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
01/14/2012 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Branden Grace and Richard Finch were atop the leaderboard Saturday when the third round of the Joburg Open was suspended due to dangerous weather.
Each day of this tournament has been marred with inclement weather, though Saturday proved to be the best of the three days at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. The event is now almost on track, with the final group having only four holes to play in the third round, which will resume at 12:30 a.m. (et) on Sunday.
After the first two rounds alternated over the East and West Courses, the third and final rounds are played solely on the more difficult par-72 East Course.
Grace and Finch both sit at 15-under, with Grace having three holes and Finch having four to finish on Sunday before the final round.
George Coetzee is third at 14-under with four holes to play, while Andrew Parr (64) and Dawie Van Der Walt (67) share the clubhouse lead at 12-under 203. Parr and Van Der Walt are tied with Jbe Kruger in fourth; Kruger has three holes to finish in his third round.
After the second round was completed and the cut was made at four-under 141, it was guaranteed that a new champion would be crowned on Sunday. Charl Schwartzel, the two-time defending champion, missed by one stroke and will not become the sixth European Tour player to win three straight titles at the same event.
Grace, meanwhile, has a good chance at his first European Tour title, while Finch is gunning for his third.
Finch entered the day with 12 holes to play in his second round, and he added a hole-in-one on the East Course's par-three 12th. He finished two rounds at 11-under and rode the momentum into the third round.
Finch began his third round with a 20-foot birdie putt at the first, but stumbled to a bogey at the fourth. After going birdie-bogey from the sixth, Finch chipped in for an eagle at the par-five eighth to move to 13-under.
He followed the eagle with a birdie at the ninth, and a 15-foot birdie putt at the 13th made sure he led when play was called.
Grace finished his second round on Friday and was flawless on Saturday, including a late surge that was halted by the weather. His front nine included birdies at two of the par-fives, making the turn at 12-under, and he had three consecutive birdies from the 13th to gain a share of the lead.
NOTES: A cash prize is awarded for a hole-in-one in the final round, so Finch's ace will go unrewarded...Both of Finch's victories came in 2008...There are still 27 players left to finish the third round.
<< Palermo signs Italy GK Viviano from Inter
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Palermo has signed Italy goalkeeper Emiliano
Viviano from Inter Milan on a contract through the 2015-16 Serie A season.
Viviano, 26, suffered a torn ACL last summer following his switch from Bologna
to Inter
<< L.A.'s Gonzalez has successful ACL surgery
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez had
successful surgery Friday night to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL) in his left knee.
Gonzalez, 23, is expected to be out approximately 7-9 mo
<< Gay, Grizzlies host Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Gay hopes to build on his best performance of the
season when his Memphis Grizzlies welcome a reeling New Orleans team to Beale
Street.
Gay scored 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting, as the Grizzlies rolled to a 94-83
vi
<< Reeling Celtics visit improved Pacers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Boston Celtics will try to halt a three-game
slide when they visit one of the NBA's most improved teams on Saturday, the
Indiana Pacers.
The veteran-laden Celtics started this skid against Indiana in Beantown w
UConn stops Irish home winning streak at 29 >>
Notre Dame, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Drummond had 10 points and 13
rebounds, as the 17th-ranked Connecticut Huskies snapped Notre Dame's 29-game
home winning streak with a 67-53 victory.
Shabazz Napier added 16 points and five a
Horford injury will likely ground Hawks in improved East >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's always tough when an MRI holds your
entire season hostage.
The Atlanta Hawks weren't a true championship contender this season but
they were a solid playoff team off to a good start. That was before t
Scholes sparks Manchester United over Bolton >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Scholes has already shaken off the
rust from his short retirement.
Scholes scored in first-half injury time Saturday and Manchester United downed
Bolton, 3-0, at Old Trafford to snap a two-match En
Warriors sign C Earl Barron >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors signed free agent
center Earl Barron on Saturday.
The move comes two days after the club announced center Kwame Brown is
expected to miss at least three months with a t
MySportsbook.com is the best at processing US credit cards for deposits. Welcome to the most player friendly online sportsbook on the planet!
The principals behind MySportsbook are obviously a management group that understands the players needs as evidenced by their commitment to provide easy depositing with their high credit card acceptance rate and free weekly $10 bets they offer to clients with active betting accounts.
The perks don't end there! MySportsbook offers casino, poker and horses as well. Twice named Best Sportsbook by eGaming Review, this place is rock solid financially so you don't ever have to sweat the payout as you may with some other online bookies operating with less betting volume and client base.
Sign up today and grab your share of a 10% bonus that is added instantly to your betting account. Enjoy 52 risk free bets throughout the year as well!
Reasons to Play There: You have to see their no hitter, cycle hitter and slaughter rule promos for baseball. Worth a laugh and probably a few bucks throughout the MLB season. They offer supersized bonuses of 15% if you up your minimum deposit to $500 or more. Lay -105 on Friday NBA! Contests during the NFL football season!
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college 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