Jeter still leads AL All-Star balloting
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter remained the overall leader among American League players in fan balloting for the 2009 All-Star Game.
Jeter, who surpassed Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria for the top spot last week, has received 3,046,813 votes. Longoria remains a close second with 2,988,363 votes and both are comfortably ahead at their respective positions.
A likely lock for his fourth straight All-Star start, Jeter has a lead of 1,627,314 votes over Tampa Bay's Jason Bartlett with just three days remaining in the balloting.
Longoria, a reserve All-Star as a rookie last year, is almost a certainty to make his first start in the Mid-Summer Classic. He has a lead of 1,634,044 votes over perennial All-Star Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees at the hot corner.
The tightest races remain on the right side of the infield at first base and second base.
Boston's Kevin Youkilis has again moved in front of New York's Mark Teixeira at first. Teixeira had vaulted Youkilis last week, but the Red Sox slugger, who is now playing third base in Mike Lowell's absence, has 1,915,303 votes and leads Teixeira by just 40,047.
Texas' Ian Kinsler has a narrow lead over reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia of Boston at second. Kinsler's margin has been trimmed to a slim 6,830 votes after it was fewer than 59,000 last week.
Minnesota's Joe Mauer is still well ahead of Boston's Jason Varitek at catcher. Mauer has 2,851,819 votes to Varitek's 1,399,946.
The three starting outfield slots are held by Boston's Jason Bay, Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki and Texas' Josh Hamilton. The Angels' Torii Hunter is fourth and trails Hamilton by 144,981 votes for the final starting spot.
All-Star squads for both leagues will be announced on Sunday, July 5.
The 80th All-Star Game will be played July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-ranked Dinara Safina, two-time champion Serena Williams and five-time titlist Venus Williams were quarterfinal winners Tuesday at Wimbledon. Fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva also won on Tuesday, a
<< Barca's Xavi would not want Ronaldo
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona midfielder Xavi has blasted
incoming Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo, saying there would be no room for
him at the Camp Nou.
Ronaldo is set to complete a world record $132 million
<< Second opinion produces same diagnosis for Beltran
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A second opinion on the injured knee of New
York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran reportedly remains a bone bruise.
Beltran visited noted surgeon Dr. Richard Steadman in Colorado on Monday and
the New
<< Bayern will not sell Ribery
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - General Manager Uli Hoeness has reiterated
Bayern Munich's stance on Franck Ribery, insisting the German giants won't sell
the French ace.
The 26-year-old winger is the subject of speculation across
<< CFL Previews - Week One - July 1-3
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (0-0) AT HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (0-0)
DATE & TIME: Wednesday, July 1, 7:00 p.m. (et)
GAME NOTES: The 2009 Canadian Football League season kicks off Wednesday
evening, as the H
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues have extended qualifying offers to six players, including forward B.J. Crombeen. Crombeen, claimed off waivers by St. Louis from Dallas last November, played in 81 games last season, h
Pistons fire Curry >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Pistons president of basketball
operations Joe Dumars did an about face Tuesday and fired head coach Michael
Curry.
"This was a difficult decision to make," Dumars said in a statement releas
Finley to play next season for Spurs >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs announced on Tuesday
that guard/forward Michael Finley stated he will return to the team for the
2009-10 season.
Last season with San Antonio, he appeared in 81 games and averaged
Revs acquire international spot from Wizards >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution acquired an
international roster spot from the Kansas City Wizards on Tuesday in exchange
for a third-round selection in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.
New England will retain
Torres: Villa out of Liverpool's range >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has
accepted that his club do not have the financial muscle needed to try and sign
Valencia star David Villa.
Spain international Villa has been tracked by seve
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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