08/31/2008 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Parker Wilson went 22-of-30 for 180 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 24th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide to an upset over the ninth-ranked Clemson Tigers, 34-10, at the Georgia Dome.
Mark Ingram ran for 96 yards and Glen Coffee ran for another 90 for Alabama (1-0), who beat Colorado in the Independence Bowl to close out its 2007 season. The offense was able to control the ball for an astounding 41:13.
"I like our players to have confidence. I didn't see anybody scared out there. I didn't see any fear," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "We're capable of doing more and better. We have to get players to be better, nobody can be satisfied with a one-game performance."
Highly touted freshman Julio Jones caught a touchdown pass in his first collegiate game, and Nick Walker hauled in a career-high seven passes for 67 yards and a score. The Alabama defense held the Tigers rushing attack to zero yards, allowing only 188 yards of total offense for the game.
"We really want to take care of the ball, make good decisions, (and) I think I did that," Wilson said. "I didn't put us in any bad situations and the way our defense was playing, the way we run the ball, that's what we hope to do."
Clemson's rushing duo of C.J. Spiller and James Davis combined for only 20 yards, as the Tigers failed to score an offensive touchdown. Spiller provided the only score for Clemson, returning a kickoff for a touchdown.
"We got whipped about every way you can get whipped," Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden said. "We haven't been beaten like that in three years."
Cullen Harper completed 20-of-34 passes for 188 yards while throwing one interception for Clemson (0-1), which finished up last season with an overtime defeat to Auburn in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl.
"Nothing really caught me off guard, they just came out and dominated the football game," Harper said. "We didn't make plays when they were there. It's just a disappointing loss, and we've got to put it behind us."
Alabama took an early 6-0 lead with just over seven minutes in the first quarter on a pair of Leigh Tiffin field goals. He hit a career-long 54-yarder on the opening drive and, following a Clemson fumble, punched a 21-yarder through the uprights with just over seven minutes to go in the quarter.
After a three-and-out, the Tide got the ball back at Clemson's 46 with 5:15 left in the first. Wilson hit Mike McCoy on a nine-yard strike, and Ingram rushed on the next three plays for 26 yards, down to the 11-yard line. Coffee took the next two rushes down to the one, and Wilson sneaked across the goal- line to complete the 2:24 drive for a 13-0 advantage.
The Tigers finally got some offense going late in the first quarter. Backed up to their own 23 after a penalty, Jacoby Ford rushed for five yards and then caught a 47-yard strike up the middle to take it to the Tide's 25.
Two plays later Spiller took it to the 14 on an eight-yard scamper, but Brandon Deaderick backed Clemson to the 26 on a sack of Harper. After a gain of 10, Mark Buchholz made a 33-yard field goal to make it a 13-3 game with 14:17 left in the second quarter.
Wilson orchestrated a masterful 82-yard drive on 14 plays in 8:16. He systematically drove the team down the field, highlighted by a 22-yard pass to Walker on third-and-two from Clemson's 47 and culminating with a four-yard touchdown completion to Walker to put the Tide up 20-3 with 6:01 left in the first half.
Tiffin added a 34-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give the Tide a 23-3 halftime lead.
Spiller started the second half with a bang, returning the opening half kickoff 96 yards for the touchdown, pulling the Tigers within 13.
The Tide, starting on their own 33, again marched down the field as Coffee had rushes of five, nine and five yards to help get to the Clemson 44. Wilson found his favorite third-down target, Walker, on a 12-yard completion on third-and-six from the Clemson 35 to keep the drive alive.
Ingram gained 12 yards on the next three plays to get down to the 11, and Walker finished the 14-play, 67-yard drive three plays later by finding Jones for a four-yard touchdown. Ingram ran in for a two-point conversion to give Alabama a 31-10 advantage with 4:03 left in the third.
Tiffin added a 26-yard field goal with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring at 34-10.
Game Notes
Alabama leads the all-time series 12-3...Clemson's No. 9 ranking in the AP Poll is the highest preseason ranking for the school since 1991, when they were also ranked No. 9 to start the season...Tiffin's 54-yard field goal is the third longest in school history...Wilson now has 500 passing completions in his Alabama career, passing Brodie Croyle for most all-time.
<< Rangers' Hamilton leaves game
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton
left Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Angels with pain associated with
root canal work he had done earlier this week.
Hamilton was scratched from the Ra
<< Bills Release 22, Including James, Spragan, RB Wright
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cornerback Will James, linebacker Donnie
Spragan, and running back Dwayne Wright were among 22 players released by the
Buffalo Bills on Saturday, as Dick Jauron's team reduced its roster to 53
players.
Ja
<< Auburn cruises past UL-Monroe in season opener
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Todd threw for 70 yards and a score on 9-
of-18 passing and Robert Dunn recorded a 66-yard punt return TD as 10th-ranked
Auburn pounded Louisiana-Monroe, 34-0, in the season opener for both schools
at Jord
<< South Florida rolls Tennessee-Martin in opener
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Moise Plancher and Mike Ford each had two rushing
touchdowns as 19th-ranked South Florida dominated Tennessee-Martin, 56-7, in
the season opener for both teams from Raymond James Stadium.
Plancher finished with
Busch dominates Nationwide race at California >>
Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch won Saturday's Camping World RV
Service 300 Nationwide Series race in dominating fashion at the Auto Club
Speedway. The No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver led a track-record 144 of
150 lap
Richmond Throttles Elon's Offense, 28-10 >>
Elon, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There were just a handful of plays that separated
No. 4-ranked Richmond from No. 15 Elon Saturday night
But they were enough to lift the Spiders to a 28-10 victory in the season-
opening showcase for both t
Angels extend AL West lead to 18 games with win >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Torii Hunter finished 2-for-4 and drove in the
tying run, and Juan Rivera provided the go-ahead score, as the Los Angeles
Angels edged Texas, 4-3, in the third of four games with the Rangers.
Brandon Wood
A's place DH Thomas on DL, reinstate P Foulke >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed designated
hitter Frank Thomas on the 15-day disabled list with a lingering right
quadriceps injury prior to Saturday's 3-2 win over Minnesota.
Thomas was a late s
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
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JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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