In the FCS Huddle: An uplifting return and a season in doubt

NCAA Football Betting Lines

08/26/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amid the many wins and losses of a season - any season - we're so often reminded that the results take a bad seat to the people playing the game.

That has been demonstrated in the Football Championship Subdivision in recent days. Amid the many announcements of who's in at quarterback and who will or won't be available for the fast-approaching season-opening games came uplifting news from Princeton and sobering reality at Grambling State involving a pair of Tigers.

At Princeton, it was stunning to hear that running back Jordan Culbreath returned to the practice field on Wednesday to try to resume his playing career. The 2008 Ivy League rushing champion, his senior season was cut short last year by aplastic anemia, a condition in which his bone marrow stopped producing sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells.

It was assumed by many people that Culbreath's football career was over and that he was focused on his health, not Saturdays in the fall. He faces the possibility of bi-weekly blood transfusions for the rest of his life, so it didn't seem he would be cleared medically to play again.

At Grambling State, 6-foot-4, 265-pound Christian Anthony, the top defensive lineman in the FCS, probably seemed indestructible to most people. But since Anthony first developed chest pains three weeks ago - which basically was determined to be a heart attack - we now see a young man with far bigger concerns than a double-team of blockers.

Anthony, a terrorizing end who finished fourth last season for the Buck Buchanan Award which honors the FCS' outstanding defensive player, was hospitalized for several days for tests. He began classes this week, but his future - which had NFL written all over it - seems a lot different now. It would seem his season is over before it began.

"Not a hundred percent (ruled out)," Grambling State coach Rod Broadway said on Thursday, "but it's going to be tough for him. He's supposed to go back to the doctor next week and he'll have a better understanding of where we are.

"It's like everybody else, it hits you after a while because there's a void - that's something you've been doing forever and it's no longer there. He just has to fill that void for the time being and, hopefully, it can be extra academics, extra classes, even come out here and hang out and come to practice, be a part of it. He's still a member of the football team."

Grambling State surely will rally around Anthony whether he plays again or not. Princeton did just that a year ago for Culbreath, with events like a bone marrow drive and other efforts to raise awareness of the disease.

People cared about Culbreath the person, not Culbreath the football player.

And now that Culbreath is running with the ball again, they still care about him more as a person.

"Our PFA (Princeton Football Association) president, Anthony DiTommaso, said that every yard we get from Jordan this year is a miracle," Princeton first- year coach Bob Surace said on Wednesday. "First and foremost, we are thrilled to see Jordan's health improve over the last few months. Regardless of what he does between the lines this season, he is already an inspiration to our entire program."

Best of luck to both Jordan Culbreath and Christian Anthony. May you be All- League, All-America. But let winning in the game of life come first.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.