scottshapell's Blog
Posted Friday, November 27, 2009 03:49 AM
There have never been two undefeated teams this late in an NFL season, so the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts are in some uncharted waters…uncharted for them and for the league. Both will face significant challenges in this week’s matchups, with the Saints having the bigger test.
It seems sort of fitting that New Orleans is hosting the New England Patriots on Monday night, in what will be one of the largest wagered on games of the year. After all, the Saints are aiming for a 16-0 regular season this year (and better including the playoffs), while the Patriots went 16-0 during the 2007 regular season.
The game will take place at the Superdome, with online sportsbooks currently sporting a line of 1.5 on the home team. This game opened with New Orleans as a 3-point favorite, but the sports betting community has been lining up on the Patriots most of the week, feeling they have the team to deal Drew Brees and crew their first loss. The Over/Under line is at an eye-popping 57, the highest line of the season so far.
Both teams can put up points, but hitting 57 or more means each side has to put up p... [More]
Posted Thursday, November 26, 2009 01:24 AM
The Annual Turkey Day trio of NFL games that kicks off the Week 12 card is setup to help the sports betting community ease into the action, starting with a NFC North divisional game between the Green Bay Packers (6-4) and Detroit Lions (2-8). Online sportsbooks have listed the Packers (-10.5) as a double-digit favorite and the Over/Under is set at 47.
If it’s beginning to feel like a tradition for Thanksgiving’s first game of the day to seem a little meaningless, as far as playing a part in shaping the playoff picture, it’s because the Lions have only come into this game with a winning record once in the past nine years.
Detroit did excite fans at Ford Field last Sunday with a 38-37 come from behind victory against the Cleveland Browns but QB Matt Stafford was injured on the game’s final drive and has been all but ruled out of this contest vs. Green Bay. Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said Stafford is in incredible pain and that Daunte Culpepper is going to be the starter.
The Packers lead this series 87-64-7 all-time and even when provided with a generous line... [More]
Posted Friday, November 20, 2009 06:14 AM
Making money with NFL betting means sometimes risking money on teams who appear to be “down on their luck” and the odds are stacked against them. This week in the NFL, Week 11, it looks like there will be at least six home underdogs, potentially seven, depending what number your online sportsbook puts up for San Diego at Denver…so there are plenty of opportunities to be a “dog” bettor this Sunday.
While overall, the numbers when betting home dogs this year show a subpar 20-24 ATS (against the spread) record, stats from the past seven weeks alone can be looked at in a different light. In Week 7, road favorites went 7-0 straight up and ATS, but from Week’s 4 through 10 (not including the seven wins from Week 7), road favorites were just 11-11 straight-up, covering the spread only seven out of 22 times.
So betting the home dog in that span produced a 15-7 ATS record (68.2-percent), but why is it still so hard to pull the trigger on a pup, even with home field advantage?
First of all, when a team is getting points at ho... [More]
Posted Thursday, November 12, 2009 01:05 AM
The NFL Thursday night schedule kicks off this week with an NFC matchup featuring a pair of teams clinging to post-season hopes. This is “must-win” territory for both the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Bears, at 4-4 on the season, have not traveled well as of late. They sport a dismal mark of 2-7 straight up in their last nine road games and also are 2-7 against the spread in those games as well.
The Niners, sitting at 3-5 on the year, have been a profitable play for their backers, boasting an 8-3-2 mark against the spread in their last 13 starts.
Online sportsbook currently have this line pegged at -3 on the home side 49ers. The Over/Under is set at 43.5.
SPORTSBETTING.com is reporting betting action that slightly favors the home side, with San Fran receiving 57% of all the volume that has come in to this point.
The sports betting community hasn’t made their mind up on the Total yet either, as the action is 53% tilted to the “Over”. The favorite and the “Over” isn’t an unusual betting pattern for the “public” when it comes to nationally televised games, but this one is more balanced than usual. Rather than really liking a side, it seems bettors feel they can’t fully trust either team.
Looking at the Total, worth noting is that Chicago has... [More]
Posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 07:08 AM
Today's Match abandoned without a ball bowled: In spite of turning an irrelevant match,India Vs Australia 7th ODI may get resplendence which was lost earlier by the Indian cricket team.
We may be emotional by considering few positives in ... [More]
Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 11:08 PM
It isn’t the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout that everyone is craving but Saturday’s WBO welterweight title match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto should still be a good one.
As it stands, welterweight champ Cotto is a +195 underdog while Pacquiao is a -250 betting favorite.
