Warriors' Lin hopes to beat Harvard stereotypes

Basketball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 -

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -The first Taiwanese-American signed by an NBA team hopes to overcome the negative stereotype of playing college basketball at Harvard, and eventually wants to be a minister in an inner-city neighborhood.

Undrafted point guard Jeremy Lin signed last week with the Golden State Warriors after impressing coaches at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Lin acknowledged Wednesday at a press conference that his NBA career path was far from common, and that ``being Asian-American and being from Harvard, that's not going to be an advantage because of stereotypes.''

He also said that religion is a major part of his life and he sees a future in the ministry.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Mlifw Basketball Betting News


<< Bartoli, Sharapova reach second round in Stanford
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Marion Bartoli and former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova were first-round victors Tuesday at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event. The former Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli handl

<< Hot Fish pulls out of LA event; Blake advances
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot American Mardy Fish pulled out of the $700,000 Farmers Classic tennis event on Tuesday, citing fatigue and an ankle injury. An eighth-seeded Fish was scheduled to meet German Benjamin Beck

<< Jack Roush hospitalized following plane crash
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush racing, was hospitalized Tuesday night following a plane crash at Wittman Air field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Roush was landing his Hawker Beechcraft Premier jet when the crash took

<< Lackey beats old team as Red Sox use late surge
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey returned to his former stomping grounds and pitched 7 1/3 quality innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the Angels in the middle installment of a three-game series. Lackey (10-5

<< Lackey beat old team as Red Sox use late surge
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey returned to his former stomping grounds and pitched 7 1/3 quality innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the Angels in the middle installment of a three-game series. Lackey (10-5

Magic extend Van Gundy >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic have extended the contract of head coach Stan Van Gundy through the 2012-13 season. The team also announced Alex Martins has been promoted to team president and Otis Smith to president of ba

Panthers agree to terms with Clausen >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers have reportedly agreed to terms with rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen. According to the Charlotte Observer, Clausen has a four-year deal that could be worth as much as $6.3 million. T

McCourty comes to terms with Patriots >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots and first-round draft pick Devin McCourty have agreed to terms of a contract. McCourty's agent, Andy Simms, posted the news on his Twitter feed Wednesday morning. Terms of the

Blue Jackets re-sign Stralman >>
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -The Columbus Blue Jackets and defenseman Anton Stralman have agreed on a one-year contract, just minutes before they were to go to arbitration on Wednesday morning.General manager Scott Howson announced the re-signing.Stralman,

White Sox, Buehrle hope to extend home streak versus Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Buehrle tries to lead the Chicago White Sox to their 10th straight home win this evening when they resume their four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field. Buehrle has been a big reason behin

2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“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.

New York Giants betting lines

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.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

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.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

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.

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.