Arena: Beckham remains an important player for the Galaxy

Soccer Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham suffered a devastating Achilles tendon injury while playing in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday.

Beckham, who is on loan with the Italian Serie A squad, will likely miss the World Cup this summer, failing in his bid to become the first England player to appear in four consecutive World Cups.

"Injuries are an unfortunate part of our game and they are even more disappointing when they happen to a player who was so close to realizing his dream of representing his nation at this summer's World Cup," Los Angeles coach Bruce Arena said in a statement released by the Galaxy. "We will give David our complete support to make sure that he is able to get himself back to full health before he returns to the field.

"David remains an important player for the Galaxy and we look forward to welcoming him back to the club and assisting him in his recovery."

Beckham, who turns 35 on May 2, reportedly traveled to Finland on Monday for surgery and is expected to miss a minimum of five months with the injury.

"We just received the information about David's unfortunate injury," Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber said on Sunday. "We wish him a speedy recovery."

Wwwtom Soccer Betting News

<< Cardinals sign LB Lenon
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals signed free agent linebacker Paris Lenon to a three-year contract on Monday. Lenon recorded 44 tackles and three forced fumbles in 15 games (10 starts) for St. Louis last season,

<< Foote returns to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers have brought back a familiar face, signing linebacker Larry Foote to a three-year contract through the 2012 season. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Foote spent his

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Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The German Football League have vowed to take action after violent scenes erupted after the final whistle of Hertha Berlin's 2-1 home defeat to Nurnberg. The result left crisis-torn Hertha all but c

<< Lotina receives Deportivo extension
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coach Miguel Angel Lotina has penned a one- year contract extension to keep him in charge at Deportivo until the end of next season. The 62-year-old took the helm at the Riazor in 2007 and has help

<< Nesta set to miss remainder of season
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan's veteran defender Alessandro Nesta is set to miss the rest of the season after being forced to undergo surgery on his injured right knee. The 33-year-old was injured in last weekend's goalless

Tseng No. 6 after winning in Australia >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yani Tseng won the Women's Australian Open on Sunday, but held steady in the sixth position in this week's women's world rankings. In fact, the top nine remained unchanged from last week as Lorena Ochoa s

49ers sign Carr; trade Hill to Lions >>
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Fire sign pair of draft picks >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire signed defenders Kwame Watson- Siriboe and Steven Kinney, the Major League Soccer club announced on Monday. "We are pleased to add Kwame and Steven to the Fire family to help us bring a MLS Cu

Farmers Insurance signs four-year extension for San Diego event >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The PGA Tour announced Monday that the Farmers Insurance Group has signed a four-year deal to remain as the title sponsor for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Farmers was the title spo

Iowa basketball coach fired after 10-20 season >>
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -Iowa has fired coach Todd Lickliter after three losing seasons in a row.Athletic director Gary Barta announced the firing Monday in Iowa City. Lickliter was not in attendance.Lickliter was 38-58 with the Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes,

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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