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Brewers, Rockies get 2010 season underway at Miller ParkBaseball Betting Lines04/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies certainly had a fantastic finish to the 2009 regular season. Last year's postseason participants now hope to get their 2010 campaign off to a good start when they head to Milwaukee's Miller Park this afternoon for an Opening Day battle with the Brewers. Colorado hardly resembled a playoff team during the early stages of 2009, as the club dropped 11 of its first 16 contests and had a poor 18-28 record after being swept at home by division-rival Los Angeles in a three-game series between May 25-27. Manager Clint Hurdle was fired following the final loss and replaced on a then-interim basis by bench coach Jim Tracy. The Rockies took off like gangbusters following the switch, amassing an National League-best 74-42 mark under Tracy's direction and claiming their second league Wild Card berth in three seasons. And despite losing in four games to the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies in last October's NL Division Series, Colorado's sensational second half laid the foundation for what the team hopes will result in even greater achievements in 2010. Colorado returns just about every regular from last year's 92-70 squad, and although 15-game winner Jason Marquis must be replaced, the Rockies will get back a pitcher who went 17-9 for them in 2007 in Jeff Francis. The left-hander missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery. The Rockies won't have their best reliever for the start of this season, however, as valued closer Huston Street will miss at least the first month after experiencing shoulder soreness in the spring. Getting the call for Colorado in the opener will be Ubaldo Jimenez, who looks to build off a very strong 2009 season. The talented righty won a career-best 15 games a year ago while ranking sixth among NL hurlers with 198 strikeouts and limiting opposing hitters to a .229 average. None of Jimenez's 33 starts in 2009 came against Milwaukee, but the hard- throwing Dominican is 1-0 with a 2.77 earned run average in two lifetime matchups with the Brewers. That victory came at Miller Park on July 7, 2008, with Jimenez firing seven shutout innings that night. Milwaukee made a number of changes upon finishing last season with a disappointing 80-82 mark, one year after the club won 90 games and made the playoffs as a Wild Card. The Brewers brought in veteran pitchers Randy Wolf and Doug Davis to beef up a rotation that was one of the NL's worst in 2009, while shortstop J.J. Hardy was traded to Minnesota in a deal that landed speedy center fielder Carlos Gomez from the Twins. The well-traveled Gregg Zaun was also signed to serve as the starting catcher and add provide some experienced leadership to a young core. One of those promising youngsters is pitcher Yovani Gallardo, who draws his first-ever Opening Day assignment this afternoon. The 24-year-old earned that honor by posting a deceiving 13-12 record with a 3.73 ERA and racking up 204 strikeouts, fifth-best in the NL, in his first full season in the majors. Gallardo was particularly effective in home games last year, going 8-6 with a 3.14 ERA in 16 Miller Park starts. Opponents hit just .213 against him over that stretch. The right-hander allowed two runs and just three hits over five innings of a tough-luck home loss to the Rockies last June and is 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA over two starts and one relief appearance lifetime against Colorado. Milwaukee will be attempting to better last year's results in this series, with the Rockies taking all six meetings and producing a three-game sweep at Miller Park from June 9-11. Colorado has gone 12-3 over its last 15 overall encounters with the Brew Crew.
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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later. While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better. For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory. 1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season. 2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped. How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number. Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules. Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically. How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games). Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition. Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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