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02/04/2012 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has won the NFL Coach of the Year, in voting conducted by the Associated Press.
Harbaugh, who wrapped up his first season as a head coach with a 13-3 regular season mark and the NFC West title, got 45 votes from a national media panel. Green Bay's Mike McCarthy got three votes and Denver's John Fox the other two.
The 48-year-old Harbaugh is the third 49er to receive the top coaching honor. Bill Walsh won the award in 1981 and Dick Nolan in 1970.
Harbaugh led the 49ers to their first playoff berth since 2002. The 49ers earned a dramatic 36-32 win over New Orleans in the divisional round of the playoffs before falling to the New York Giants in overtime in the NFC title game.
<< Nager elected USGA president
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States Golf Association announced
on Saturday that Glen D. Nager has been elected the 62nd president of the
organization.
"It is a privilege to serve the game of golf," said Nager. "I look f
<< Northern Iowa knocks off No. 13 Creighton
Cedar Rapids, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After Antoine Young's three-pointer from
the top of the arc tied the game at 62 with five seconds remaining, Anthony
James raced up the floor and buried a step-back three-pointer at the buzzer,
lifting
<< Battle Hardened gains victory at Tampa Bay
Oldsmar, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lightly raced Battle Hardened came from off the
pace to capture Saturday's $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
The 1 1/16-mile race is the final local prep for the Tampa Bay Derby on March
10.
<< Levin extends lead at Phoenix Open
Scottsdale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spencer Levin didn't have the kind of
big performance he put together during his first two days at the Phoenix Open,
but avoided big mistakes Saturday and emerged with a commanding lead.
Levin shot a
Packers QB Rodgers voted NFL MVP >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers was
named the NFL's Most Valuable Player Saturday, as voted by the Associated
Press.
Rodgers won the award in a landslide as he received 48 of the 50 possib
Miller, Newton garner rookie awards >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver linebacker Von Miller and Carolina
quarterback Cam Newton were named the defensive and offensive Rookies of the
Year, respectively, for the 2011 season.
The voting, as conducted by the Associated
Ravens center Matt Birk named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk was
honored as the 2011 NFL Man of the Year on Saturday. The award recognizes a
player's off-the-field community service as well as his playing excellence.
"I am
Detroit QB Stafford named Comeback Player of the Year >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford was
named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year Saturday, as voted by the
Associated Press.
Stafford, who threw for a career-high 5,038 yards and 41 touchdow
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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