Youzhny whips Lacko for Zagreb title
Tennis Betting Lines
02/05/2012 -
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Mikhail Youzhny cruised past
Slovakian Lukas Lacko in straight sets in Sunday's final at the Zagreb Indoors
tennis event.
The third-seeded world No. 39 Youzhny doused the unseeded Lacko 6-2, 6-3 in 69
minutes on the indoor hardcourt at Dom Sportova. Youzhny broke Lacko on three
occasions and held his serve throughout on Day 7, as the 29-year-old Russian
is now 4-0 lifetime against the 24-year-old Slovak.
Youzhny improved to 8-10 in his career finals. He hadn't won a championship of
any kind since 2010.
The 97th-ranked Lacko was appearing in his first-ever ATP-level final.
Youzhny collected $90,000 for his first championship in 16 months.
<< Aceves, Red Sox avoid arbitration
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox and pitcher Alfredo Aceves
have agreed to terms on a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration with the 29-
year-old relief pitcher.
The deal is worth a reported $1.2 million with an add
<< Berdych beats Monfils for title in France
Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas
Berdych outlasted French crowd favorite Gael Monfils in Sunday's title match
at the Open Sud de France tennis tournament.
The top-seeded world No. 7 Berdych
<< Wolverines and Spartans add another chapter to bitter rivalry
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Michigan Wolverines will
try to be the first team to knock off the ninth-ranked Michigan State Spartans
at the Breslin Center when the two rivals square off in a Big Ten Conference
battle.
<< Hurricanes blow into Durham seeking upset of Blue Devils
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Blue Devils will look to keep
up the race for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference as they host the
Miami-Florida Hurricanes for a bout at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This will be the 18th
<< Celtics start local events early vs. Memphis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics own an amazing 17 championships, the
most by an NBA franchise.
Their neighbors across the way, the NFL's New England Patriots, can capture
their fourth Super Bowl title Sunday night against th
Penny signs with Japanese club >>
Fukuoka, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran pitcher Brad Penny has signed a
contract to play with the SoftBank Hawks of Japan's Pacific League, the team
announced on its website.
Penny spent last season with the Detroit Tigers, pitchi
United rallies to claim draw at Chelsea >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United fell two points back of
Manchester City on Sunday, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side did well to claim a
point at Stamford Bridge as the club rallied from three goals down to snatch a
3-3 dra
Borini's brace powers Roma past Inter >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A goal in each half from Fabio Borini helped
Roma to a comfortable 4-0 win over Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on
Sunday.
Juan put Roma in front after 13 minutes when he headed home Francesco Tott
Cologne snaps skid at Kaiserslautern >>
Kaiserslautern, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cologne snapped a three-game losing
streak Sunday as Odise Roshi scored in the 72nd minute of a 1-0 Bundesliga win
over 10-man Kaiserslautern at Fritz-Walter-Stadion.
Cologne had lost its last three
Serbs overcome Belgians to reach Fed Cup SFs >>
Charleroi, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serbia got a tie-clinching doubles win
from Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic on Sunday in order to reach the
2012 Fed Cup semifinals. The Serbs won their best-of-five quarterfinal against
host Be
Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
Will he or won't he? Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.
Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.
"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."
Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.
Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.
But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.
Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback. It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.
Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Baltimore Ravens 15-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Carolina Panthers 18-1
Chicago Bears 10-1
Cincinnati Bengals 15-1
Cleveland Browns 100-1
Dallas Cowboys 15-1
Denver Broncos 15-1
Detroit Lions 100-1
Green Bay Packers 50-1
Houston Texans 100-1
Indianapolis Colts 6-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1
Kansas City Chiefs 30-1
Miami Dolphins 40-1
Minnesota Vikings 75-1
New England Patriots 10-1
New Orleans Saints 18-1
New York Giants 20-1
New York Jets 30-1
Oakland Raiders 100-1
Philadelphia Eagles 18-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1
Saint Louis Rams 60-1
San Diego Chargers 6-1
San Francisco 49ers 75-1
Seattle Seahawks 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1
Tennessee Titans 40-1
Washington Redskins 50-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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