UConn's Calhoun receives five-year extension
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
05/07/2010 - Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut handed longtime men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a five-year contract extension running through the 2014 season on Friday.
The deal is effective retroactively from July 1, 2009 and is weighted with lofty figures for appearances as well as performance and postseason incentives.
Calhoun will receive a base salary of $325,000 for 2009-10 with a $25,000 bump in each additional year. In addition to the base salary, Calhoun's agreement calls for $1,675,000 in year one of the agreement for institutional speaking engagements and media-related appearances and will increase in each year after. The combined figures will total $2,300,000 for 2010-11, $2,700,000 for 2011-12 and $3,000,000 for 2012-13 and 2013-14.
"I am very happy that this new contract will allow me to finish my coaching career here at UConn," Calhoun said at a news conference Friday to announce the pact. "This is a tremendous show of recognition and support from (Athletics Director) Jeff Hathaway and (President) Michael Hogan."
Calhoun, who turns 68 on Monday, recently completed his 24th season as head coach at UConn and his 38th as a collegiate head coach. It was a trying season for both the program and Calhoun, who experienced health problems and left the team for seven games with an undisclosed condition.
The up-and-down campaign saw the Huskies finish 18-16, including a lowly 7-11 mark in conference play. An embarrassing 75-53 loss to St. John's in the first round of Big East Tournament preceded a loss to Virginia Tech in the second round of the NIT.
"Jim is one of the elite coaches in college basketball," remarked Hathaway. "He has taken UConn Basketball to the national championship level, and he is a valued representative of the University and the State of Connecticut."
A 2005 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Calhoun guided the Huskies to a pair of national titles in 1999 and 2004 and has gone 575-221 in his 24 years at the helm. He also coached 14 seasons at Northeastern, compiling a record of 248-137.
In 2009, Calhoun became the seventh Division I coach in NCAA history to reach 800 career wins. The year also saw the program mired in an investigation into NCAA rules violations related to the recruitment of Nate Miles. That and a myriad of health concerns led Calhoun to question his future in coaching following the Huskies Final Four loss to Michigan State.
Calhoun has survived cancer three times, including prostate cancer in 2003 and skin cancer in 2008.
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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.