Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
06/27/2008 - Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Wizards are desperate to snap their seven-game winless streak when they host surprising Real Salt Lake on Saturday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Major League Soccer action.
The Wizards are winless since an April 20 fixture at Chicago, with four of the last seven fixtures being losses. One of the main reasons for the club's drop in form has been its inability to score goals, as evidenced by its domination a week ago at Toronto, a match that resulted in a scoreless draw.
"We were disappointed at the result last week in every aspect," Wizards coach Curt Onalfo said. "We were totally outplayed by Columbus in every part of the game [in a 3-0 loss at home on June 14]. The most disappointing part of that game was that we didn't win any individual battles, and I thought [vs. Toronto] we did. I thought we played well, dictated the pace of the game."
Despite that, the team wasn't able to get a goal or a win.The Wizards are currently tied for last in the league with the expansion San Jose Earthquakes with just 10 goals scored in 12 league fixtures in 2008.
"For whatever reason we had gotten away from [consistent attacking], so we talk a lot about how we want to have an aggressive approach and try to be dangerous and I think for good portions of the game we were," Onalfo said after the draw at TFC. "But we still weren't able to put one in the back of the net, so we have to keep plugging away and make sure we get better."
Real Salt Lake, on the other hand, is currently on a franchise record five-game unbeaten run and will look to translate its dominant home form into a decent road showing on Saturday.
The club is coming off a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution that gave it a huge boost of confidence heading into its road fixture this week.
"What's most pleasing about the win tonight was the way we handled ourselves when we had the one-goal lead," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "It shows that we're learning and we're improving. We finished that game off the way a good team does."
RSL and K.C. are familiar with each other, after playing to a scoreless draw in Utah on June 7.
"There are a lot of positive things to take out of that game," Kreis said of the June 7 clash. "There was a lot of good soccer on our part; I really thought we were the aggressors the entire night. The only thing you can shake your head about or scratch your head about is the final touch, because if that was there I think we would've had quite a few goals."
"I thought our team competed very well," Onalfo said. "They were a little tired, having played a lot of minutes [in a U.S. Open Cup qualifier] on [June 4] in a game we put a lot into. I thought Kevin Hartman had a great game in goal. I thought we played well for the first 30 minutes; the last 15 [minutes of the first half] we really didn't have the energy to compete with them, and the second half was pretty much even."
<< Revs aim to start new unbeaten streak, starting with TFC
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution will be gunning
for a win on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium when they host Toronto FC
after having their seven-game unbeaten run snapped a week ago at Real Salt
Lake.
<< Mattek stuns Bartoli at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Bethanie Mattek and a pair
of highly-regarded Russians advanced in third-round action at Wimbledon on
Friday.
After rain forced play to be delayed for 90 minutes, fourth-seeded Svetlana
<< Confident Crew to host Rapids
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew will aim to continue their
return to form when they return home to take on the Colorado Rapids in Major
League Soccer action on Saturday.
The Crew went 1-0-1 on a two-game road trip tha
<< Earthquakes, Fire aim to snap losing skids
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire and San Jose Earthquakes
will both be desperate for a win when the two teams get together at Toyota
Park on Saturday.
Both clubs enter the match without a win in their last three ga
Germany's young stars shining again >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger grabbed
a Dr. Seuss-like black, red and yellow hat and a national team flag from fans
and danced around the field at St. Jakob Park in Basel, Switzerland on
Wednesday.
Th
Nets shine on draft night >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Another NBA Draft is in the history books. Trades and
surprising picks left the media and fans scratching their heads at the end of
what turned out to be an entertaining evening.
As predicted, there were moves involving t
Biffle to stay at Roush >>
Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On Friday Greg Biffle said he agreed to a three-
year extension to remain at Roush Fenway Racing ending months of speculation.
"I'm extremely happy and relieved to have this contract complete," said
Biffl
Nuggets extend qualifying offer to F Smith >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets extended a qualifying offer
to restricted free agent forward J.R. Smith on Friday.
The athletic Smith averaged 12.3 points in 74 regular season games and 18.3
points in four playoff conte
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
Get free 2009 Super Bowl Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting VISA Mastercard
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting