11/21/2008 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have reportedly agreed to terms on a lucrative contract with 19-year-old Cuban defector Dayan Viciedo.
Viciedo, considered to be a five-tool talent at third base, defected from Cuba with his family in May. According to the Chicago Tribune, Viciedo worked out in the Dominican Republic last week for a number of teams
The Tribune reported late Wednesday night that the deal was worth $10 million, while MLB.com, citing Viciedo's agent, Jaime Torres, reported it would be around $11 million for four years.
Torres is also the agent for the two Cubans currently on the White Sox' active roster -- pitcher Jose Contreras and second baseman Alexei Ramirez. He told MLB.com that Viciedo could crack into Chicago's starting lineup in 2009.
<< NBA Northwest: Nuggets doing just fine sans A.I.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl certainly got some
things of his husky chest regarding departed All-Star guard Allen Iverson.
Karl vehemently spewed his feelings about Iverson's me-first mentality and how
the superst
<< Motherwell hoping to rediscover scoring touch
Motherwell, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been nearly 300 minutes since
Motherwell has scored a goal in league play, and the team will try to snap
that streak on Saturday at home against Hibernian.
Mark McGhee's Motherwell put tog
<< Juventus aims to keep momentum going against Inter
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus carries a five-game winning streak in
Serie A play into its top-three showdown against Inter Milan on Saturday at
the San Siro with the two sides separated by only three points.
It looked like th
<< Aston Villa takes aim at top four
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In recent seasons, Arsenal, Chelsea,
Liverpool and Manchester United have had a near stranglehold on the top four
places in the Premiership, but Aston Villa is poised to challenge those
heavywe
Xavi reveals new Barca deal is close >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona midfielder Xavi has paved the
way for a resolution is his contract negotiations with the club after
admitting he wants to end his career at the Camp Nou.
The 28-year-old Spain inter
Milito won't rule out Real >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Genoa striker Diego Milito is refusing to
rule out a potential January move to Real Madrid.
Milito has already been the subject of a rejected approach from the Spanish
giants, who are keen to land a ne
Ze Roberto to turn to religion when career is over >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich's Ze Roberto is planning to
turn to religion when he retires from professional football at the end of the
season.
The 34-year-old Brazilian has already confirmed his intention to hang up
Nalbandian gives Argentina 1-0 lead >>
Mar del Plata, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2008 Davis Cup final
commenced Friday, as David Nalbandian gave host Argentina a 1-0 lead with a
lopsided victory over Spaniard David Ferrer in the best-of-five affair at Mar
del Plata.
Th
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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Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their “supplements” to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this won’t be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a “truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit.” And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. “The plug-necked yahoos on your team,” you can say, “will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.”
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Where’s your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, “I’ll try to type slower for you next time.” Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, don’t just conclude by saying your opponent is a “twerp who drafts like my grandmother.” Say that your opponent is a “sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars.” By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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