Bradley, U.S. soccer face tough questions

Soccer Betting Lines

06/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the wake of the U.S. national soccer team's disappointing 2-1 loss to Ghana in its FIFA World Cup round-of-16 match on Saturday, there has been a lot of talk about the future of head coach Bob Bradley.

Will he be the coach for the next World Cup cycle, or is it time to go in another direction?

First, the tough questions need to be asked.

Did the U.S. team reach its full potential in the tournament? Maybe.

You could argue no, given the way the bracket opened up for the team. But if England had taken care of its business as expected, the U.S. would have finished second in Group C and then faced Germany instead of Ghana in the second round. Would the perception of the team's failings be the same then?

Can Bradley take this team to the next level? Another maybe.

He showed he can adapt in both the Slovenia and Algeria games, bringing in a forward for a center back when his team needed a goal in the second half of both games. Can you ever recall Bruce Arena - the all-time wins leader in U.S. soccer history - make a substitution to open his team up in an effort to get a goal during his eight-year tenure? Me neither.

There is also no guarantee there even is another level. Until U.S. soccer is improved at the grassroots level, no coach on the planet is going to get the team to the top of the heap.

Did certain players who were counted on to be key contributors - Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Ricardo Clark, and the entire central defense, among others - come up short on a number of occasions over the past couple of weeks? You bet.

But how much of that falls on a coach instead of the players? Granted, it's the coach's job to get the most out of his players, but he shouldn't be responsible when Altidore and Dempsey repeatedly miss wide-open nets, or when the central defense tandem of Jay DeMerit and Carlos Bocanegra/Oguchi Onyewu lets players run right up the middle past them. It isn't like Bradley had better options on the bench.

That goes back to the grassroots failings, and the lack of a player pool to compete with the elite national teams.

Bradley did take the responsibility for Clark being on the field vs. Ghana, however. He admitted he made a mistake when he subbed the ineffective and mistake-prone midfielder out of the game after just over 30 minutes.

Is that mistake enough to cost Bradley a shot at another World Cup? Probably not, but that's a decision over which U.S. soccer president Sunil Gulati will have to deliberate.

So, did Bradley do enough to earn another cycle as the U.S. coach?

Yes. Stability is key at this point, with this player pool.

Until U.S. soccer has more to offer in terms of depth of talent, the sturdy and dependable Bradley is as good as it gets.

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American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

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