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07/25/2010 -
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -Cowboys rookie receiver Dez Bryant says he is in training camp to catch passes, not carry somebody else's shoulder pads.
The Cowboys were in pads for the first time in camp Sunday. Veteran players traditionally hand their pads to a rookie at the end of practice, but when receiver Roy Williams handed his to Bryant after the first of two sessions, the rookie didn't carry them.
Bryant says he was drafted to play football and that he'd feel the same way if he was an undrafted rookie and not the team's first-round pick.
Williams says every rookie has to go through such rituals. He says he carried pads and paid for meals when he was a rookie for Detroit in 2004.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Ishikawa's hit sends Giants to sweep of Arizona
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Ishikawa knocked in the winning run in
the 10th inning to lift San Francisco over Arizona, 3-2, to complete a
four-game sweep.
Sergio Romo (3-3) hurled a scoreless ninth for the win and Bria
<< Shin holds off Joh for first Duramed Futures win
Concord, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jenny Shin birdied the final hole Sunday to
beat Tiffany Joh by a single stroke at The International at Concord.
Shin, who won for the first time on the Duramed Futures Tour, closed with a
three-under 6
<< Mariners rally past Red Sox
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Saunders' two-run single, part of six
straight hits by the Mariners to start the eighth inning, lifted Seattle
to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox to conclude a four-game series.
Casey Kot
<< Chakvetadze titles in Slovenia
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Anna Chakvetadze needed just
over an hour to beat Sweden's Johanna Larsson, 6-1, 6-2, to capture the title
at the Slovenia Open.
Chakvetadze, who won her first championship of the year
Marta, Milbrett help FC Gold Pride topple Freedom >>
Boyds, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two goals apiece from Marta and Tiffeny Milbrett
allowed FC Gold Pride to claim a comfortable 4-1 win over the Washington
Freedom at Maryland Soccerplex.
Milbrett opened the scoring 18 minutes into the
Guti announces Real Madrid departure >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Guti officially announced his departure from
Real Madrid on Sunday after 15 years at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The 33-year-old midfielder debuted with Real in 1995 after joining the club as
a nine-year-old, a
Ferdinand still six weeks away from return >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio
Ferdinand is still six weeks away from returning to action.
Ferdinand looks set to miss the start of the new season despite previous
suggestions of a full
Texas takes series from Angels to extend division lead >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Hamilton went 3-for-4 with a triple and
three RBI and Tommy Hunter stayed undefeated on the year, as Texas pulled out
a 6-4 victory over the American League West rival Angels.
The Angels made big new
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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