05/15/2008 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn State legendary football head coach Joe Paterno was taken by ambulance to Mount Nittany Medical Center on Thursday due to an apparent case of dehydration.
The Centre Daily Times reports Paterno was taken to the hospital after complaining of nausea, weakness and fatigue. A school spokesman told the newspaper tests are being taken to rule out heart and other problems, and so far the results have come back negative.
The 81-year-old Paterno, who has been the coach at Penn State since 1966, is one of three active coaches who have also been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Paterno has posted a 372-125-3 mark in 42 seasons as head coach and ranks second in career wins among major college coaches and fourth all-time. Only Florida State's Bobby Bowden, with 373, has more victories among major college coaches.
The Nittany Lions went 9-4 last season, culminated by an Alamo Bowl win over Texas A&M.
<< Scoreless streak over, but Tribe clip A's
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Laffey threw seven solid innings and
the Indians continued their mastery on the mound until holding on in the ninth
during a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics to complete a three-game
sweep.
<< New No. 1 Sharapova, Serena land in Rome quarters
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newly-appointed world No. 1 Maria Sharapova
and former top-ranked star Serena Williams were a pair of third-round winners
Thursday at the $1.34 million Italian Open, a clay-court French Open tuneup.
The se
<< Energie signs coach Prasnikar to extension
Cottbus, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Energie Cottbus coach Bojan Prasnikar has
signed a new contract running until the summer of 2010 after guiding the club
to Bundesliga survival.
The Slovenian was drafted in by Cottbus in September to ta
<< Rockies' Cook, Francis on opposite ends
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Aaron Cook is responsible
for 40 percent of his team's wins this season. Now raise your hand if you
thought that would be the circumstance by mid-May.
If you did raise your hand then
Most Recent No-Hitters >>
Baltimore - Bob Milacki (6 innings), Mike Flanagan (1), Mark Williamson (1) and Gregg Olson (1) vs. Oakland, 2-0, July 13, 1991.Boston - Jon Lester vs. Kansas City, 7-0, May 19, 2008.Chicago - Mark Buehrle vs. Texas, 6-0, April 18, 2007.Cleveland -
Pujols belts 2 HRs as Cards clobber Padres; Peavy to DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols went 3-for-5 with a pair of
solo home runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals in a rout of the San Diego
Padres, 8-2, in the opener of a three-game set.
Ryan Ludwick went 3-for-4 with th
DeWitt hits Dodgers past Reds; Dunn HRs again >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake DeWitt drove in the winning run in
the bottom of the ninth, as the Los Angeles Dodgers clipped the Cincinnati
Reds, 6-5, in the opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.
Brad Penny, who had
Mets sign Nunez to minor league deal >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets signed infielder Abraham
Nunez to a minor league contract on Monday. He will report to New Orleans of
the Pacific Coast League.
The 32-year-old Nunez signed a minor league deal with Milwauk
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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.
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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.