 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Can magic season save Coyotes?Hockey Betting Lines03/31/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix's improbable run to the playoffs has helped the club shed its image as a perennial doormat, but the Coyotes still haven't been able to shake the cellar-dweller tag when it comes to attendance. Despite clinching its first playoff spot since 2002 and eclipsing the franchise record for points in a season, fans have not exactly been crashing the gates to get into Jobing.com Arena. In fact, through 39 home games, the Coyotes are dead last in NHL attendance, drawing a pitiful average of 11,725 fans a night. Considering the surprisingly successful season the club is putting together, this perceived lack of interest is not exactly the best news for the NHL, which purchased the Coyotes in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last year and has been trying to find a buyer willing to keep the team in Glendale. The NHL's Phoenix franchise has long been ridiculed by purists as a dead end for professional hockey and, despite the team's superb play on the ice this year, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make a case for the Coyotes staying in the Southwest. The Coyotes came into the 2009-10 season with about as much bad press as a team could possibly garner, and it's no surprise that the club has faced an uphill battle in winning over fans. All summer long, the Coyotes were in and out of court as the NHL battled Jim Balsillie in a showdown to keep the team in Arizona. Balsillie, a Canadian billionaire, wanted to purchase the Coyotes and move them to southern Ontario, but the league eventually won the legal showdown, taking over the troubled franchise in October for $140 million. Adding to the offseason tension, Wayne Gretzky stepped down as the team's head coach on September 24 -- just over a week before the start of the season. Gretzky, who was part-owner of the club prior to the sale, cited the team's uncertain future as a reason for his resignation. As it turns out, the Great One's departure may have been a blessing for the Coyotes, who were then able to hire Dave Tippett as bench boss. Tippett is now a heavy favorite to win the Jack Adams Award as the league's top coach. Gretzky, meanwhile, has been left to watch the team's success from afar, and ponder a dismal tenure as Coyotes' head coach that produced four straight years out of the playoffs. Like Gretzky, the fans were also uncertain about the Coyotes, and largely stayed away from games at Jobing.com Arena. After drawing 17,532 fans in the home opener, Phoenix saw just 6,899 faces in the crowd for its second home game of the season. The trend continued in that direction throughout the earlier part of the year, and perhaps the lack of pressure has spurred the Coyotes to the franchise's first-ever 100-point season. Now, with the playoffs just around the corner, local interest in Phoenix's hockey club has increased dramatically. The Coyotes drew over 17,000 fans to each of their last two home games after reporting an average attendance of 13,414 in their previous four tests in the desert. While the late-season attendance surge is promising heading into the playoffs, it is unlikely to alter the Coyotes' future in Phoenix. The club has never turned a profit since moving from Winnipeg to Phoenix following the 1995-96 campaign, and it seems highly unlikely that they will end this season in the black, barring a lucrative run to the Stanley Cup finals. Perhaps if the Coyotes had been setting attendance records earlier this year, the NHL would have found a buyer willing to keep the team in Arizona, but there just doesn't seem to be anyone ready to take that risk. Recent reports revealed that in the NHL's anticipation that it will not find an owner willing to keep the team in Glendale, the league already has a deal to sell the team to Toronto billionaire David Thomson, who would then work to move the club back to Winnipeg. Of course, the league has denied that any such deal exists, but the NHL won't wait forever to find a buyer willing to rescue Phoenix's hockey franchise. It doesn't want to hold ownership of the Coyotes any longer than it has to, so if the Coyotes' savior is going to arrive, they better step up soon. If this were a Hollywood movie, Phoenix could save its team by winning the Stanley Cup title, but even a storybook ending may not be enough to deliver the Coyotes from their fate. There has been simply too much evidence that an NHL franchise in Phoenix is simply not viable. That's a tough pill to swallow for the tiny few who identify themselves as die-hard fans of the Coyotes, but it appears to be the truth. The Coyotes players and coaches have done an excellent job of pulling together in the face of daunting odds. In the end, all they can win is a championship and not, it seems, the hearts of Phoenix sports fans.
<< 'Quakes sign former Chicago 'keeper Busch
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes signed veteran goalkeeper Jon Busch, the Major League Soccer team announced late Tuesday. Busch joins veteran goalkeeper Joe Cannon on the San Jose roster. "The addition of J
<< George Mason signs Larranaga to extension
<< Cubs to put Billy Williams statue at Wrigley
<< Cavs' Varejao out with sore hamstring
<< Welsh named Hofstra hoops coach
Gosling ruled out nine months >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everton midfielder Dan Gosling has been ruled out for around nine months after a scan revealed the extent of his knee injury picked up in the goalless draw at Wolverhampton on Saturday. The youngster
Andretti, Petty partner with Andretti Autosport for Indy >>
Kirilenko out next two games >>
More injury woes for Pompey >>
Eagles sign LB Gaither >>
Online Sportsbook Football BettingWhy Sports Betting is so much fun?Betting SportsThe most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made) Points (or Runs) ScoredAnother bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game. Future BetsSports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:
Types of BetsStraight BetInvolves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total. Sports Betting ParlaysA parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1. Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff. Round Robin BettingAdventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.Betting TeasersSimilar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it! To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. |
|
