals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of cross-state rivals will begin the Eastern
Conference finals tonight, as the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins host the
sixth-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series at
Mellon Arena.
What
Yankees give Igawa another chance at Detroit >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kei Igawa gets another shot this evening when the New York
Yankees play the opener of a three-game series with the Detroit Tigers at
Comerica Park.
Igawa was a huge bust for the Yankees last season after the team
Sabathia leads Tribe vs. Halladay, Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Cy Young Award winners square off this evening at
Progressive Field when C.C. Sabathia and the Cleveland Indians welcome Roy
Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays to town for the start of a four-game
series.
Rays try to extend home win streak vs. Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to match a franchise record by
winning their seventh straight home game this evening when they kick off a
three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Tropicana Field.
Tampa, w
American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies
It's that time of year folks. Betting on American Idol Season 9. And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below. With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.
No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.
Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.
Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.
Odds to Win
There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.
All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.
A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.
Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.
Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol.
Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.
If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.
Elimination Props
Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.
Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.
Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups
The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.
Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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