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2010 CFL Western Preview - British Columbia LionsFootball Betting Lines06/21/2010 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS & FIGURES: Division - West. 2009 record - 8-10. Playoff result: Lost 56-18 to Montreal in Grey Cup Playoffs Finals. Stadium - B.C. Place. Capacity - 29,706. Colors - Orange, black and silver. Even though the Lions of British Columbia finished the 2009 regular season two games under .500, the squad still caught enough breaks to take part in the postseason. However, even though that might be a positive for the Lions to take from last year, there's no doubt that the club and head coach Wally Buono have their sights set on moving up from fourth place in the West Division and making a more sustainable run in the playoffs this time around. Buono, who has a record of 82-43-1 since taking over BC in 2003, knows what it takes to get to the Grey Cup Championship and win it all, having done so against Montreal in 2006, but the question is whether or not he has the talent to get the Lions back to those lofty heights. Even though BC quarterbacks completed almost 61 percent of their pass attempts a season ago, the position was in disarray with as many as five different guys attempting at least 28 passes during the campaign. Buck Pierce did some of the damage for the group as he made good on 63.2 percent of his chances, but he still had more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (10). Despite attempting barely half the number of passes as Pierce, Jarious Jackson logged a team-best 12 TDs, giving him an even 50 for his career with BC. With Pierce no longer on the roster, the job is Jackson's to lose, which means he will have to withstand the pressure brought by Travis Lulay and Casey Printers. Back in 2004, Printers was a beast for the Lions as he threw for 5,088 yards and 35 touchdowns, against just 10 interceptions. Clearly, Printers has the ability to step in and take over the position, so having a healthy fight for playing time might be just what these guys need on offense. The most productive receiver for the Lions a year ago was Geroy Simon, a slotback out of the University of Maryland who has been with the club for a decade now. Simon has logged at least 1,200 yards receiving in each of the last seven campaigns and led the squad with 1,239 yards in 2009, but the end result was just six touchdowns. While Simon was moving the ball between the 20's, it was Paris Jackson who had the most receiving TDs with eight on 76 catches for the team. Expected to give Jackson a run for his money at the position is the recently drafted Shawn Gore, that is as long as Gore makes it north of the border after signing with the Green Bay Packers. Not to be lost in all of this is Emmanuel Arceneaux out of Alcorn State. As a rookie last year Arceneaux put up some impressive numbers with 63 catches for 858 yards and seven touchdowns, so it is expected that those stats will increase given his familiarity with the system. Another area that will need considerable attention this year is at running back, seeing as how Martell Mallett played just one year with the Lions and then signed with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL in January. Mallett, who set a franchise record with 213 yards rushing against Montreal in early September, was also fifth on the team with his 43 receptions for 342 yards and two touchdowns. Finding a replacement for Mallett will be a challenge, especially when you take into consideration that the next two leading ground gainers for the Lions in '09 were quarterbacks (Pierce and Jackson). After spending a year away from football, Yonus Davis has been brought in to try and fill in some of the gaps at the rushing positions. British Columbia actually ranked fourth in the league in rushing per game with 115.5 yards per outing, but in doing so the club also left quarterbacks open to unnecessary hits. Overall, the defense for the Lions a year ago was dismal, allowing 27.9 ppg to rank second-to-last in the league and if not for the lackluster efforts of Winnipeg, the rankings would be even more disappointing for BC. The secondary permitted opponents to generate 8.1 yards per pass, tied with Edmonton for the most in the CFL in '09. A veteran of 12 seasons in the league, safety Barron Miles kept games from getting out of hand as he led the league with eight interceptions, giving him 66 for his career, yet he has chosen to retire and that leaves yet another glaring hole that has to be plugged. Now a coach with the Lions, Miles will have the opportunity to help groom the players that will be taking over for him in the secondary. Already playing a major role in the defensive backfield is Ryan Phillips, a defensive back who was tied for second on the team last year with four picks, along with Korey Banks. The stability of the quarterback position is paramount for the Lions, yet that's still just one piece of the larger puzzle that coach Buono will have to patiently piece together in order to give the Lions back their roar.
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2010 CFL Western Preview - Calgary Stampeders >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS & FIGURES: Division - West. 2009 record - 10-7-1. Playoff result: Lost, 27-17, to Saskatchewan in the Grey Cup Playoffs Finals. Stadium - McMahon Stadium. Capacity - 35,650. Colors - Red, white and black
2010 CFL Western Preview - Edmonton Eskimos >>
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2010 CFL Western Preview - Saskatchewan Roughriders >>
Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it. He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games. "Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote. He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games. Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk. Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible. Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines. Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy. With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season. Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas). And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.) The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors. While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger. Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under. One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it. Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami. What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5. That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well. MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple. "The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money. "At the end of the day, we liked the home team." So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams. In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish. MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover. The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing. Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed. MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash. To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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