Saturday, July 19, 2008

NFL Superbowl Odds: Public Perception Will Skew the Line

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Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the source and creator of most, if not all, of the betting lines of sports games. Casinos and online sportsbooks rely on LVSC to set the odds, thus ensuring a universal line among all sportsbooks. During the early days of the sportsbooks, many different casinos had different lines, thus enabling the savvy gambler to middle, a practice that ensures a virtual low risk, but high return gamble. So, what is the main purpose of a line? Contrary to popular, public belief, most lines set by LVSC does not really predict the final outcome of a game; for if this wer...more

New England Patriots 28, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0

...ourth quarter, the score was New England 28, Tampa Bay 0.

New England quarterback tom Brady was questionable for the game after 84 consecutive starts. I guess questionable works well for Brady because he threw for three touchdown passes in his 85th consecutive start.

not a good day for the Bucs.<...more

Some Thoughts on the super Bowl

...t is replacing coaches, players and team ownership, our shoulders slump as we prepare to endure the inescapable long November and December weekends in silent lonesome agony.

It is a terrible, terrible existence; worse than that experienced by other sport fans because there is so much time for so few games. This imbalance gives the true football fan plenty of time to trick ones mind to think with a few breaks here and a few calls there that a 1-7 start can miraculously turn into a 9-7 wild card berth, only to be soundly crushed eventually by the shear weight of the challenge.

But no matter how bad the season, we can all unite for that final game, the super Bowl. We can all find a reason to like one team over another. Usually it is the result of some convoluted thinking that somehow our team is vindicated if the right team wins. For example, I was really pulling for the Seattle Seahawks in this last super Bowl. Why? Because the NY Giants should have beaten the Seahawks. Everyone knows that. So if the Seahawks beat the Steelers, I could rest easier knowing we could have been there too. We could have been somebody.

Unfortunately, the super Bowl has become tedious to watch for the genetically mapped fan. It seems as if the game is diced up and wedged into a five hour colossal commercial to the world of American self indulgence. The game is sixty minutes of play that normally takes two and a half to three hours to get through. The super Bowl somehow shoehorns in two more hours from start to finish, thirty minutes right off the bat for scatting through what I think is the National Anthem, and then an additional ten minutes to fl...more

Soccer Systems of Play, Positional Dynamics and Team Formation 4-5-1

...4-5-1

Defense;

4, defenders are usually arranged as outside left, inside left, inside right and outside right.
The most recent idea is to have them lined up in a banana shape with the middle of the curve closest to the goalkeeper and the outside defenders, the points, slightly ahead but behind the midfielders.

Some considered the flat back option but this means much more communication from the capitain of the defense usually one of the insiders.
The general idea is to have the two defenders attend to the attack coming in from their side.
This format requires a high degree of verbal communication in addition to sight and hand gestures.

With both of these options the opposite outside tucks in a little to mark the center of the field covering the goal and any incoming additional attacking opponents.
When the team has possession the defenders would then play wide to stretch out the other tea...more

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