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05/03/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbia has named Kyle Smith its new men's basketball coach.
Smith has spent 18 years as an assistant coach, including the past nine seasons at St. Mary's in California. He helped the Gaels to a record of 28-6 this past season with a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
"Columbia University is very proud and excited to name Kyle Smith as our head men's basketball coach" said Columbia athletic director Dr. M. Dianne Murphy. "Kyle is an outstanding leader and successful recruiter with a terrific basketball mind. We are thrilled to welcome him to Columbia."
Columbia needed a replacement for Joe Jones, who left after seven years to take an associate head coaching position at Boston College. Jones had a record of 86-108 with the Lions, who last year finished 11-17 with a 5-9 mark in the Ivy League.
<< Van Nistelrooy could be left out by Dutch
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy
looks set to miss this summer's World Cup in South Africa after being left out
the Netherlands' 26-man training squad for the tournament.
The 33-year-old former
<< Capps earns monthly closer honor
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps has
been selected as the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month for
April.
Capps finished the first month of the season with 10 saves in as ma
<< British Amateur champ Manassero turns pro
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italy's Matteo Manassero, who became the
youngest British Amateur champion ever last year, turned professional on
Monday in time to make his pro debut at the BMW Italian Open.
After being the you
<< Welsh resigns as Hofstra's hoops coach following arrest
Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hofstra University announced Monday that Tim
Welsh has resigned as head men's basketball coach, just three days after he
was arrested for a reported DWI.
The school said in a statement that Welsh resign
Johnson continues to make his case for England inclusion >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Johnson only has to look as far as
his Manchester City teammate, Shaun Wright-Phillips, to see how things could
have turned out.
Wright-Phillips enjoyed six strong seasons at Eastlands as a City
Hull headed down after draw with Wigan >>
Wigan, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Gohouri's goal in stoppage time
confirmed Hull City's relegation from the Premier League on Monday as the
Tigers had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Wigan.
Hull entered the day all but mathe
ISU G Boozer leaves team after arrest >>
Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iowa State guard Charles Boozer has decided to
leave the team to seek treatment for undisclosed reasons.
"I want to apologize for my actions that put Iowa State University in a
negative light," Boozer
No place in Germany team for Kuranyi >>
Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany boss Joachim Low has confirmed that
he will not be including Kevin Kuranyi in his squad for this summer's World
Cup in South Africa.
The Schalke striker had a high-profile spat with Low in 2008
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.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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