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06/08/2010 -
WASHINGTON (AP) -The crowd outside Nationals Park buzzed anxiously. Some were worried about getting to their seats early. Some were nervous about getting seats at all. All of them were on edge about Stephen Strasburg's major league debut Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
``It's history in the making,'' said Mark Cunningham, 20, of Leesburg, Va.
Cunningham, home from his sophomore year at Newmann University in Pennsylvania, was positioned near the front of the ticket line for grandstand seats, which went on sale at 4:35 p.m. for $5 each. The line snaked across the street from the stadium's main entrance and down the next block.
``I'm not a Nationals fan, but I wanted to say I was here for Stephen Strasburg's first start,'' Cunningham said. ``He has received the most hype of any player in any sport since I've been a sports fan.''
Strasburg - last year's No. 1 draft pick who many are speculating will be the saving grace of the Nationals' losing record - was all anyone was talking about. Fans worried about how long he would be able to pitch, and how well he could do in the big leagues.
Expectations - and the potential for disappointment - were high.
``He represents almost a symbol of optimism,'' said Doug Linton, 62, a retired intelligence officer, who refers to Strasburg as ``Saint Stephen.''
Linton, a fan for 58 years - dating back to when the Washington Nationals were the Senators - said he can't remember this much buzz surrounding any one ballgame or one ballplayer.
``It's big for baseball, across the board,'' said the South Riding, Va., resident. ``(Strasburg) was the most sought after draft pick certainly in my lifetime.''
As a young boy, Linton used to pay 50 cents to ride the bus from Maryland to the old Griffith Stadium, and 50 cents for the baseball ticket. On Tuesday, he paid $75 for his seat, and he considered that a good deal. Some tickets were going for $1,000 and up.
Lindsay LeRoy, 29, and Rob McInturf, 30, were visiting on business from Wilmington, N.C. They bought their tickets on the Internet last week for $10 before the team announced Strasburg would be pitching.
``It was absolute luck,'' McInturf said.
Ticket holders and others hoping to score coveted seats started congregating outside the gates hours before game time. The stadium is sold out; 2,000 standing room only tickets went on sale at 1 p.m for $10 apiece. Hundreds of press credentials have been requested for the game, forcing management to convert a dining area to a makeshift media room. The circumstances are unusual, considering Nationals Park has sold out only one other game this year - the season opener.
Tom McGuire, 47, of Arlington, Va., bought three tickets last week for $38 each and pulled his sons Tommy, 9, and Jimmy, 12, out of school early as a surprise. He originally told them they were headed to a doctor's appointment.
``I thought that sounded odd,'' Jimmy said.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.
<< U.S. team downplays 1950 parallels as England game looms
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was 1950 when the United States men's soccer team last
played England in a FIFA World Cup match.
That year, the U.S. team pulled off one of the most important victories in its
lackluster World Cup history by upsetting
<< Benitez set to land Inter job
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spaniard Rafael Benitez is expected to take
the vacant managerial job at Serie A giants Inter Milan on Wednesday.
The former Liverpool coach left the Merseysiders by mutual consent last week
and he look
<< France under pressure in opener against Uruguay
Cape Town, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - France coach Raymond Domenech made
a tactical adjustment to the team's formation leading up to the World Cup, and
the experiment continues Friday against Uruguay on the first day of the event.
Dome
<< South Africa, Mexico kick off World Cup
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Africa has never advanced
past the group stage in its two previous World Cups, but coach Carlos Alberto
Parreira is confident ahead of the tournament opener against Mexico on Friday.
Sout
Guerrero won't play OF back-to-back vs. NL >>
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -Texas Rangers designated hitter Pedro Guerrero will play right field in the upcoming interleague series. He won't, however, play on consecutive days.The Rangers begin a nine-game stretch against National League teams beginning
This Week in Auto Racing June 11 - 13 >>
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All three of NASCAR's national touring series
are in action this weekend, with the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck
Series at Michigan International Speedway and the Nationwide Series at
Kentucky Speedway. Form
Tigers DFA Everett >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers made it official and
designated shortstop Adam Everett for assignment.
The move, which had been announced Sunday but took effect Tuesday, comes after
Everett had major offensive strug
Will cooler heads prevail at Michigan? >>
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, June
13. Race: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. Site: Michigan International
Speedway. Track: two-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles:
400. 2009 winne
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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