Bengals make Owens signing official
Football Betting Lines
07/29/2010 - Georgetown, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals officially brought controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens into the fold on Thursday, signing a previously reported one-year contract.
It was reported earlier that the deal is worth up to $4 million, with $2 million guaranteed.
"The addition of Terrell brings another accomplished and productive player to our offensive team," said head coach Marvin Lewis. "When you add his kind of threat to your passing game, it helps your running game, too, because defenses have to account for it. We've witnessed it as a defense playing against him. We've been through the process of trying to prevent it."
Owens spent the last season in Buffalo, catching 55 passes for 829 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games. He spent the previous three seasons in Dallas and the two before that with Philadelphia, all while often getting caught up in public locker room spats, but also producing as one of the league's top receivers.
The five-year run with Dallas and Philadelphia saw Owens notch 1,000- yard seasons and double-digit touchdown receptions in all but one of those years. The Eagles suspended or left Owens inactive for the final nine games of the 2005 season because of constant problems with the team's front office, coach Andy Reid and teammates.
A six-time Pro Bowl selection and third-round draft choice of the 49ers in 1996, Owens played in San Francisco for eight seasons before joining the Eagles for the 2004 campaign.
In 205 career games spanning 14 years in the league, Owens has established himself as one of the best receivers of all-time. He ranks third in NFL annals with 14,951 receiving yards and 144 touchdowns receptions, while ranking sixth in catches with 1,006.
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants have waived rookie safety Chad Jones with the intention of placing him on the reserve list. Jones was recently released from a New York hospital after a serious car accident
<< Compton, Every share Greenbrier lead
White Sulphur Springs, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Erik Compton, the two-time heart
transplant recipient, fired a seven-under 63 Thursday to share the first-round
lead with Matt Every at The Greenbrier Classic.
Playing on another sponsor's exem
<< Dolphins ink first-round pick Odrick
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins and defensive lineman Jared
Odrick have reportedly agreed to a five-year deal worth $13 million, including
$7.133 million guaranteed.
Additionally, second-round selection linebacker Koa M
<< Tribe pitcher Talbot leaves game
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Indians starter Mitch Talbot left
Thursday's game against the Yankees with an undisclosed injury.
Talbot made his exit with a runner on first and none out in the third. Rafael
Perez entered the g
<< Vikings sign second-round pick Cook, three others
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Vikings have signed rookie
cornerback Chris Cook.
The Vikings selected the Virginia product in the second round (34th overall)
of the 2010 draft. Cook was an All-Atlantic Coast Conf
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Bowditch and Kyle Thompson fired rounds of eight-under 63 Thursday to share the lead after one round of the Cox Classic. Bowditch claimed his lone tour win in his homeland of Australia at the 2005 Jacob
Jets place McKnight on active non-football injury list >>
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets placed running back and
2010 draft pick Joe McKnight on the active non-football injury list Thursday
after he failed a conditioning test.
McKnight, who was taken by the Jets in the
Salazar, Padres take series from Dodgers >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar singled home the
winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the San Diego Padres posted
a 3-2 victory over Los Angeles in the rubber match of a three-game series at
Petco P
Sharks sign D Demers to two-year extension >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks signed defenseman Jason
Demers to a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Demers finished fourth among NHL rookie defenseman with 21
points (four goals, 17 assis
After Oswalt acquisition, Phillies win eighth straight >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wilson Valdez helped Philadelphia
celebrate its acquisition of pitcher Roy Oswalt with a game-winning RBI single
in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Phillies completed a three-game sweep
and won
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.