Steelers trim 11 to finish cuts, including center Hartwig
Football Betting Lines
09/04/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Center Justin Hartwig, a 16-game starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers over the past two seasons, was among the prominent players cut as part of the team's final "cut-down day" maneuvers on Saturday.
Hartwig entered training camp as the Steelers' starter at center, but was overtaken by first-round rookie Maurkice Pouncey (Florida) during August and was ultimately judged to be surplus to needs.
Also released were linebacker Patrick Bailey, cornerback Joe Burnett, safety Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith, wide receiver Tyler Grisham, defensive end Sunny Harris, wide receiver Stefan Logan, defensive tackle Steve McLendon, fullback Frank Summers, guard Kraig Urbik and defensive tackle Doug Worthington.
Notables among that group include Bailey and Burnett, both of whom were special teams contributors last season, and Logan, who served as the team's primary kickoff returner.
On Friday, the team released tight end Eugene Bright, guard Dorian Brooks, tackle Kyle Jolly, wide receiver Brandon London, tight end Sean McHugh, defensive tackle Scott Paxson, long snapper Matt Stewart, safety Justin Thornton, running back Justin Vincent and linebacker Renauld Williams.
The Steelers will open the regular season next Sunday, when they welcome the Atlanta Falcons to Heinz Field.
Canonsburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoffrey Sisk carded a two-under 69 Saturday to maintain his two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Mylan Classic. Sisk, who played the final three holes of his second round earlier Saturday, completed 5
<< Broncos place Stokley on IR, cut 10, trade for TE Gronkowski
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wide receiver Brandon Stokley was placed on
season-ending injured reserve Saturday, with the Broncos also cutting 10
players and dealing for Detroit Lions tight end Dan Gronkowski to reduce the
roster to 53 play
<< Kahne takes pole for Atlanta Nationwide race
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kasey Kahne will start on the pole for
Saturday's Great Clips Nationwide Series race after posting the quickest lap
in qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kahne turned a lap of 181.479 m.p.h. ar
<< Ravens release 15, including QB Smith, K Graham; Reed to PUP
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens released quarterback
Troy Smith and kicker Shayne Graham on Saturday, also placing safety Ed Reed on
the Physically Unable to Perform List to highlight a slew of "cut-down day"
maneuvers.
<< Thames' tie-breaking homer pushes Yanks past Jays
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Thames clubbed a two-run homer to snap a
seventh-inning tie, lifting the New York Yankees to a 7-5 victory over the
Toronto Blue Jays in the second of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Robinson
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Davy Arnaud scored in the 70th minute and the Kansas City Wizards tied the Philadelphia Union, 1-1, on Saturday afternoon in Major League Soccer at PPL Park. Arnaud had a goal and an assist last week to lead
Jets release 21, including LB Satele >>
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie linebacker Brashton Satele, one of
the roster hopefuls chronicled on HBO's "Hard Knocks" television series this
summer, was among the players released Saturday as the New York Jets trimmed
their roster
Pickens: Gundy's done a good job at Oklahoma St. >>
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -Prominent Oklahoma State booster T. Boone Pickens says he's pleased with the performance of football coach Mike Gundy and is predicting an eight-win season for the Cowboys.Pickens spoke Saturday before Oklahoma State hosted W
Buccaneers cut 20, including WR Clayton >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former first-round draft choice Michael Clayton
was among the players released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, as the
team reduced its roster to the 53-player NFL maximum.
Clayton, who posted 221 catches
Snedeker joins Day in Deutsche Bank lead >>
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandt Snedeker fired a seven-under 64 Saturday
to join Jason Day in the lead after 36 holes of the Deutsche Bank
Championship, the second of four FedExCup series playoff events.
Day, who shared the first-round
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.