Buccaneers name Mike Sullivan offensive coordinator
Football Betting Lines
02/10/2012 - Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers named Mike Sullivan as their new offensive coordinator on Friday.
Sullivan has spent the last eight seasons as a member of the New York Giants coaching staff and the past two years as the quarterbacks coach.
Under Sullivan, Giants quarterback Eli Manning has had his two most successful seasons of his career, including setting single-season franchise records of 359 completions and 4,933 yards this past season en route to earning MVP honors at Super Bowl XLVI.
"We are very fortunate to add someone like Mike Sullivan to lead our offensive coaching staff," said Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano. "He is a man of character and a complete football coach, who fits with the kind of football team we are building here. His work with the Giants over the past eight seasons speaks for itself. Mike was an integral part of that team winning two Super Bowls in the last five years and we look forward to him bringing that experience and expertise to our club."
Prior to coaching the quarterbacks, Sullivan spent six seasons as the Giants wide receivers coach. His other NFL coaching experience includes being a defensive quality control coach and an offensive assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One can wonder what the score might have looked like if Derrick Rose had suited up. Even with the reigning league MVP resting his ailing back, the Chicago Bulls made it look easy by posting a 95-6
<< Paul lifts Clippers over Sixers in final seconds
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Paul hit the game-winning shot with
3.2 seconds remaining as the Clippers downed the 76ers, 78-77, on Friday.
A pair of Lou Williams free throws had Philadelphia up, 77-76, with 18 seconds
left, bu
<< DeRozan, Raptors down Celtics
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeMar DeRozan continued his hot steak,
following up his 25 point performance on Wednesday night with 21 points, and
the Raptors lead wire-to-wire as they defeated the Celtics, 86-74, at Air
Canada
<< No. 25 Harvard holds off Penn
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Casey and reserve Corbin Miller
scored 17 points apiece to help No. 25 Harvard stay undefeated in Ivy League
play with a 56-50 victory over Penn at The Palestra.
Oliver McNally had eight poi
<< Hawaii reinstates Wiseman
Honolulu, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Hawaii announced on Friday
that sophomore forward Trevor Wiseman has been reinstated to the team.
Wiseman was suspended indefinitely by the team on Monday and missed the
Rainbow Warr
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade scored 26 points to lift Miami to a 106-89 victory over Washington on Friday. Chris Bosh scored 24 points to go with 11 rebounds, while LeBron James added 18 points and nine assists for t
Hawks edge Magic in OT >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Smith scored 23 points and pulled down a
season-high 19 rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks escaped Amway Center with an
89-87 overtime win over the Orlando Magic.
Joe Johnson added 14 points and Marv
Monroe helps Pistons rout Nets >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Monroe recorded 18 points and 11
rebounds as the Detroit Pistons rolled over the New Jersey Nets, 109-92, in
the back end of a home-and-home series at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Jonas Jerebk
Gerbe lifts Sabres past Stars in shootout >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nathan Gerbe scored in the fifth round of the
shootout to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars.
In the fifth round, Gerbe deked to the backhand and lifted it high over Kari
Lehtonen. M
Milwaukee clips Cleveland in OT >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Jennings had 24 points and eight
assists, as the Bucks earned a 113-112 overtime win over the Cavaliers on
Friday.
Drew Gooden added 19 points, including six during overtime, as Milwaukee
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.
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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.