11/01/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia was among 23 Major League Baseball players to file for free agency on Saturday.
Sabathia, the 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner, will likely be the top pitcher on the market this offseason and command a big contract after an impressive performance in the second half of the season with Milwaukee.
The left-hander was traded by Cleveland to the Brewers on July 7, and went 11-2 with a 1.65 earned run average in 17 starts. Sabathia had seven complete games in that span and three shutouts in helping Milwaukee reach the postseason for the first time since 1982.
The wild card Brewers, though, lost their NLDS matchup to the eventual World Series-winning Phillies three games to one.
Overall, Sabathia finished 2008 with a 17-10 record and 2.70 ERA. In eight MLB seasons -- the first seven-plus he spent with the Indians -- Sabathia has gone 117-73 with a 3.66 ERA.
He has proven to be a workhorse, throwing more than 240 innings in each of the past two seasons. Sabathia has also improved his strikeout-to-walk ratio, fanning 4.25 batters for every walk in 2008. The figure was 5.65 in 2007 and 3.91 in 2006, but never got above 2.60 in each of his first five seasons.
Also filing for free agency on Saturday was career saves leader Trevor Hoffman, with 554 over 16 seasons. Hoffman has appeared in 930 games, all but 28 of which he appeared in for San Diego. The long-time Padre went 3-6 last season in 48 games, with 30 saves, but posted his highest ERA (3.77) since 1995 (3.88). Hoffman may not be on the market for long, as the Padres are expected to bring the closer back.
Slugger Adam Dunn also filed Saturday. He was traded from Cincinnati to Arizona in August after spending his first seven-plus MLB seasons with the Reds. He batted .236 last season with 40 home runs, 100 runs batted in and a .386 on-base percentage. Dunn has hit at least 40 homers in each of the past five seasons and accumulated at least 100 walks in the same span.
In 1,131 career games, Dunn is a .247 hitter with 278 homers, a .381 OBP and .518 slugging percentage.
Colorado had the most players file Saturday with four: pitchers Brian Fuentes, Matt Herges and Livan Hernandez, and outfielder Scott Podsednik.
Other notable players who filed Saturday are Arizona second baseman Orlando Hudson, White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera and St. Louis pitcher Jason Isringhausen.
<< Glenn leads Blue Bombers past Tiger-Cats
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Glenn threw for 166 yards and two
touchdowns to lead Winnipeg to a 44-30 win over Hamilton.
Glenn was 11-of-14 for Winnipeg (8-10), while Romby Bryant finished with four
catches for 101 yards an
<< Cordoba leaves it late for Inter
Reggio Calabria, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivan Cordoba scored in stoppage time
to give Inter Milan a 3-2 win over Reggina at Stadio Oreste Granillo on
Saturday.
Inter built a two-goal lead inside of 25 minutes on goals from Maico
<< Michigan's bowl streak ends after loss to Purdue
West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Siller's 28-yard touchdown pass
to Desmond Tardy with 26 seconds remaining proved to be the game winner as the
Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 48-42, in a Big Ten
Confere
<< Bean still in front at suspended Schwab Cup Championship
Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Bean remained atop the leaderboard as the
third round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship was suspended due to
inclement weather on Saturday.
Bean completed only four holes but was even over th
Marseille tops St. Etienne to climb to second >>
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hatem Ben Arfa had a goal and two assists
as Marseille defeated St. Etienne 3-1 at the Stade Velodrome in France's Ligue
1 on Saturday.
Benoit Cheyrou and Taye Taiwo also scored for Marseille, which to
Arkansas ends Tulsa's dream season >>
Fayetteville, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dennis Johnson returned a kickoff 96 yards
for the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter and Arkansas withstood a
late Tulsa drive to pull off a 30-23 victory over the 19th-ranked and
previou
Busch picks up record-tying 10th Nationwide victory in '08 >>
Fort Worth, Texas (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch tied Sam Ard's 1983 record of
10 Nationwide Series victories in a season by winning Saturday's O'Reilly
Challenge at the Texas Motor Speedway. The No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
driver
Houston pulls even with New York on late goal by Kamara >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo and New York Red
Bulls battled to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Major League Soccer
Western Conference Semifinal Series on Saturday afternoon in front of 11,578
fans at
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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