Cardinals sign Villone to minor league deal

Baseball Betting Lines

02/19/2008 - Jupiter, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals signed veteran left-hander Ron Villone to a minor league contract Tuesday, extending him a non-roster invitation to spring training.

Villone has pitched for 10 different teams in his 13-year career, serving primarily as a reliever while making 93 starts.

The 38-year old has a 55-57 record and a 4.76 earned-run average in 580 games, recording six saves in a total of 1,069 innings. In 2007 with Yankees, Villone had 4.25 ERA in 42 1/3 innings, striking out 25 and walking 18.

The Englewood, New Jersey native has also spent time with the Padres, Mariners, Brewers, Indians, Reds, Rockies, Astros, Pirates and Marlins.

Wwwentercasino Baseball Betting News

<< Rangers sign Kinsler to five-year deal
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have signed second baseman Ian Kinsler to a five-year contract through the 2012 season with a club option for 2013. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Dallas Morning

<< This Week in Auto Racing February 22 - February 24
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the majority of the racing world has yet to begin their season, NASCAR grabs all the headlines. Last week was NASCAR's "Super Bowl," the Daytona 500, and now we really get into the "regular seaso

<< Ravens place franchise tag on Suggs
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens placed the franchise tag on linebacker Terrell Suggs Tuesday. Suggs has been offered a one-year deal by the team worth more than $8 million - the average salary of the fi

<< Steelers re-sign DE Kirschke
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers signed defensive end Travis Kirschke to a contract extension Tuesday, locking up the 11-year veteran for two more seasons. Kirschke played in all 16 games for the fourth co

<< Flames visit surging Coyotes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames continue their five-game road trip tonight, as they head to Phoenix and Jobing.com Arena to take on the Coyotes. Calgary won the first game of this swing through the Pacific Division last Tuesd

No Kidding: Nets and Mavs finally complete trade >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks have finally completed the trade that will send All-Star guard Jason Kidd back to the team that drafted him. Kidd will head to the Mavericks, along wi

More changes for European Solheim Cup team >>
Macclesfield, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ladies European Tour's Solheim Cup committee and captain Alison Nicholas announced changes to the selection process for the 2009 Solheim Cup on Tuesday. The first major change is that points

Jazz have what it takes to stay on top in Northwest >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz (34-19) are attempting to capture their second straight Northwest Division crown. They own a slim 1 1/2 game lead over the second place Denver Nuggets. Utah and the Golden State Warriors resume th

Houston offers to buy land for possible soccer stadium >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The city of Houston has offered roughly $15.5 million to buy land in the Texas city that could possibly be the site of a soccer specific stadium for the back-to-back Major League Soccer champion Houston

Nationals sign Perez to minor league deal >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Odalis Perez on a non-guaranteed minor-league contract on Tuesday. Perez spent 2007 with the Kansas City Royals, going 8-11 wit

How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

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 online football betting 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.

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