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07/27/2010 -
BEIJING (AP) -Houston Rockets center Yao Ming says he may quit basketball after next season if he doesn't fully recover from his foot injury.
In comments to Chinese state media Monday, Yao sounded far from optimistic about his future and also made a rare criticism of China's national basketball program.
Yao missed last season after foot surgery. He tells Xinhua News Agency he doubts he will play at the 2012 London Olympics. He says if the injury does not heal next season he ``might choose to call it quits.''
Yao also says Chinese basketball administrators were too focused on the Beijing Olympics and neglected developmental teams and the domestic professional league.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Ivanovic wins, Safina loses in first round in Stanford
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and
Dinara Safina of Russia had different results in their respective first-round
matches as wild cards Monday at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis
event.
<< Marlins put Coghlan on DL
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins left fielder Chris
Coghlan went on the 15-day disabled list Monday night due to a torn meniscus
in his right knee.
Coghlan, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, is hit
<< Marlins hang on to beat Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Uggla and Mike Stanton homered to
back the strong pitching of Ricky Nolasco, as Florida held on for a 4-3 win
over the San Francisco Giants to open a four-game set.
Nolasco (11-7) allowed fou
<< Haren injured in debut with Angels; Big Papi powers Red Sox
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Ortiz homered twice and knocked in three
runs, powering the Boston Red Sox past the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 6-3,
in Dan Haren's injury-shortened debut with his new team.
Haren (0-1), acquired by L
Montana to play at Tennessee in 2011 >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Montana football team will
open its 2011 season with a game at the University of Tennessee.
The matchup, scheduled for Sept. 3, is the first between the visitors from the
Big Sky Conference a
Twins aim to continue offensive onslaught in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have been scoring runs in bunches
during a current three-game winning streak. With the way Carl Pavano has
pitched of late, the American League Central contenders may not need such an
offensive outburst wh
Lee goes for Rangers in opener with A's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Lee only has one victory since joining the Rangers by
way of a trade, but the club is expecting many more down the road.
Lee will try to build off that win this evening when Texas begins a three-game
series versus th
Shields and Verlander square off at the Trop >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After being on the receiving end of several no-hitters over
the past year, the Tampa Bay Rays finally got one of their own last night.
Fresh off Matt Garza's pitching gem, the Rays will attempt to pin an eighth
consecutive
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.
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:
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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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.
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