Alabama A&M to retire Mathis' jersey
NCAA Football Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - Normal, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama A&M will retire the college jersey of Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis in a ceremony on March 3.
Mathis' No. 55 will be retired at halftime of Alabama A&M's annual spring game.
Mathis, who turns 31 on Sunday, was a four-year starter at the Southwestern Athletic Conference school. As a senior in 2002, he set a Division I-AA (now FCS) single-season record with 20 sacks.
In nine seasons with the Colts, he is a four-time Pro Bowl selection and has collected at least 9.5 sacks seven times. He was a member of the Colts' Super Bowl XLI championship squad.
Marana, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top overall seed and defending champion Luke Donald was eliminated Wednesday in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Donald drew no ordinary No. 64 seed. Ernie Els, who only made
<< Royals C Pina leaves workout with knee injury
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Royals catcher Manny Pina injured
his right knee during Wednesday's workout.
Pina was catching when he caught his spikes and "tweaked" the knee, according
to manager Ned Yost. The extent of the i
<< Durant added to 3-point contest
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant has
been added to the 3-point contest for this weekend's All-Star Game festivities
in Orlando.
Durant will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who wi
<< Celtics' Rondo added to All-Star roster
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo has been
added to the 2012 East All-Star team for this weekend's game in Orlando.
Rondo will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who will miss
All-Star w
<< UConn coach Calhoun to have surgery
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun
will miss at least two more games after having surgery to help alleviate the
spinal stenosis that forced him to take a medical leave of absence.
Calhoun will u
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NFL quarterback Timm Rosenbach has been named offensive coordinator at the University of Montana, Grizzlies head coach Robin Pflugrad announced Wednesday. Rosenbach, 45, also will serve as Montana's qua
Angels sign Isringhausen to minor league deal >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have agreed to
terms on a minor league contract with veteran right-handed reliever Jason
Isringhausen.
The 39-year-old Isringhausen appeared in 53 games last season for the
Notre Dame downs WVU, sets school record >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerian Grant scored 20 points and the 20th-
ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish set a school record for most consecutive Big
East wins with a 71-44 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Scott Martin a
No. 23 Indiana rolls over NC Central >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller scored 17 points and Victor
Oladipo netted 16 as No. 23 Indiana rolled over NC Central, 75-56, at Assembly
Hall.
Will Sheehey added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Derek Elsto
No. 2 Syracuse tops USF for 8th straight win >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scoop Jardine scored 15 points, C.J. Fair had
13 and No. 2 Syracuse had to overcome a slow start, then hold on to beat South
Florida, 56-48, on Wednesday night.
Kris Joseph added 12 points and nine rebounds fo
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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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