Morgan's late heroics lift U.S. past New Zealand
Soccer Betting Lines
02/11/2012 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Morgan scored twice in the final minutes to cap a 2-1 comeback win for the U.S. women's national team against New Zealand in a friendly on Saturday.
The Americans dominated play in the first half but were kept out by some good goalkeeping from New Zealand's Jenny Bindon.
And New Zealand took a surprising lead against the run of play in the 49th minute when Kelley O'Hara's poor backpass was intercepted by Hannah Wilkinson, who lobbed her shot over the head of goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart after she entered the match at halftime in place of Hope Solo.
The U.S. went back on the attack, but after being frustrated for almost 88 minutes, finally found the breakthrough when Megan Rapinoe's cross was met by the head of Morgan at the back post, who sent the ball into the net off the woodwork.
Shannon Boxx nearly scored right after as she nodded the ball off the crossbar, but there was still time for another opportunity, and Morgan made the most of it three minutes into added time.
Abby Wambach flicked a ball into the path of Morgan and she made no mistake with a header from eight yards that sailed past Bindon to cap a furious late rally.
The next match for the U.S. women comes Feb. 29 in the Algarve Cup against Denmark.
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trae Golden had 17 points to go with seven assists as the Tennessee Volunteers earned their first true road win of the season with a 75-70 triumph over No. 8 Florida. Jeronne Maymon recorded a double-
<< UNLV holds off San Diego State
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Hawkins forced a turnover with one
second remaining and UNLV preserved a 13-point second-half edge as they held
off San Diego State, 65-63, at Thomas & Mack Center.
Mike Moser led the way w
<< Thunder Moccasin strikes in Hutcheson Stakes
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Thunder Moccasin had
a successful three-year-old debut Saturday in the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes at
Gulfstream Park. The colt covered the seven-furlongs in 1:24.16 on a track
listed
<< No. 7 Kansas dominates Oklahoma State
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Robinson had 26 points and 14 rebounds,
helping the seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks dominate the Oklahoma State
Cowboys, 81-66.
Jeff Withey also had a double-double with 18 points and 19 boa
<< Lekic, Osasuna sink Barcelona
Navarra, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona's title ambitions took a massive
hit on Saturday as Dejan Lekic scored a first-half brace to help Osasuna stun
the defending champions, 3-2, at the Estadio El Sadar.
Lekic provided an early b
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hymn Book, making his 2012 debut, outfought Mission Impazible down the stretch to win Saturday's $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. The six-year-old gelding covered the 1 1/8- miles i
Plumlees dominate as Duke routs Maryland >>
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miles Plumlee scored 13 points and pulled down a
career-high 22 rebounds as No. 10 Duke defeated ACC-rival Maryland, 73-55, at
Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
Plumlee became the first Duke player to gra
Montana's Gregorak elevated to defensive coordinator >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Montana assistant football
coach Ty Gregorak was promoted to defensive coordinator, Grizzlies third-year
head coach Robin Pflugrad announced Saturday.
Gregorak, 33, rejoined the Montana program
Wi still leads; Tiger 4 back at Pebble Beach >>
Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Wi posted a bogey-free, three-
under 69 Saturday to maintain his three-stroke lead after three rounds of the
Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Wi, who will go for his first PGA Tour win on Sunday, fini
No. 3 Connecticut dismantles No. 14 Georgetown >>
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 23 points, as No.
3 Connecticut dismantled No. 14 Georgetown, 80-38, on Saturday.
Bria Hartley added 18 points and Tiffany Hayes had 12 for the Huskies (23-2,
11-1 Big East), w
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.
NFL Football Office Pool Printable Schedules
MySportsbook.com , leading online sportsbook, offers free NFL football office pool printable sheets! Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury -- Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.