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10/09/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes are eliminated from participating in the 2009 Major League Soccer playoffs with three games to go in the regular season, but that doesn't mean they aren't playing for anything.
The 'Quakes (7-13-7) will be aiming to play spoiler when they travel to take on Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon.
Toronto (9-10-8) currently sits fifth in the Eastern table, trailing the New England Revolution by three points for the final playoff spot, meaning a win on Saturday is imperative.
The Red are coming off a 2-2 draw at Chicago in their last league fixture on Sept. 26.
"It's terrible, we let ourselves down, two times we were in the game and we could have come home with three points and there at the end we could have come home with zero points," TFC attacker Dwayne De Rosario said. "... We are very disappointed we got a point and we still aren't out of it yet. We put ourselves in another tough position where we have to have three wins in three games. We need to get those results."
"We needed to come here and get the [win]," TFC forward Chad Barrett said. "We did well to fight hard, but we did not do a good job of managing the game. But maybe this point is the one that will get us into the playoffs."
San Jose is coming off a loss, one that mathematically eliminated them from playoff contention.
"I am disappointed with the result," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "We should have at least tied the game to be honest. We had chances, but we didn't play real well. Our general play, especially in the final third, was poor tonight. We had chances at 1-1 to go and break and score a goal. We couldn't even muster a cross or a shot, which is tough."
The 'Quakes are banged up, but will try to close out the regular season on a good note with some positive results.
"It might be difficult, but we're going to go to Toronto and try and win, and obviously go to Chivas and to L.A. and try to do the same thing," Yallop said. "We are a good team, I think. We've got to make sure that we look at the whole thing, and we were starting to really play well, and we get a few injuries, that really hurt us."
The 'Quakes will be without midfielders Darren Huckerby and Andre Luiz, while forward Cornell Glen and defender Jason Hernandez are questionable with injuries. Arturo Alvarez, Ramon Sanchez and Simon Elliott will also be absent on international duty.
Toronto will be without midfielder Carl Robinson, while defender Marvell Wynne is questionable, and defender Adrian Serioux forward Pablo Vitti are probable with injuries. Amado Guevara will be absent on international duty.
<< Demsey leads delayed Chattanooga Classic
Chattanooga, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Demsey carded a five-under 67 Friday
to move atop the leaderboard with the second round of the Chattanooga Classic
suspended for the day due to lightning.
The first round had been suspended Thur
<< A-Rod might not need more surgery
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees third baseman Alex
Rodriguez may not require a follow-up surgery to the procedure he had
performed on his hip in spring training.
Dr. Marc J. Philippon, who performed the s
<< Chicago's Wise becomes free agent
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago White Sox outfielder Dewayne Wise
refused his outright assignment to Triple-A Charlotte on Friday and has thus
become a free agent.
Wise, 31, hit .225 with a pair of homers and 11 RBI while serv
<< Flyers still have work to do to catch rival Pens
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers center Jeff Carter had
the game on his stick. His team was up 2-1 in the third period against the
Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2009 NHL playoffs. He was parked to the left
of goa
Revs, Crew square off in key Eastern tilt >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew are one of three Major
League Soccer teams to have booked their ticket to the 2009 postseason, but
that doesn't mean they have nothing to play for over their final three regular
season
Wizards fighting for playoff lives vs. Chivas USA >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Wizards will be fighting for
their playoff lives when they travel to take on Chivas USA on Saturday night
in Major League Soccer action.
A loss coupled with a result for New England vs. Co
Jokinen, Hurricanes rout Panthers >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jussi Jokinen had a goal and two assists, as
the Carolina Hurricanes roughed up the Florida Panthers, 7-2, at RBC Center.
Matt Cullen, Tuomo Ruutu and Rod Brind'Amour each had a goal and assist for
the H
A-Rod saves Yanks in 9th, Teixeira sinks Twins in 11th >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez hit a game-tying two-run homer in
the ninth inning, and Mark Teixeira hit a laser shot in the 11th to lift the
Yankees to a 4-3 win over the Twins in Game 2 of their American League
Divisio
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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