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03/07/2010 - Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas captured his third PGA Tour win on Sunday, leaving the rest of the field in the dust with a closing two-under 68 at the Honda Classic.
The 28-year-old Colombian posted a 13-under 267 to beat Anthony Kim by five shots at PGA National. It marked Villegas' first victory since he won back-to- back FedEx Cup playoff events in 2008.
Kim had a three-under 67 and finished alone in second at eight-under 272, while Justin Rose fired a 64 to take third place at seven-under 273.
Paul Casey (67) and Vijay Singh (72) tied for fourth at six-under 274.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
<< Bordeaux maintains edge over Montpellier
Bordeaux, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alberto Costa scored in stoppage time, but
Montpellier wasted a chance to take over the lead in France's Ligue 1, because
Bordeaux goalie Cedric Carrasso saved two penalties in a 1-1 tie Sunday at the
Stade J
<< Kurt Busch prevails in a wild one at Atlanta
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Busch avoided tire issues and held off the
field in a second green-white-checkered finish to win the Kobalt Tools 500 at
Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second year in a row.
Busch squeezed his way from
<< Canucks rally in third to beat Preds
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jannik Hansen scored the game-winner in the
third, as the Vancouver Canucks rallied for a 4-2 win over the Nashville
Predators.
Henrik Sedin had a goal and an assist, while Alexander Edler and
<< UConn crushes Syracuse to tie record
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles tied a career-high with 34
points, as top-ranked Connecticut clobbered Syracuse, 77-41, in the
quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.
It's the 70th consecutive win for the
Magic survive Kobe, Lakers to win fifth straight >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter scored a team-high 25 points, and
Dwight Howard added 15 points and 16 rebounds, as the Orlando Magic escaped
with a 96-94 win over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in a rematch
of last
NFL suspends free agent DT Ferguson >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League has reportedly
suspended defensive tackle Jason Ferguson for the first eight games of the
2010 season for a violation of the league's performance enhancing drug
program
Morgan, Spartans earn share of Big Ten title with rout of Michigan >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymar Morgan led all scorers with 22
points and grabbed 10 rebounds, as 11th-ranked Michigan State claimed a
share of the Big Ten regular-season title with a 64-48 rout of conference
rival M
Bruins' Savard leaves game on stretcher >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard left
Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Penguins on a stretcher after being drilled by
Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke.
Cooke, who is known for his physical nature, caught an un
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.
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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