Safety among prevalent issues for Goodell

Football Betting Lines

02/03/2012 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Armed with labor peace for the next 10 years, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell discussed a number of topics Friday in his annual state of the league address.

Last year's session with the assembled media centered around the impending collective bargaining talks with the union. After a work stoppage was averted in the summer and in the wake of another successful 2011 campaign, player safety was at the forefront on Friday, while Goodell also spoke about recent rumors of expansion and more prime time games for the NFL Network.

"We are focused now on how to improve every area of the game, from the game on the field to the fan experience and everything in between," Goodell said as part of an opening statement before fielding questions for about an hour.

The prevention and treatment of concussions, as well as other ways to make the game less dangerous is paramount for Goodell and the league. There have been numerous concussion lawsuits filed by former players in recent weeks.

"We will always make sure player safety is a main focus," Goodell said. "We will continue to address medical issues. We will try to help our retired players, current players and future players by making the game safer."

Goodell said the league is using sideline replays to help doctors in their medical evaluations during the playoffs and indicated that it is a practice that will likely continue during the 2012 regular season.

"We're not going to relent on safety," Goodell added later, saying "medical decisions will override competitive decisions."

The commissioner said the league was at the forefront of concussion-related injuries and is always gathering more information.

"We're all learning [about brain injuries]," he noted. "What I'm proud of is the NFL's leading the way. This is a serious injury and needs to be taken seriously, not just in football, but in all sports."

Speculation about potential expansion is just that, Goodell noted, despite his remarks on Thursday that indicated the league would grow by two teams if it ever did consider the issue.

"We have not talked about expansion in the league at all," Goodell said. "It is not on our agenda. I do not see that in the foreseeable future. We want our teams to remain where they are."

He did, however, speak about the league's desire to return to Los Angeles, although whether that was through expansion or an existing team relocating was not clear.

"We've got to find a way to make it work for both parties," he said, adding that labor peace and the new television deals have made the concept more realistic. "We would like to be back in Los Angeles if we can do it correctly. I think that the [labor and TV] foundation can be helpful for coming back to LA. We now have a runway for 10 years. We know what our labor situation is and we know what our TV situation is."

As for television, Goodell announced that the league is expanding its schedule of games on the NFL Network from eight to 13 for next season. It will include more Thursday night games earlier in the season.

"We think that's great for fans and for teams to get that prime time exposure," he said.

Another question was raised about the potential of expanding the Monday night schedule to doubleheaders, but Goodell said that has not been considered.

As for expanding the season to 18 games, one of the roadblocks in the latest CBA talks last summer, Goodell continued to say it would have to be discussed again with the union.

Goodell noted that Indianapolis has been a wonderful host for this week's festivities and was asked about future Super Bowl sites, including more cold weather cities. The New York City area will host a Super Bowl in two years and the commissioner said the league would wait to add any potential non-domed cold weather sites until after the first one takes place.

"I'm a big believer the game is played in all elements," Goodell said. "It's a great part of our history. There's another side that believes when you get to the Super Bowl, the elements shouldn't play a part."

Other topics included the league's desire for more stadium upgrades or new construction, similar to Thursday's announcement of a new building for the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara. Goodell hoped the league could help San Diego with its desire for a new building.

Testing for human growth hormone, which the union agreed to in the new CBA, could begin this offseason. It was expected to start during the 2011 season, but the union balked at the testing process.

Goodell said the two sides have had recent positive discussions regarding the subject and those would continue in the coming weeks.

There wasn't much talk about the sometimes acrimonious labor issues from the summer, but it was brought to the commissioner's attention that the teams of two of the men who played such a big role in the outcome -- Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Giants co-owner John Mara -- were in the Super Bowl.

"Those two individuals deserve a lot of respect and appreciation," he stated.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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