10/25/2008 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serbian Jelena Jankovic secured the year-end No.1 ranking, the WTA Tour announced Saturday.
A total of five players held the top ranking in 2008, but Jankovic will hold the lead into singles competition at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, and will emerge as the year-end No.1 regardless of the results.
The 23-year-old Jankovic won 12 straight matches, including three consecutive titles - at Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow - to help her finish No.1. She's won four championships this year.
"It has been a truly amazing year for me," Jankovic said. "Winning four Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles, over 60 matches and to make it to two semifinals and a final in the Grand Slams this year is a dream come true. I worked really hard this year and to finish No.1 is where I want to be and where I hope to stay."
Jankovic first claimed the No.1 ranking on August 11, 2008, staying there for one week. She returned to top spot on October 6 and has held it ever since.
<< United's playoff fate to be decided at Columbus
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United travels to Columbus to take on the
Crew in a Major League Soccer fixture that will decide its playoff future.
Thanks to a New York loss at Chicago on Thursday, D.C.'s fate is in its own
hands h
<< Kansas City cruises over nine-man New England
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Claudio Lopez and Davy Arnaud each scored and
Kansas City rolled to a 3-1 win over nine-man New England on Saturday to secure
fourth place in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference.
Lopez converted a penal
<< Foote's foot leads to early departure for the Colorado D
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote left
Saturday's game against the Buffalo Sabres in the first period with a foot
injury.
The 37-year-old Foote, who earlier this month played in his 1,000th career
<< TCU thrashes Wyoming
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Young set a TCU record with 226 yards
receiving, which complemented his five grabs and three touchdowns, as the No.
15 Horned Frogs routed the Wyoming Cowboys, 54-7, in a Mountain West
Confere
Ponikarovsky helps Leafs edge Sens >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexei Ponikarovsky scored the eventual winning
goal in the third period, as the Maple Leafs edged Ottawa, 3-2, to post
consecutive victories for the first time this season.
Dominic Moore and Mikhail
Ward, LaRose lead Hurricanes past Isles >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cam Ward made 57 saves and denied Doug Weight
on a penalty shot with 0.7 seconds remaining in the game to carry the Carolina
Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
Ward a
Somebeachsomewhere wins Messenger Stakes >>
Yonkers, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leading three-year-old pacer Somebeachsomewhere
out-dueled Shadow Play down the stretch to capture the $650,000 Messenger
Stakes at Yonker Raceway. The Messenger is the third and final race in
pacing'
Boucher, Sharks blank Lightning >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Boucher stopped 22 shots for his second
shutout in as many starts this season, and the San Jose Sharks topped the
Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-0, at St. Pete Times Forum.
Marcel Goc, Ryan Clowe and Devin
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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