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03/03/2009 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics are reportedly close to signing infielder Nomar Garciaparra to a one-year contract.
A source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to MLB.com on Tuesday the two parties are in the final stages of the deal.
After appearing in just 143 games over two seasons with Boston and the Chicago Cubs in 2004-05, Garciaparra found the fountain of youth in Los Angeles, winning the NL Comeback Player of the Year with the Dodgers in 2006.
A plethora of injuries somewhat curtailed the six-time All Star's production his next two seasons in LA. In 2008, the 12th overall pick in the 1994 draft played just 55 games, mostly at third and first base, hitting .264 with eight homers and 28 runs batted in.
The 35-year-old veteran, who won a pair of AL batting titles (1999, 2000) with the Red Sox, is a career .314 hitter while recording 226 home runs, 920 RBI and 362 doubles over 1,369 games.
<< Tamp Bay Buccanneers
Signed running back Derrick Ward.
<< Suns' Nash returns after missing three games
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash returned
to the court on Tuesday vs. the Orlando Magic after missing three games with a
sprained left ankle.
The Suns went 2-1 without Nash during the stretch.
The two
<< Nuggets sign G Hart for remainder of season
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets signed guard Jason Hart for
the remainder of the season on Tuesday.
Hart was waived on February 27 by the Los Angeles Clippers after averaging
11.1 minutes in 28 games this season. He po
<< Bucks' Redd has successful surgery
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Bucks sharpshooter Michael Redd
had successful knee surgery Tuesday to repair a season-ending injury he
suffered in a January 24 game against Sacramento.
In the game, a 106-104 win for
Columbus forward Chimera out for remainder of regular season >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jason Chimera,
who was placed on injured reserve earlier this week, will undergo surgery on
Wednesday to repair his injured groin. Chimera is expected to be sidelined for
the rem
Broncos: Cutler will not be traded >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos released a statement
Tuesday saying quarterback Jay Cutler will remain with the team and will not
be dealt, contrary to published reports.
"The Denver Broncos are not trading Jay
Celtics' Scalabrine out a month >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine is
expected to be out until April because of the effects of concussions he
suffered in January.
Scalabrine sustained a concussion in a practice on January 2
A-Rod to see hip specialist >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez
will fly to Vail, Colo., on Wednesday to see hip specialist Dr. Marc Phillipon
at Steadman-Hawkins Clinic.
After experiencing right hip tightness at Spring T
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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