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04/23/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of San Francisco announced the hiring of Jennifer Azzi as head women's basketball coach on Friday.
Azzi, a 2009 inductee to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, starred collegiately at Stanford and went on to enjoy one of the most accomplished careers in women's hoops both internationally as a member of the U.S. national team and in the WNBA.
As a four-year starter at Stanford from 1987-90, Azzi was named the Naismith Player of the Year in her senior season and served as the squad's captain for the 1990 championship team.
She later helped guide the United States to gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Azzi played on 13 U.S. National Teams in all, compiling a mark of 114-14. She also medaled three times at the World Championships, claiming gold in 1998 and 1990, while earning a bronze in 1994.
Azzi was drafted by the WNBA's Detroit Shock fifth overall in 1999 and spent four years in the league where she was known as one of the most feared three- point threats. She finished her career as the all-time leader in three-point field goal percentage (.458).
"I am excited and honored about the opportunity to lead the program at USF," said Azzi. "I have been asked to coach every year since I left the game. This is the first opportunity that feels right for me. USF has really strong values around educating the 'whole person' -- an element that is critical to developing a successful team."
San Francisco captured three consecutive straight West Coast Conference Tournament titles from 1995-97, but has since logged just one winning season.
<< Bayern, Schalke face road tests
Monchengladbach, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich, fresh off a 1-0 win
over Lyon in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal Wednesday, goes
to Monchengladbach on Saturday trying to maintain its Bundesliga lead.
Bayern leads
<< Oudin will open for U.S. against Russia
Birmingham, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melanie Oudin will face Alla Kudryavtseva
in Saturday's opening singles rubber in the best-of-five Fed Cup semifinal
between the host United States and Russia.
Oudin-Kudryavtesva will be followed b
<< Revs kick off homestand vs. Rapids
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution kick off a three-
game homestand at Gillette Stadium on Saturday with a Major League Soccer
fixture vs. the Colorado Rapids.
The Revs will be gunning to rebound from a tou
<< Soderling rolls into semis; Tsonga exits Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open runner-up Robin Soderling
was among the quarterfinal winners, while third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was
an upset victim Friday at the $2.1 million Barcelona Open.
The second-seeded Sode
Fire, Dynamo square off at Toyota Park >>
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire host the Houston Dynamo in
a Major League Soccer interconference matchup on Saturday night.
The Fire (1-2-1) are coming off their first win of the season - 2-0 at D.C.
United - and will
New York, Philadelphia clash for first time >>
Harrison, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York won only five matches a year
ago, but new coach Hans Backe has guided the team to three wins in their first
four matches this season.
New York is unbeaten at newly-built Red Bull Arena in two
Cavs say give Shaq time >>
CHICAGO (AP) -It's not easy to fade into the crowd when you're 7-foot-1, 325 pounds, and your name is Shaquille O'Neal.Yet, ``The Big Aristotle'' has been ``The Big Invisible'' the past two games for the Cleveland Cavaliers.After a solid playoff ope
Jets confident top pick Wilson should fit right in >>
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) -Kyle Wilson has always been confident he would make it to the NFL.Even when he was trying to beat his two older brothers in any sport they played. And, even when he had trouble getting recruited out of high school.The New Yo
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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