Valencia's Villa rules out English clubs
Soccer Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia striker David Villa has ruled out leaving Spain, having recently seen a big-money move to Real Madrid fall through.
The 27-year-old Spain international was close to agreeing a switch to the Bernabeu before his current club decided that he was not for sale.
However, reports in Spain suggest that Barcelona could take advantage to secure Villa's signature, with the diminutive frontman having ruled out a move to the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.
He told Spanish television: "A week ago my future was clear and now it's not.
"I've been through some tough moments, which are partly my own fault, but I decided to put it all aside and I've not thought about it in the last five days.
"When I said I had taken a decision it was true, and this decision is that next season I will play in Spain because it is the league that is best for me.
"I will not go abroad."
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portsmouth has denied reports suggesting it had lined up Vahid Halilhodzic as its new manager. The Bosnian coach of the Ivory Coast national team was reported to be in line to take the reins at Frat
<< Falkirk's May promises to entertain
Falkirk, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Falkirk boss Eddie May has pledged to
continue playing the attractive football which predecessor John Hughes brought
to the club.
May, who had been in charge of the club's academy, was confirmed
<< Real swoops for Valencia's Albiol
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid has continued its squad rebuilding
by signing defender Raul Albiol from Valencia.
The 23-year-old Spain international has joined the big-spending Bernabeu club
for a fee believed to be in the re
<< Roma's Perrotta ponders German move
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roma and Italy midfielder Simone Perrotta is a
target for both Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, according to the player's agent.
The 31-year-old is in no hurry to leave the Italian capital, but would consider
a m
<< Muniz returns to coach Malaga
Malaga, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz has returned to Malaga
to take up the coaching vacancy at La Rosaleda.
Lopez Muniz spent two years at the helm of Malaga and led them to promotion to
the top-flight before leaving to
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham City has wrapped up the signing of Cardiff City central defender Roger Johnson in a $8 million deal. The 26-year-old former Wycombe Wanderers man has penned a three-year contract at S
Braves P Bennett lands on DL >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves placed pitcher Jeff Bennett
on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a broken left hand and recalled
pitcher Boone Logan from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Bennett sustained the injury after
White Sox rally, beat Dodgers in 13 innings >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Podsednik drove in the game-winning run
with a single in the 13th inning as the Chicago White Sox took a 6-5 win over
the Los Angeles Dodgers in the conclusion of a three-game set.
In the 13th, Paul
Magic acquire Carter from Nets >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic have acquired All-Star guard
Vince Carter from the New Jersey Nets in a five-player trade.
The Magic also received forward Ryan Anderson, and sent to the Nets guards
Courtney Lee and Rafe
Former Amateur champ Kim moves on at PubLinx >>
Devens, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kimberly Kim, the 2006 U.S. Women's Amateur
Champion, knocked off Sara-Maude Juneau, 2 & 1, Thursday to win her third-
round match at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
Kim advanced
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.