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09/03/2010 - Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United interim coach Ben Olsen called Wednesday's loss to the Columbus Crew in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals "cruel," but now the struggling squad will try to bounce back in Major League Soccer on Saturday in a rematch against Columbus.
Columbus used an own goal from Marc Burch in the 89th minute to tie the match, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto added the winning penalty in extra time, as the Crew advanced to the Open Cup final to play Seattle Sounders FC.
United (4-15-3) had its streak of two straight finals appearances snapped, and now the club just has the remaining eight matches of an otherwise abysmal MLS season remaining.
"We'll keep pushing, somehow regroup," Olsen said Wednesday, "then start again on the weekend."
United would establish a record for the worst year in league history should it lose its final eight games, and that's not the only dubious mark the four-time champions are trying to avoid.
D.C. has also been shutout 14 times this season, which is also just one shy of the all-time MLS record. In addition, United needs to score 10 goals to avoid the lowest goal output in a single season.
United designated player Branko Boskovic missed the Open Cup semifinal to join Montenegro for Euro qualifying, and will also missed this weekend's match.
United has just one win in its last 10 MLS matches overall, a 2-0 win over the expansion Philadelphia Union on Aug. 22, and Burch expects a tough match this weekend against the Crew as the team looks for a much-needed spark.
"I think it's going to be a battle," Burch said.
Columbus (12-5-5) returns to RFK Stadium with a chance to overtake Los Angeles for the best overall record in the league. The Crew have finished with the top record the last two seasons, and are just two points behind the Galaxy.
The Crew also won the Supporters Shield, given to the team with the best mark in MLS, in 2004. With a fourth honor, Columbus would tie United for the league record.
Columbus veteran Frankie Hejduk knows the return trip to D.C. will be just as tough as the midweek match, and this time the Crew will be without Adam Moffet through yellow card accumulation.
"Coming to D.C. is never easy for us," Hejduk said. "[The Open Cup] was one of those games when we all came together and battled and some guys stepped up and had some big games."
<< Dallas aiming to extend unbeaten run with TFC coming to town
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas set a record last weekend after
earning a scoreless draw at Columbus, going 10 straight Major League Soccer
road fixtures without a loss.
On Saturday, the Hoops (9-2-10), one of the league'
<< Report: Lions' Suh fined for hit on Delhomme
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Lions rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong
Suh has reportedly been fined for his hit on Cleveland Browns quarterback Jake
Delhomme.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Suh, the second pick in April's d
<< Gaming: College Pigskin Prognostications
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After months of waiting, the 2010 college
football season is ready to kick off its first barrage of Saturday games, and
with that comes the unveiling of my inaugural Top 12, followed by each club's
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<< Clijsters rolls into U.S. Open fourth round
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Kim Clijsters was a
third-round winner Friday at the U.S. Open.
The second-seeded Belgian dropped the first three games of her match against
27th-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, but
Fresno State hosts Cincinnati in season opener >>
When Fresno State visited Cincinnati last season, the Bulldogs outgained the Bearcats, controlled the ball for nearly 44 minutes and still ended up on the losing side of a 28-20 game that still rankles coach Pat Hill.While Fresno State controlled th
Red Bulls hope to end RSL's home streak >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York travels to take on Real Salt
Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night in Major League Soccer action.
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holding
Rangers activate Nippert from DL >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers made a series of roster
moves on Friday, including activating pitcher Dustin Nippert from the 15-day
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Carpenter tops Power for first IndyCar pole at Kentucky >>
Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ed Carpenter earned his first pole in the IZOD
IndyCar Series after edging points leader Will Power in Friday's qualifying
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Carpenter, making just his thir
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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