Bobcats win sixth straight, snap Orlando's eight-game win streak
Basketball Betting Lines
03/14/2010 - Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Jackson recorded 28 points, six rebounds and as many assists, as Charlotte matched a franchise-best winning streak with its sixth straight win, 96-89, over Orlando.
Raymond Felton checked in with 16 points and seven assists for the Bobcats, who also produced six-game tear from January 9-20. Stephen Graham kicked in a dozen points, and Theo Ratliff added 10 and nine boards.
Charlotte snapped a seven-game skid against the Magic and with a rare road victory, improving to 10-23 away from home and doing so without Gerald Wallace, who sat with a sprained left ankle.
Dwight Howard had 27 points and 16 rebounds for Orlando, which had an eight- game win streak broken. Vince Carter scored 23, and Mickael Pietrus added 20 on 5-of-7 three-point shooting.
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - English superstar soccer player David Beckham will reportedly miss the World Cup in June after suffering an apparent tear to his left Achilles while playing for AC Milan. The injury occurred Sunday night in a
<< Raiders acquire LB Wimbley from Cleveland
Alameda, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders announced Sunday that they
have acquired linebacker Kamerion Wimbley from the busy Cleveland Browns for
an undisclosed draft choice.
While the draft choice remains undisclosed officially,
<< Coyotes nip Thrashers in SO
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Aucoin scored the game-winning goal in
the fourth round of the shootout, as the Phoenix Coyotes edged the Atlanta
Thrashers, 3-2, at Philips Arena.
Rich Peverley got Atlanta on the board with a
<< North Carolina, UConn lend big names NIT field
NEW YORK (AP) -North Carolina and Connecticut are lending some serious star power to the NIT.The Tar Heels were a No. 4 seed in the bracket released Sunday, the second time in the past three years that the defending national champion missed the NCAA
<< Messi's hat trick leads Barca over Valencia
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi had second-half hat trick and
Barcelona beat Valencia 3-0 on Sunday in a clash of top-three clubs in Spain's
La Liga at the Camp Nou.
Messi scored in the 56th, 81st and 83rd minutes to incre
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade poured in 38 points on 14-of-25 shooting, pacing Miami to a 104-91 wire-to-wire victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Udonis Haslem added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Carlos Arroyo chipped in
Wild stop surging Blues >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikko Koivu netted a goal and two assists, and
the Minnesota Wild notched a 4-2 win over the streaking St. Louis Blues at
Xcel Energy Center.
Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen both had a goal and an
North Carolina among NIT field >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Illinois, Arizona State, Virginia Tech and
Mississippi State were anointed as the top seeds for the 32-team 2010 National
Invitation Tournament.
The field was revealed Sunday night, approximately three ho
Westbrook, Durant lead Thunder over Jazz >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook poured in 30 points and
dished out 11 assists, as the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the Utah Jazz,
119-111.
Kevin Durant added 35 points for the Thunder, who have won five in a row
No. 2 Stanford wins Pac-10 title by downing UCLA >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tournament MVP Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 16
points and 10 rebounds as No. 2 Stanford downed 23rd-ranked UCLA, 70-46, in
the championship game of the Pac-10 conference.
Jayne Appel added 15 points and
SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
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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