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07/16/2010 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley said after a recent win at the Chicago Fire one of our goals this year was to "improve on our road record."
Findley converted a penalty in the 1-0 win on July 8, helping Real win for the third time on the road already this season - a total it failed to reach in its last two MLS campaigns.
Now, the defending league champions return to action and visit twice-beaten FC Dallas on Saturday with another win - and the Los Angeles Galaxy - in sight.
Real captured the MLS crown last season despite going just 2-11-2 on the road, and has amassed the second-best mark in the league behind L.A. with three wins and a tie in seven road matches.
RSL (9-3-3) is six points behind the Galaxy - and have played one fewer game - entering the weekend trip to Pizza Hurt Park against Dallas (5-2-7).
"It's been something we've been working on. We didn't do too well [on the road last year] and it is one of our goals this year," Findley said. "So far we are doing the right things."
Findley, back from the World Cup with the U.S. national team, is joined on the field by three MLS All-Star First XI members in midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales, and defender Jamison Olave.
In addition, Real Salt Lake goalie Nick Rimando has not allowed a goal in his last 498 minutes and posted five straight shutouts, putting the Utah side in strong position for the start of the second half of the season.
Rimando admitted the team's attitude has changed on the road, and that has led to better results.
"I think last couple of years we were happy with a point and if we don't get that point it's not a big deal," Rimando said. "Now it's we aren't happy with a point, we want three points.
"I think the confidence of winning early in the season really helps us out in these kinds of games."
FC Dallas settled for a 1-1 draw against Seattle Sounders FC in its last game, as it tied its league-high seventh game of the season. However, coach Schellas Hyndman has guided his side to third place in the Western Conference.
FC Dallas' only losses were to Red Bull New York and Los Angeles, which is the lone team to shut out the Texas club this season.
David Ferreira scored in the draw against Seattle and has become Hyndman's top attacking threat with four goals. Jeff Cunningham won the Golden Boot one year ago, but three of his four goals are from the penalty spot this season.
Real has allowed just four goals while scoring 24 during its 10-match unbeaten streak, so Dallas could find another shutout tough to avoid this weekend.
"It's a big one for me - I'll be honest. I have feelings about that club - I had been there so long. And every time I go back there's a little bit extra on the line," said Real coach Jason Kreis, who played with Dallas from 1996-2004.
<< Union hopes to halt Toronto's unbeaten run
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC will be trying to extend its
unbeaten streak to nine games on Saturday when they visit PPL Park to face the
Philadelphia Union.
Toronto recorded a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids last
<< Stars sign veteran D Lukowich, three others
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars signed veteran defenseman Brad
Lukowich and two others to one-year, two-way contracts on Friday.
Lukowich, 33, has registered 23 goals and 90 assists in 653 regular season NHL
games with six
<< AL Central: Tribe's future will take shape in second half
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For Cleveland Indians fans, the hard part is over.
They've endured a first half of the season that saw their team finish 20 games
below .500 (34-54) and fall 15 1/2 games off the pace in the American League
Central. Grante
<< Roberts, Skelton under contract
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals will head into training
camp with their two FCS draft choices, quarterback John Skelton and wide
receiver Andre Roberts, signed to four-year contracts.
Skelton was the Cardinals' fifth-rou
NFL suspends Packers' Jolly indefinitely >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League has suspended
Packers' defensive lineman Johnny Jolly indefinitely without pay for violating
the league's Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
Jolly's suspension takes e
Galaxy aims to overcome "12th man" at United >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena
has plenty of fond memories from RFK Stadium, where he brings his team to face
D.C. United on Sunday.
Arena guided United to three successive MLS Cup final appear
Wizards want more magic against Rapids >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Wizards forward Teal Bunbury
called Wednesday's 1-0 victory at the Columbus Crew "huge," and hopes the team
can build on the result Saturday night at the Colorado Rapids.
K.C. (4-8-3) won for
Mandzukic joins Wolfsburg >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg have wrapped up the signing of
Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic on a four-year contract from Dinamo Zagreb.
The 24-year-old joins the Bundesliga club as a potential replacement for Edin
Dzeko,
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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