11/16/2008 - Andalusia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi and Seydou Keita scored in the second half as Barcelona topped Recreativo 2-0 on Sunday in Spain's La Liga to open a three-point gap atop the standings and extend its unbeaten streak to 16.
Barcelona has won nine straight La Liga matches and is 14-0-2 in its last 16 in all competitions. Overall, Barca is 16-1-2 this season in all events.
Surprisingly, Barca's only loss was in its league opener against promoted club Numancia. After a tie against Racing, the Camp Nou club has been unstoppable in La Liga.
Messi opened the scoring in the 51st minute against Recreativio and Keita put the match away with an easy tap-in in the 85th at Estadio Nuevo Colombino.
Recreativo had one of the best chances in the first half when Cesar Arzo headed a Adrian Colunga cross on goal, but Barca goalie Victor Valdes made the save.
Barcelona caught Recreativo napping early in the second half to take the lead. Xavi played a short free kick to the left side to Messi, who was left unmarked. The Argentine striker settled the pass with one touch, then fired into the top left corner from close range.
Recreativo had a few chances to get back in the match, its best in the 63rd on a header from Cisse that hit the left post.
Barca put the pressure on Recreativo over the final 25 minutes, starting with a open chance for Samuel Eto'o that he sent right at goalie Asier Riesgo.
Eto'o hit the crossbar in the 71st minute, then fired wide on another open shot minutes later. He finally helped Barca grab the lead in the 85th with an assist on Keita's goal.
Thierry Henry crossed the ball from the left to Eto'o on the right side of the area. Eto'o drove the ball toward the far post, and Keita was there to tap it in for an easy finish.
Barca's Rafael Marquez nearly added a third goal in stoppage time but hit the crossbar.
Recreativo remained near the bottom of the league. It is ahead of only winless Osasuna in the standings.
Villarreal remained unbeaten, but settled for its fourth draw through 11 weeks when Malaga's Helder Rosario scored in the 90th minute for a 2-2 draw.
American-born Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi and Joseba Llorente scored for the Yellow Submarines, who slipped three points behind Barca.
Duda had Malaga's first goal, sending a perfect free kick into the upper right corner in the first half. Rosario got the tying goal off a corner kick when he headed the ball on the near side and directed it inside the far post.
Sevilla topped Getafe 2-0 to pull level in points with third-place Valencia and fourth-place Real Madrid. Luis Fabiano and Tom De Mul scored for Sevilla.
Sixth-place Atletico Madrid got a pair of goals from Diego Forlan in a 4-1 win over Deportivo.
In the rest of Sunday's games, Negredo had both goals in Almeria's 2-1 win over Mallorca, Sergio Garcia scored twice in Real Betis' 3-1 win over Racing, Jose Barkero and Carlos Llorens scored in final five minutes to help Numancia rally for a 4-3 win over Espanyol and Fernando Llorente scored his sixth goal to help Athletic Bilbao beat Osasuna 2-0.
<< Birds, Bengals play to league's first tie since 2002
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shayne Graham's 47-yard field goal attempt
with seven seconds left in overtime was wide right, and the Philadelphia
Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals played to a 13-13 final, the first tie in the
NFL sin
<< Cutler leads Broncos back past Falcons
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Cutler's nine-yard touchdown pass to
Daniel Graham in the latter half of the fourth quarter lifted the Denver
Broncos to a 24-20 come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Cutler completed
<< Live and let Addai: Indy RB helps Colts edge Texans
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joseph Addai rushed for 105 yards and a
touchdown, adding 48 yards and a receiving score on four catches, as
Indianapolis snuck past Houston, 33-27, at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Peyton Manning comp
<< Jacobs, Bradshaw help Giants run over Ravens
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw
powered a Giants rushing attack that piled up 207 yards on the vaunted Ravens
run defense, as New York kept rolling with a 30-10 pounding of Baltimore.
Jacobs g
Gators sink Braves with three-point show >>
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Werner scored 17 points on 6-of-11
shooting to lead the Florida Gators to a convincing 81-58 victory over the
Bradley Braves in the 2008 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
Nick Calathes added 13
Landry leads No. 25 Wisconsin past Long Beach State >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Landry scored 23 points on 7-of-10
shooting, and 25th-ranked Wisconsin held on for a 68-61 win over Long Beach
State in the Badgers' season-opener.
Jason Bohannon scored 12 points, but made
Canes edge Bolts in SO; spoil Tocchet's debut behind the bench >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuomo Ruutu scored the game-winner in the
shootout, as the Carolina Hurricanes handed Tampa Bay's new head coach Rick
Tocchet a loss in his coaching debut with a 3-2 win over the Lightning at the
RBC Cen
Stanford holds off Sorenstam, Lang in Mexico >>
Guadalajara, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angela Stanford carded a three-under 69
Sunday to hold off Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lang to win the inaugural
Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Stanford, who has posted five straight top-five finishe
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 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.
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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
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