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08/17/2010 -
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -When Garrett Gilbert's big moment came, he nearly panicked.
He couldn't find his helmet.
Just minutes into last season's BCS championship game against Alabama, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy came staggering over to the sideline, a nerve injury leaving his right arm hanging limp like a wet noodle.
Gilbert, McCoy's freshman backup, was on the spot. He had to find that helmet. You can't play tackle football without one.
His frantic search interrupted a defensive huddle. Luckily, Texas had called time out, giving him more time to look.
Gilbert finally found it tucked under the bench near the 50-yard line. He strapped it on and ran onto the field, stepping into the brightest spotlight possible.
The rest, he says, is still pretty much a blur. And not a pretty one. Gilbert had five turnovers and Texas lost 37-21.
``It leaves a bitter taste,'' said Gilbert, now the Longhorns' sophomore starter. ``It was tough.''
But there were bright spots, too. Two second-half touchdown passes pulled Texas within 24-21 late in the game. He read defenses. He spoke in calm tones to his teammates and offensive coordinator Greg Davis.
Texas lost, but the Longhorns were watching him grow up.
The BCS championship game was supposed to be McCoy's coronation, not Gilbert's national debut.
But coach Mack Brown had signed one of the nation's top high school recruits fully expecting him to take over when the record-setting McCoy moved on to the NFL. And now Gilbert steps into a role he seems to have been groomed for his entire young life.
The son of former University of California quarterback and career NFL backup Gale Gilbert, Garrett Gilbert was a high-school All-American who won two Texas state championships. Gilbert and USC's Matt Barkley were the two highest-rated quarterbacks when they signed in 2009. At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Gilbert has the size and strong arm any team would covet.
His background and easygoing style with the media are similar to former Longhorns quarterback Chris Simms, the son of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Phil Simms.
Chris Simms arrived at Texas in 1999 and immediately shouldered expectations of winning a national championship, or at least a Big 12 title. He led Texas to consecutive 11-win seasons in 2001-2002 but couldn't beat Oklahoma and didn't deliver a championship.
Simms struggled to earn the full support of Longhorns fans, partly because he was given the starting role over the popular Major Applewhite, now the Longhorns' running backs coach.
Gilbert has faced no such controversy. As a freshman, he quickly rose to No. 2 on the depth chart, spending last season studying McCoy, who won an NCAA record 45 games as a starter. Gilbert played in 10 games, most of it mop-up duty in blowouts against the likes of Texas-El Paso.
``I still feel like I have a bit to prove,'' Gilbert said. ``I haven't won a game yet ... I'm not Colt. I just have to be my own player.''
He never expected to do more than watch and cheer against Alabama. Brown recalled how Gilbert casually poached some of the steak the starters weren't eating in their pre-game meals.
``You can always tell the guys that say, 'Can I get some of your steak?' aren't going to play,'' Brown said. ``When I said, 'Garrett, get your helmet, his eyes were as big as silver dollars.
``But it was obvious in the second half that he relaxed and played much better ... And I do think his presence in the national championship game gave him instant credibility with the older kids.''
By the end of that game, Texas fans could see their future. And it wasn't long before they started talking about how the experience would steel Gilbert for the challenges to come, games like the annual Texas-Oklahoma game in Dallas.
Slow down, Gilbert says. Let's not make a career out of one half of a loss.
``Nothing will compare to what happened, but I'll still get anxious and still get excited about playing in a game,'' he said. ``The day I don't ... is the day I should probably hang it up.''
What the Longhorns want to see now is leadership. After his freshman season, Gilbert knew the playbook and could make all the throws. Growing into a vocal leader was not so easy.
At times, his teammates have drawn it out of him. Texas has informal summer workouts with the quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs. The workouts can get pretty heated and cornerbacks Aaron Williams and Chykie Brown aimed a steady barrage of trash talk at Gilbert all summer.
``We had to get Garrett out of his shell,'' Chykie Brown said.
Gilbert stood his ground. Sometimes, he fired back.
``He's starting to be a more vocal leader, (to) become the leader and become the commander,'' senior wide receiver John Chiles said.
Gilbert is also the only Texas quarterback with any experience.
The day before the Longhorns reported for training camp, top backup Sherrod Harris, a senior, left the team. That means freshmen Case McCoy (Colt's younger brother) and Connor Wood are battling for the No. 2 spot, far from ready to play if Gilbert gets hurt.
The duel is one that Brown calls ``urgent.'' As the national championship game proved, the No. 2 quarterback has to be ready to play at a moment's notice.
Gilbert's first lesson for the freshmen was simple: Always know where your helmet is.
``Don't wear a baseball cap on the sideline,'' Gilbert said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran center Adonal Foyle has announced his
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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.
Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.
Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.
So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.
In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.
For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.
The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.
The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.
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Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
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