08/28/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, sixth-seeded Brit Andy Murray and ninth-seeded American favorite James Blake were a trio of second-round winners Thursday at the 2008 U.S. Open, the fourth and final major of the year.
Ferrer overcame German Andreas Beck 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) on the hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Ferrer reached the semifinals here a year ago and was last year's Masters Cup runner-up to the great Roger Federer.
Murray, like Ferrer, also had his hands full on Day 4, as the Scotsman snuck past French lefthander Michael Llodra 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9-7). The talented Murray has never advanced beyond the fourth round in Flushing.
Up next for the rising Murray will be another lefty, Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
Blake was leading Steve Darcis 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 when the Belgian retired due to an injury. The Yonkers, New York native Blake reached back-to-back quarterfinals here in 2005 and 2006.
The 28-year-old Blake will battle good friend and fellow American Mardy Fish in the round of 32. Fish, a runner-up in New Haven last week, toppled 24th- seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 with the help of a whopping 27 aces.
The 26-year-old Fish will play in his first-ever third-round match here at the National Tennis Center, where he's making his ninth straight appearance.
Tenth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka moved on by handling American Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2. Wawrinka captured a men's doubles gold medal, alongside Federer, in Beijing earlier this month.
Additional second-round wins came for Japan's Kei Nishikori and the aforementioned Melzer.
<< Around FCS: Week 1 - Top 25 Predictions
Philadelphia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
No. 1 Appalachian State at No. 6 (FBS) LSU (Saturday, 5:00)
Everyone knows about Appalachian's historic 34-32 upset over college football
winningest program, Michigan, to jump-start a wild 2007 season in
<< United to face Celtic, Villarreal in CL group play
Monaco, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United, which won the Champions
League last season, was drawn into Group E of the 2008-09 edition on Thursday
with Scottish champions Celtic, Spanish runners-up Villarreal and Danish club
AaB.
<< Broncos deal G Holland to Dallas
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos have traded guard Montrae
Holland to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2010
NFL Draft.
Dallas was in need of a guard after Kyle Kosier suffered a foot injur
<< Curlin makes Saratoga debut in Woodward Stakes
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin
returns to the races Saturday in the $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race
Course versus seven rivals. This will be the first ever start for the colt at
his hom
Art Official favored in Cane Pace >>
Freehold, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Art Official, Meadowlands Pace champ, is the
9-5 morning-line favorite for Monday's Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway. The
$392,850 one-mile event is the first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown.
Coming off a
Mrowiec leaves Kaunas to join Hearts >>
Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hearts signed Poland midfielder Adrian
Mrowiec to its already substantial ranks from FBK Kaunas on Thursday.
Mrowiec was part of the Kaunas side that dumped Rangers out of the Champions
League qual
Wigginton powers Astros by Reds >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ty Wigginton homered twice as Houston clipped
Cincinnati, 3-2, in the rubber match of a three-game set from Minute Maid
Park.
Humberto Quintero also homered for the Astros, who won the final two games i
Giambi and Yanks avoid sweep by Red Sox >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer in
the seventh inning to tie the game and singled home the winning run in the
bottom of the ninth, as the New York Yankees salvaged the finale of a three-
game s
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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