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11/19/2008 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Days after capturing his third-consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship, Jimmie Johnson has returned to his home in North Carolina to relax and allow his record-tying accomplishment to finally sink in. Johnson, who finished 15th in last Sunday's season-ending race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, matched Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old record of three titles in a row.
For Johnson, winning the championship included more than just the Sprint Cup trophy presentation and post-race media obligations at Homestead.
"Left the track around midnight, with the obligation, post-race obligations and stuff like that," Johnson said. "And then went out with my guys, went to a bar and they had a big party to celebrate the year and saw a bunch of drivers and team folks there and all my guys were there as well. It's nice to celebrate with them for a while.
"And maybe an hour and a half of sleep and was up and at it and on a plane to Bristol, Connecticut, to do the Car Wash at ESPN Studios. That was pretty much all day (Monday). And made it into New York City by about 8:00. Got up again at 6:30 (Tuesday) and had a full day of media obligations."
While making numerous appearances on various ESPN shows and radio programs, Johnson was overwhelmed just how big his achievement had become.
"Two cool moments at ESPN," he said. "I walked in and the first person I saw in the hallway of ESPN was Mike Ditka and introduced myself to him and he said, 'I know who you are, champ, and, by the way, you are a dynasty.'
"And it just shocked me that he had been paying attention to NASCAR and seeing comments where I've mentioned I couldn't say where I placed, it wasn't my place to say that. That one caught me off guard. Cris Carter was in the hallway a little later that day and he walked up to me said, 'I don't really follow NASCAR, but winning three titles in anything, in a row, deserves a lot of respect.'"
In New York, Johnson was a guest on "Live with Regis and Kelly" and visited Rachael Ray on her daytime talk show as part of his "Champion Media Tour" this week.
Johnson also appears on the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.
With the exception of the Sprint Cup "Champion's Week" the first week in December in New York, Johnson has plenty of downtime for the remainder of the year.
"We're not testing until January," Johnson said. "So I can probably expand on some type of trip. My wife and I have been interested in Eastern Asia to explore and see Thailand and Bali and a bunch of areas we're interested in seeing. I don't know much about these areas, but I see them in the magazines and have heard from friends who have traveled. I can't pronounce them now, but I know I'll come home much more in tune with it all and enjoying the experience."
One thing Johnson is hoping to do before "Champion's Week" is speak to Yarborough, who became the first driver to win three-straight Cup titles from 1976-78.
"I've not spoken to him, and I'd love to," he said. "I guess I haven't had time to stop and think about any of it to come across that thought. But I would love to talk to him. I talked to him earlier in the year a couple of times, and he couldn't have been more gracious and excited for me. When I have a chance to speak to him, I'll be real happy about that."
<< Ottawa recalls Binghamton center Bass
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators recalled Cody Bass from
their American Hockey League affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, it was
announced on Wednesday.
Bass, who began the 2008-09 season with Ottawa, has one go
<< San Jose sends Staubitz to Worcester
Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks reassigned forward Brad
Staubitz to their American Hockey league affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, it
was announced on Wednesday.
Staubitz has played in nine games with San Jose during
<< Bologna signs Brazilian Cesar
Bologna, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serie A strugglers Bologna have bolstered
their squad with the signing of former Lazio and Inter Milan midfielder
Cesar Aparecido.
The 34-year-old Brazilian is a free agent after leaving Inter a
<< Spurs lose Modric for two weeks
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham has confirmed that playmaker Luka
Modric could be sidelined for two weeks by a groin injury sustained in the 2-1
defeat at Fulham.
The 23-year-old Croatia international has struggled to make his
Saints lose TE Campbell, RB Stecker for season >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints placed tight end
Mark Campbell and running back Aaron Stecker on the injured reserve list
Wednesday, effectively ending each player's season.
Campbell, a 10-year veteran o
Around FCS: November Nail-Biters >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - From Maine to Montana, FCS teams will be
playing on Saturday with the playoffs on their minds.
College basketball has its conference tournaments to determine bids and
seeding in the NCAA Division I Basketb
Hawks' Horford will not play against the Wizards >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks center/forward Al Horford is not
expected to play in Wednesday's game against the Washington Wizards after
spraining his right ankle against the Pacers on Tuesday.
Horford is listed as day-to-day.
Tar Heels' F Zeller likely done for season >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina freshman forward Tyler
Zeller suffered a fractured left wrist in Tuesday's 77-58 win over Kentucky
and, after undergoing surgery on Wednesday, doctors believe it is a season-
ending
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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