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03/21/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami-Ohio, Denver, Wisconsin and Boston College have been selected as the top seeds for the 2010 NCAA hockey tournament.
Miami-Ohio will be the top seed in the Midwest Region and will open play on Saturday, March 27 against Alabama-Huntsville in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Bemidji State and Michigan will play in the other Midwest game on Saturday.
Denver is the top seed in the East and will play its opener on Friday, March 26 against RIT in Albany, New York. Cornell and New Hampshire will square off in the other East game on Friday.
The top seed in the West Region is Wisconsin and the Badgers will play Vermont on Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Cloud State and Northern Michigan meet in the other West contest.
Boston College will be the top seed in the Northeast Region and will tangle with Alaska-Fairbanks in the first game on Saturday in Worcester, Massachusetts. North Dakota and Yale will face each other in the second game.
The first-round winners will advance to regional championship games the following day, and those winners will play in the Frozen Four, scheduled for April 8 at Ford Field in Detroit. The championship game is slated for April 10 in Detroit.
<< Ducks battle Avs in Anaheim
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to continue heading in the right
direction when they host the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Honda Center.
The Ducks have won three straight, giving the club its longest winning streak
since a sea
<< Thrashers try for home-and-home sweep in Philly
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers will try to punctuate their newfound
success against the Flyers by sweeping the season series in tonight's finale
of a home-and-home set at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center.
The Thrashers were swept in
<< Coyotes visit Dallas with shot at ninth straight win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will try to match another franchise
record tonight and also take a shot at first place in the Pacific Division
when they visit the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
The Coyotes have already set
<< Streaking Preds make a stop in St. Louis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Nashville Predators will aim for a sixth
straight victory when they visit the rival St. Louis Blues for tonight's
Central Division battle at Scottrade Center.
The recent hot streak has helped solidify Nashville
Davies tops Oosthuizen in Morocco >>
Rabat, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rhys Davies fired a seven-under 66 Sunday to
come from behind and win the Hassan II Golf Trophy.
Davies, who led after the second round, completed his first European Tour
victory at 25-under-par 266.
The
Rooney, Park lead United over Liverpool >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Rooney scored his 26th EPL goal,
Ji-Sung Park added the match-winner, and Manchester United edged Liverpool 2-1
at Old Trafford on Sunday to move back into first place.
United regained the lead
Johnson, Syracuse have little trouble downing Gonzaga >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wes Johnson poured in a career-high 31 points
and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading Syracuse to an 87-65 victory over Gonzaga in
the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Andy Rautins scored 24 for Syracuse (30-4
Bruins edge Rangers in key battle for East playoff spot >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuuka Rask stopped 23 shots as the Boston Bruins
got a big win with a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.
Both teams are struggling for their playoff lives, but it was the Bruins that
came away with the tw
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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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.
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