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09/01/2010 - Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Drake University football team will play in the first American football game on the continent of Africa next year.
Drake, a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, will play an all- star team from Mexico, the CONADEIP All-Stars, in the inaugural Global Kilimanjaro Bowl on May 21, 2011, in Moshi, Tanzania, under the shadows of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The two teams will do much more than meet on the field. The trip will begin on May 17, and following two practices there will be a football clinic for local youth and a safari.
After the historic game, players from both Drake and the CONADEIP All-Stars will do community service projects. The primary project will be working at the Kitaa Hope Orphanage in Moshi, including the construction of an addition to the orphanage.
In addition, players and coaches from both teams will climb the 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. The teams will ascend the mountain by different routes and meet at the summit, where they will hoist their respective university and national flags.
"I am overwhelmed with excitement as this long time vision is now becoming a reality," Drake head football coach Chris Creighton said. "This trip allows for us to bring the game we love to a place and to a people who have never experienced it. This trip also provides a unique opportunity to serve those who are far less fortunate than we are and to hopefully make a positive difference. Finally, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as a team will be one of the greatest challenges we will ever face."
Global Football, a Texas-based football events organization, is coordinating the trip. Drakes Mexican opposition will be selected from the CONADEIP Conference that will play an inaugural football season this fall.
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short in the Whitney Handicap, Quality Road will once again go postward on
Saturday in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
The colt, traine
<< Marlins call up RHP Sosa
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins selected the contracts of
pitcher Jorge Sosa from Triple-A New Orleans and catcher Chris Hatcher from
Double-A Jacksonville on Wednesday.
This will be Sosa's third stint with the b
<< Baltimore brings up three
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles added three to their
roster on Wednesday, recalling outfielder Nolan Reimold, infielder Brandon
Snyder and selecting the contract of infielder Rob Andino from Triple-A
Norfolk
<< BYU signs TV deal with ESPN
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young University has announced an eight-
year agreement with ESPN for the network to televise the school's football
games starting next fall.
BYU officially announced its decision to leave the Mou
Tar Heels DE Austin suspended indefinitely >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina senior defensive end Marvin
Austin has been suspended indefinitely.
Tar Heels head coach Butch Davis made the announcement on Wednesday, just days
before the team's season-opener against LSU
Big Ten set to announce realignment >>
Bristol, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big Ten is set to announce its divisional
realignment Wednesday evening and early reports have the controversial split
of longtime rivals Michigan and Ohio State in place.
According to an earlier report
Rangers reinstate Kinsler, Guzman from DL >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers reinstated second baseman
Ian Kinsler and infielder Cristian Guzman from the 15-day disabled list on
Wednesday.
Kinsler has been sidelined since going on the DL July 29 with a left
BoSox make moves with roster expansion >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox made several moves for
the September 1 roster expansion.
The club reinstated infielder Eric Patterson and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia
from the 15-day disabled list and recalled pi
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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