Bayern close to signing Schweinsteiger to new deal

Soccer Betting Lines

12/12/2008 - Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich is confident that midfield ace Bastian Schweinsteiger will commit his longterm future to the club in the next few days.

The 24-year-old Germany international had been strongly linked with a move to Juventus next summer, with his current Bayern contract running out at the end of the season.

However, the club's general manager Uli Hoeness is now all but certain that Schweinsteiger will opt to stay put.

"We are close to having him stay with us," Hoeness told the club's official website. "There are one or two details to clear up, but I think we will be able to make a clear statement about it in the next few days."

(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)

Wwwstratlv Soccer Betting News

<< Report: Burnett agrees to deal with Yanks
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free agent pitcher A.J. Burnett has reportedly agreed to a five-year contract with the New York Yankees. According to Fox Sports, Burnett will join CC Sabathia in the new-look Yankees rotation once

<< Traditional powers square off in Italy
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan and Juventus are the two most successful clubs in Serie A history, and they will be renewing their rivalry on Sunday in Turin with both sides level on 30 points. The two traditional powers

<< Crew and Sounders reach agreement on Schmid contract
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer announced on Friday that the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders FC resolved a potential contractual issue regarding former Crew coach Sigi Schmid. Columbus acquired allocation money

<< White Sox ink Betemit and Wise; finalize four-year deal with Viciedo
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox avoided arbitration on Friday with infielder Wilson Betemit and outfielder DeWayne Wise, signing the duo to one-year contracts. The 27-year-old Betemit, who was acquired from the Yan

<< Price and Sluman lead Merrill Lynch Shootout
Naples, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Price and Jeff Sluman combined for an eight-under 64 on Friday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the $2.9 million Merrill Lynch Shootout. Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry are in second pla

Cubs sign Gaudin >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs and pitcher Chad Gaudin agreed to a one-year contract on Friday, thus avoiding arbitration. Per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Gaudin, 25, was acquired last seaso

Penguins G Fleury set to return Saturday >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday announced that goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, out since mid-November, will return to the club on Saturday. Fleury suffered a still undisclosed injury on No

Molina leads in Costa Rica >>
Guanacaste, Costa Rica (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Argentina's Mauricio Molina fired a six-under 65 on Friday to take the lead midway through the Canadian Tour's Costa Rica Golf Classic. Molina moved to six-under-par 136 for a two-shot advant

Espanyol expects goalie Kameni to leave >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Espanyol's Cameroon international goalie Carlos Kameni is set to leave the club next summer, having failed to agree a new contract with the Barcelona-based outfit. The 24-year-old's current deal runs

Catania signs Zenga to contract extension >>
Catania, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Catania Calcio has handed coach Walter Zenga a contract extension to keep him at the club until the end of the 2009-10 season. The 48-year-old former Italy goalkeeper helped the club escape relegatio

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.

MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!

Every month MySportsbook.com's casino host, Jack Black, gives away $10,000.00 in free casino prize money. To Enter - All you have to do is play at least 10 hands (total) of Blackjack on one of the specified dates of the blackjack contest. The online casino host randomly hands out free bonuses ranging from $50 - $500, and one lucky player who will receive a free $2,500.00 bonus.

"We have been running this monthly free blackjack contest to our active mebers for 5 years now, and the players just love it," says Jack Black, online casino host at MySportsbook.com. "And why wouldn't they love a free chance to win some extra online blackjack cash."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.