The Over/Under for the match is 9.5 rounds and according to bookmakers, the most likely outcome, based on the odds, is Pacquiao by decision or technical decision (+250).
More in the Boxing section.
Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 07:32 AM
Starting this Thursday until the end of the NFL regular season, there will be an extra day of professional football.
The first Thursday-nighter will see the Chicago Bears visiting the San Francisco 49ers with the Niners favored by a field goal.
Candlestick has not been kind to the Bears as they are 1-7 straight up and against the spread on the road against San Fran dating back to 1985.
Chicago is also 2-7 ATS in its last nine road games and in its last 10 games when underdogs of 4-points or less, is 3-7-1 ATS.
The Total is set at 43.
Check out Thursday Night NFL Football Betting Odds
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Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 01:05 AM
What are the universally-accepted marks of a dominant college football conference?
In the past, advocates of the SEC as the cream of the college football crop have used two arguments to say that it's the SEC and everyone else.
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Posted Sunday, November 08, 2009 11:06 PM
The Miami Dolphins will play against the New England Patriots today without two of their top defensive players.
As previously reported, Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder and nose tackle Jason Ferguson are both inactive for today's game.
The Dolphins' other inactives are linebacker Quentin Moses, running back Kory Sheets, offensive tackles Andrew Gardner and Lydon Murtha, wide receiver Patrick Turner and third quarterback Tyler Thigpen.
The Patriots' inactives are wide receiver Julian Edelman, running backs Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris, cornerback Jonathan Wilhite, linebacker Eric Alexander, guard Rich Ohrnberger, tackle Matt Light and defensive end Jarvis Green.
Guess who will win???
Place your bet on DOLPHINS @ PATRIOTS
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Posted Friday, November 06, 2009 03:50 AM
Neither Toby Gerhart nor Andrew Luck went trick-or-treating last Saturday night. No, Stanford's star running back and up-and-coming redshirt freshman quarterback stayed home and watched a horror movie on Halloween night.
It was called: "Oregon 47, USC 20."
The Ducks, flying like a flock of Jason Voorhees -- only faster -- visit Stanford on Saturday.
Gerhart said that "Oregon is good,". Their offense looked practically unstoppable. And their defense held USC down.
Said Luck, "The game was quite interesting. I don't think anybody saw it coming, including myself. I was very impressed with Oregon's defense, their way of playing, their intensity, their attitude."
Stanford folks, from Gerhart, to Luck, to coach Jim Harbaugh, said nice things about No. 8-ranked Oregon (7-1, 5-0) all week.
But, while respectful, there was just a hint of their words flowing through confident grins.
This is a team that, as 41-point underdogs, two years ago stunned No. 2 USC in the Coliseum.The Ducks needed a desperate, last-second drive to beat the Cardinal last season in Autzen Stadium.
In three seasons, Harbaugh has created a strong, confident team that believes it can beat anyone. And it's won eight of its last nine home games.
"I don't think we'll be intimidated," Luck said.
The twin pillars of Stanford's upset hope... [More]
Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 03:09 AM
When I looked for an underdog bet in this week's "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers" event I considered two things: The matchup odds and who on the list offers good underdog value, while also having a great shot at pulling off a moderate upset win.
In this week's event, I pick Jason "Mayhem" Miller. With online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com posting up all the MMA odds early for this event, the current line on this bout has Jake Shields at -260 to win over Miller at +200. I like the value with Miller in this matchup.
Miller is 22-6-0, with only one loss by KO and one by submission. The other four losses went the distance and ended up as decision loses. 13 of 22 wins have come via submission, 4 by KO and 4 by decision. It's obvious that Miller can go the distance and has only lost two before the final bell. He's a 6'1", 185 lb middleweight. The fight against Jake Shields is for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship that was recently vacated by former champion Cung Le. Miller is a great grappler and submission artist. If you need to be reminded how tough Miller is watch the UFC 52 fight against George St. Pierre again. Tough.
Besides Miller's record and proven skill and tenacity, the fact that Shields is coming up from welterweight does influence my decision to ba... [More]
Posted Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:48 PM
The 2009 Breeders’ Cup World Championships is just about upon us! going to held on November 6th and 7th Comprised of 14 races over 2 days, the Breeders’ Cup is America’s biggest days of thoroughbred action!
With horses arriving from all over the world and with total purses close to 26 million, there’s no wonder that the Breeders’ Cup has become the two biggest days in horse racing in North America.
