Falcons' Smith edges Sparano as NFL Coach of the Year
Football Betting Lines
01/04/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta's Mike Smith was selected as the 2008 NFL Coach of the Year, awarded by the Associated Press, besting Miami's Tony Sparano by the slimmest of margins.
Each rookie head coach spearheaded a tremendous turnaround, inheriting a last- place team in 2007 and guiding it to the postseason this year. Smith received 23 1/2 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL, one more than Sparano (22 1/2).
The Falcons bounced back this season from a tumultuous 4-12 campaign in 2007, the incarceration of star quarterback Michael Vick for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring and the resignation of head coach Bobby Petrino after just 13 games.
Smith guided Atlanta to an 11-5 finish and an NFC playoff spot as a wild card this season, the club's first postseason appearance since 2004, and did it with a rookie quarterback -- Matt Ryan -- at the helm. The Falcons, though, had their amazing run come to an end on Saturday, falling to the Cardinals, 30-24.
As for Sparano, he inherited a Miami team that went 1-15 in 2007 and helped turn it into a division-winner. The Dolphins went 11-5 this season, winning the AFC East, and play Baltimore on Sunday in an AFC wild card game.
Smith is the second Falcons coach to receive the award, as Dan Reeves won in 1998, when the Falcons reached the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players for today's NFL Wild Card Playoff games. BALTIMORE RAVENS AT MIAMI DOLPHINS, 1:00 P.M. (ET) Ravens - 3rd QB Todd Bouman, WR Terrance Copper, CB Evan Oglesby, R
<< Blackhawks RW Kane out Sunday vs. red-hot Flames
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Blackhawks right wing and leading
scorer Patrick Kane will miss Sunday's game against Calgary because of a
high ankle sprain.
The Flames have won five in a row and earned at least a point
<< Canucks and Stars clash in Vancouver
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vancouver's Jason LaBarbera hasn't had much time to get
comfortable with his new team. That hasn't stopped him from earning the
Canucks some needed points. LaBarbera could earn a third straight start
tonight in a home test ve
<< Ducks host Coyotes in Pacific Division clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The battle for second place in the Pacific Division will go
down in California tonight, as the Phoenix Coyotes visit the Anaheim Ducks and
the Honda Center.
The Coyotes and Ducks enter this game with identical 19-15-5 reco
<< Wild begin road trip with stop in Colorado
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild begin a four-game road trip and will be
aiming to halt a six-game slide as the visiting club tonight in a matchup with
the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
The Wild are 7-9-0 as the visiting team
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher stated on CBS's "NFL Today" show that he does not plan on becoming a head coach in 2009. Cowher, who has been rumored for multiple NFL head coachin
Harris, Wolverines pull away at end to down Illinois >>
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Harris was one of five Wolverine
players to reach double figures, as 23rd-ranked Michigan grinded out a 74-64
victory over Illinois at Crisler Arena.
Harris had 16 points, six rebounds, fiv
Bosh helps Raptors upend Magic >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Bosh finished with 23 points and 11
rebounds, leading the Toronto Raptors to a 108-102 win over the Orlando Magic
at Air Canada Centre.
Anthony Parker scored a team-best 26 points and Andrea Barg
Rangers cut Celtic's lead with win over Inverness >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A much-improved second half showing
from Rangers was enough to cut Celtic's lead at the top of the SPL to five
points as they overcame a battling Inverness Caley Thistle.
Inverness might have
Reed, Baltimore stifle Miami in Wild Card win >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ed Reed had two of Baltimore's four
interceptions, running one back for a touchdown, and the Ravens defense
stifled Miami to record a 27-9 win over the Dolphins in an AFC Wild Card
contest
Sportsbook Betting Lines
Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?
There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
How the Opening Line Is Made
The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Why Sports Betting Lines Change
Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
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