Texas rivals Houston, Dallas battle to 3rd draw of season
Soccer Betting Lines
06/26/2008 -
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the third time this season Texas rivals FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo squared off for a Major League Soccer fixture,
and for the third time this season the match ended in draw.
The latest deadlock happened Thursday night as the two Western Conference
rivals battled to a 1-1 draw at Robertson Stadium after Houston forward Brian
Ching and Dallas forward Kenny Cooper scored on opposite sides of the half for
their respective teams.
The latest draw, the last regular season meeting between the teams this
season, comes after they played to a 3-3 draw on April 6, and a 2-2 draw on
May 28.
The Dynamo (4-4-6) dominated the first half, out-shooting Dallas 6-1. Dallas
didn't even get a shot off until the 32nd minute when Arturo Alvarez fired at
Pat Onstad.
Houston got the only goal of the first half when defender Craig Waibel lofted
a cross into the Dallas penalty area from the right sideline to Ching, who was
unmarked. The U.S. international made no mistake, heading the chance past
goalkeeper Dario Sala for his sixth goal of the season.
Dallas (4-6-4) made an adjustment heading into the second half, replacing
defender Aaron Pitchkolan with attacker Dominic Oduro. Hoops coach Schellas
Hyndman decided that after the lackluster first half he would switch from his
preferred four-man backline to the three-man backline that the team had played
all year before he arrived last week.
The move paid off as Dallas played much better in the second half, out-
shooting the hosts while generating the equalizing goal.
Cooper earned his team-leading eighth goal of the season when Juan Toja served
a cross from the left side to the unmarked forward, who headed past Onstad.
Houston will aim to get back in the win column when it travels to Utah to take
on Real Salt lake next Thursday while the Hoops host Kansas City a day later in
its next league fixture.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for Bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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