This year’s races will showcase two of America’s most popular horses, the undefeated Zenyatta and the Belmont and Travers winner, Summer Bird.
Zenyatta’s connections have been quiet on whether or not she will run in the Ladies’ Classic on Nov. 7th. 6th or the Classic on Nov. 7th. In whichever race she runs, Zenyatta figures to be a short-priced favorite unless bettors decide to knock down the Travers winner, Summer Bird, to favoritism. A win in the Classic no doubt would give Summer Bird the right to claim the Horse of the Year title.
Taking on the American’s will be a slew of horses from both Aidan O’Brien’s powerful Irish based barn and the sand dwelling horses that run under Godolphin blue. Can O’Brien and Godolphin upset the American contingent led by Zenyatta and Summer Bird? Or will America prove tough in their signature races?
The Breeders’ Cup is just about upon us and the racebook is ready! ... [More]
Posted Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:36 PM
NFL Week 9 Betting: San Diego Chargers vs. New York Giants
Game-day: 11/8/2009
Kick-off: 4:15 pm EST
The New York Giants are in trouble. After winning their first three games to start the 2009 NFL Season, the Giants have gone 0 and 3 and it’s been a bad 0 and 3 at that.
The New Orleans Saints exploited them for 48 points in an ugly 48 to 27 loss. The Arizona Cardinals upset them at home as 9 point favorites 24 to 17. Then, just this past Sunday, the G-Men were hammered by the rival Philadelphia Eagles 40 to 17 as 1 point underdogs.
In all three games, the Giants gave up yards through the air. The Saints put up 360. The Cardinals put up 216 and Donovan McNabb and the Eagles put up 211. Now, they must face the San Diego Chargers that averages 276 yards through the air per game.
To make matters worse for the Giants, Eli Manning, their star quarterback, has played about as well as New York’s defense in the last three games. Manning’s QB rating in each of the Giants’ last three games has been 61, 47.5 and 55.7. He’s thrown 6 interceptions and only 3 touchdowns in the three losses.
Luckily for him, San Diego’s defense can be up or down. Sometimes, like they did in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the defense can come to play. The Chargers allowed K.C. to pu... [More]
Posted Wednesday, November 04, 2009 01:13 AM
Things could not have gotten any worse on the morning of Sept. 4.
The Ducks were dominated in a sloppy game that ended with one heck of a right jab. The world was ending in Eugene, the website FireChipKelly.com had been purchased, and it looked like the Ducks would go the way of past programs which had tried to replace the best coach in school history and began falling apart (Miami replacing Butch Davis, BYU replacing Lavell Edwards).
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Posted Tuesday, November 03, 2009 05:56 AM
Divisional matchups have been the order so far this season on Monday Night Football and this week the Atlanta Falcons are in New Orleans to close off the Week 8 NFL betting card. It’s the first meeting of the season for these two NFC South rivals who split the series in 2008 with the home side winning each contest straight-up and against the spread.
The undefeated Saints (6-0) are one of only two remaining team in the league with a perfect record after the Denver Broncos lost on Sunday in Baltimore (Indianapolis (7-0) is also perfect after an 18-14 win vs. San Francisco). You can check all of Sunday’s scores and recaps at ESPN.com
For the sports betting community, if you are looking at betting on an undefeated team this late in the season, it means you’re going to be laying points, probably a lot of them. That is the case in this matchup, as the online sportsbook pegged the Saints as double-digit favourites.
The Saints have been attracting a lot of the betting action throughout the week, as the line has moved all the way up to -12. Online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com reported 78% of all the betting volume on the Monday nighter had come in on New Orleans as of late Sunday night.
NFL Trends: Road favorites in Week 7 were 7-0 SU/ATS including the Patriots at Tampa Bay, even tho... [More]
Posted Tuesday, November 03, 2009 01:39 AM
With a 3-1 stranglehold in the 2009 World Series, the New York Yankees can win clinch tonight with a win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Despite being up, the Yanks are +138 in Game 5 while the home town Phillies are favored at -153 with a Total of 8.5.
Righty A.J. Burnett will be tasked with helping the Yankees capture the championship but in his last 10 road starts against Philly, his teams are a combined 3-7 straight up.
Cliff Lee goes for Philadelphia and in his last outing (Game 1), he went the distance and the Phillies won 6-1, covering as +158 underdogs.
Lee has made 16 starts since coming to the City of Brotherly Love and the Phillies have gone 12-4 SU in that time.
Check out the MLB Playoffs World Series Odds
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