Former Penn St. RB Warner set to rush into Hall

NCAA Football Betting Lines

07/17/2010 -

Curt Warner stopped when he came across his shiny new plaque during a tour of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Opposing linebackers rarely had such luck halting the tailback during his record-setting career at Penn State.

Those achievements in Happy Valley, including the school rushing mark of 3,398 yards during a four-year career capped by the 1982 national title season, earned him a spot on college football's most prestigious honor roll.

Warner was still trying to grasp the significance of the accolade Thursday night after the tour of the Hall in South Bend, Ind. He's part of a 24-member class enshrined Saturday.

``It sort of brings into focus what this means,'' Warner said in a phone interview. ``You don't really take it until you see your name.''

Others to be honored Saturday include Heisman Trophy winners Gino Torretta of Miami and Tim Brown of Notre Dame, and coaches Dick MacPherson and John Robinson.

Few honorees ended their college careers on such a high note as Warner. He ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the 1983 Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia that secured the first national championship for Penn State under coach Joe Paterno.

Now Warner is joining Paterno, a 2007 inductee, in the Hall of Fame.

``In all my years at Penn State, we have had a lot of exceptional backs, and he is one of the very best of that distinguished group,'' Paterno, entering his 45th year as head coach, said in a statement. That's pretty impressive considering JoePa has coached standouts like Heisman winner John Cappelletti, Lydell Mitchell and Blair Thomas.

Warner's 18 100-yard rushing games remain a Penn State record, as does his 341 all-purpose yards at Syracuse in 1981. He led the Nittany Lions in rushing from 1980-82.

Warner arrived in State College, a small town in the middle of rural Pennsylvania, from another small town, Pineville, W.Va. He was recruited by Tim Curley - now the Penn State athletic director - and didn't lack confidence from the start in 1979.

``One thing that football players or athletes in general do is you learn to evaluate the talent you are competing against or competing with,'' Warner said. ``Obviously we had some great athletes and football players, obviously you have to hone your skills ... but that first practice and the first game, I realized that I can compete.''

Warner went on to a distinguished career in the NFL after being selected third in the 1983 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks. He led the AFC in rushing his rookie year with 1,449 yards and 13 touchdowns on 335 carries, helping Seattle reach the conference finals.

Warner missed most of the 1984 season after suffering a knee injury in the opener. He played in Seattle until 1989 before going to the Los Angeles Rams to finish his eight-season NFL career in 1990 with 6,844 yards and 56 touchdowns rushing.

A car dealer for the last 16 years in Vancouver, Wash., Warner also helps coach a high school football team - running backs, of course.

Invariably, the subject of what it was like to play for Paterno always comes up. It's not often someone can list major college football's winningest coach as a reference on the resume.

After praising Paterno, Warner said with a chuckle, ``More importantly, you find out he's a pretty nice guy when you get out.''

Warner's Penn State rushing record will likely be eclipsed this year by senior Evan Royster, who is 480 yards shy of the mark.

``I think we're different. I was a little shiftier, more erratic,'' Warner said when asked to compare himself to Royster's running style. ``But the objective was, and the objective always is, to get up the field.''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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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines


Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow.  Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season.   Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints.  These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order.  As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS.  The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens.  The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.

MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:

Saints +6 @ Colts -6

Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)

Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)

Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5

Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1

Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3

Patriots -5 @ Jets +5

Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5

Steelers -4 @ Browns +4

Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6

Bears +6 @ Chargers -6

Lions +3 @ Raiders -3

Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5

Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4

Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3

Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3

 Super Bowl line (2008)

NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5

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