Seattle's Jaqua wins MLS Player of the Week
Soccer Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC forward Nate Jaqua claimed Major League Soccer's Player of the Week award for Week 15.
Jaqua tallied two goals and an assist in Sunday's 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids in front of more than 32,000 Sounders FC supporters at Qwest Field.
Picked by Seattle in the 2008 expansion draft, Jaqua has scored six goals and added five assists for the Sounders. He is second on the Sounders FC in goals and assists, trailing only strike partner Fredy Montero, who has eight goals and six assists.
This is Jaqua's first Player of the Week honor since Week 10 of 2005 when he recorded his first career hat trick, as a member of the Chicago Fire.
The eight-year veteran has played for the Chicago Fire, Los Angeles Galaxy and won MLS Cup 2007 with the Houston Dynamo. He has three career appearances with the U.S. Men's national team.
Jaqua joins teammates Montero (Week 1) and Kasy Keller (Week 2) as player of the week winners this season.
2009 MLS Player of the Week winners:
Week 1: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC)
Week 2: Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC)
Week 3: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids)
Week 4: Donovan Ricketts (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 5: Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 6: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)
Week 7: Jaime Moreno (D.C. United)
Week 8: Macoumba Kandji (New York Red Bulls)
Week 9: Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 10: Amado Guevara (Toronto FC)
Week 11: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids)
Week 12: Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
Week 13: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew)
Week 14: Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids)
Week 15: Nate Jaqua (Seattle Sounders FC)
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ageless lefty Randy Johnson seeks a third straight win and a fifth in six decisions tonight, when the San Francisco Giants visit Busch Stadium for game two of four against the host St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants won the o
<< Brewers aim to extend Mets' recent misery
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Milwaukee Brewers are improving their stance in
the National League Central, they're making it very difficult for the New York
Mets to climb the NL East standings.
The NL Central-leading Brewers will resume a thr
<< Phils head to Atlanta for NL East clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies will close out the last portion
of their current road trip with the first of three straight games against the
NL East-rival Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Philadelphia is 2 1/2 games ahead of the
<< Rookies square off in Marlins-Nationals tilt
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of rookies face their respective opponents - and
each other - for the first time tonight, when the Washington Nationals visit
the Florida Marlins for the middle test of a three-game series at Land Shark
Stadium.
Th
<< Reds return home to face slumping D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Dan Haren looks for a measure of midseason
revenge tonight, when his Arizona Diamondbacks travel to Cincinnati for the
opener of a three-game series with the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Haren, a 16-game
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United has released defender Anthony Peters. The 25-year old was originally signed by United in March, and made one appearance in the U.S. Open Cup. "We'd like to thank Anthony for his hard work an
Los Angeles clinches playoff berth >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Los Angeles Sol have become the
first team in Women's Professional Soccer to clinch a playoff spot.
The Sol's 4-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars Saturday, combined with the Saint
Louis Athleti
Yankees acquire Hinske from Pittsburgh >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have acquired utilityman
Eric Hinske and cash considerations from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a pair of
minor leaguers.
Hinske appeared in 54 games for the Pirates this season and was b
Brazilian Melo extends deal with Fiorentina >>
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo has pledged
his immediate future to Fiorentina by signing a one-year contract extension
which ties him to La Viola until the summer of 2013.
The 25-year-old has been li
Chelsea closing in on Zhirkov >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reports suggest Chelsea is on the verge of
sealing an $30 million deal to acquire CSKA Moscow winger Yuri Zhirkov.
Sportsmail is reporting that Blues owner Roman Abramovich has agreed a deal
with CSK
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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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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