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04/05/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's pretty obvious that the Columbus Crew would like to improve on its 2006 season. Last season, the Crew finished with the worst record in Major League Soccer at 8-15-9 in head coach Sigi Schmid's first season at the helm.
"Last year was disappointing," he said. "It was a year that we were bringing players together. We kept acquiring players throughout the year and with the amount of injuries that we had, we never established any cohesion."
In 2007, Schmid has a lineup that he thinks can compete because it is relatively injury free and has had a chance to mesh during preseason training.
"The players are here now," Schmid said. "We aren't gathering as many players. They are getting a chance to play together and getting a chance to know each other in the preseason at a much higher level than they did last year. If we can avoid the injuries we feel pretty confident in some of the attacking balance that we have been able to assemble."
The main attacker that has been added is forward Andy Herron, Chicago's leading scorer last season with nine goals and an assist. The Crew were able to pry him away from the Fire by offering up their first round pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft (number two pick overall).
"Andy Herron was a great addition for sure," Schmid said.
Along with the addition of Herron, the Crew have Ricardo Virtuoso, Joseph Ngwenya, Eddie Gaven and Jacob Thomas healthy and in the fold from day one.
"Virtuoso is now back for a whole season," Schmid said. "He joined us in midseason (last year) and wasn't really healthy until the last five games. Having Ngwenya here from day one instead of coming in at midseason and having Thomas healthy from the outset will also be a big help. He had to come from playing a European season last year straight into our season and never really got healthy. Eddie Gaven is also here now in preseason instead of joining us right before the season."
Young forwards Jason Garey and Kei Kamara also have another year of action under their belts, which will only help the Crew.
"All of those things together make us a better offensive team because we are all here at the start now with another year of experience," Schmid said.
One of the Crew's main goals in 2007 will also be to boast an improved midfield to go along with, what they think, is an improved attack.
"We think we have improved ourselves in the midfield with the acquisition of Danny O'Rourke among other players," Schmid said. "Ned Grabavoy and Duncan Oughton are here from day one. Improved play from the middle of the midfield, doing a better job of controlling the tempo of the game and improved offensive production are some things we need to establish."
O'Rourke was brought in on draft day in a trade with Toronto FC that also brought in goalkeeper Will Hesmer in exchange for a partial allocation.
"We expect Danny O'Rourke to be key in our midfield," Schmid said. "He is really the guy for us, the ball winner, the guy that is going to recover the ball for us."
Hesmer, who has been battling a hamstring injury in preseason, is in a three- man competition with Andy Guenbaum and Bill Gaudette to be the club's starting goalkeeper.
"I am very happy with the overall talent level of our goalkeepers," Schmid said. "Gaudette has vastly improved in his third year here in Columbus. Hesmer has had a hamstring injury and has trained the least, but in the time that he has trained he is somebody we are very happy with. He is somebody we have to wait to get healthy. It is an open competition among those three but it is going to be like it is with the forwards, the player who is in form is going to play."
With question marks in goal, in the midfield and up top this preseason, the steadying influence figures to be the backline.
Veteran Frankie Hejduk will team up with Rusty Pierce as the outside backs while Chad Marshall and Marcos Gonzalez will probably team up in the center.
"We played pretty well defensively in that area last year but if we can score some more goals at the other end of the field it will make it a little bit easier for our defense to play well," Schmid said.
If the Crew can stay healthy, mesh as a unit and peak at the right time, a dramatic improvement in 2007 doesn't seem out of the question.
"For us, the group that gets on the field and starts winning and producing good results when the regular season starts, those are the guys that are going to be playing," Schmid said.
Those questions will start to be answered when the Crew host Red Bull New York on April 7 to open the season.
"We have instilled the mindset that winning is a habit and losing is one as well this preseason," Schmid said. "We have won eight preseason games with only one loss (as of March 26) so if we can keep some semblance of that I will be very happy."
<< McBraves sweep Phils
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian McCann drove in two more runs and
Kelly Johnson highlighted a six-run fifth inning with a two-run homer, as the
Atlanta Braves completed a three-game series sweep of the Philadelphia
Phillie
<< Redskins ink CB Macklin
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins signed cornerback
David Macklin on Thursday.
Macklin spent the last three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, after
spending the first four years of his NFL career with the Indiana
<< Saints release K Carney
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran kicker John Carney asked for and
was granted his release by the New Orleans Saints on Thursday.
Carney requested the release after the Saints traded a sixth-round pick in the
2007 NFL Draft to th
<< Cowboys re-sign WR Crayton
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys restricted free agent wide
receiver Patrick Crayton signed his one-year, $1.3 million tender offer on
Thursday.
Crayton compiled a career-high 36 catches for 516 yards and four touchdow
Huggins leaves K-State for West Virginia >>
Manhattan, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bob Huggins is heading back to his alma mater
as he is leaving Kansas State to take over the men's basketball team at West
Virginia.
"This is a tough day for the entire K-State nation," said athletics dir
What they're saying at the Masters >>
Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first round at this year's Masters turned
out to be one of the toughest in history. But as Augusta native Charles Howell
III said, "I've never seen it easy out here."
Here's what some others were saying T
Diamondbacks OF Hairston leaves game >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona outfielder Scott Hairston left
Thursday's game against the Nationals when he fouled a ball off his left leg.
With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the first, Hairston fouled a
pitch
Eustachy gets extension at Southern Miss >>
Hattiesburg, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southern Mississippi has given men's
basketball coach Larry Eustachy a two-year contract extension that will run
through the 2010-2011 season.
The extension, which will include a substantial raise
MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.
Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.
Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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