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02/02/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Devils opened up their second half by picking up a big two points over one of the top teams in the conference. The Canadiens, meanwhile, failed to build off their win against the top team in the NHL right before the All-Star break.
New Jersey looks to wrap a lengthy homestand this evening and deny Montreal a fifth straight victory in the Garden State.
The Devils began a six-game residency with a win over Winnipeg back on Jan. 17, but dropped the next tests of the stay, including a shootout loss to Buffalo on Jan. 24. After the extended break, New Jersey hosted the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers on Tuesday and battled back all night for a 4-3 shootout win.
The Devils erased three one-goal deficits in the game and then picked up the extra point when Ilya Kovalchuk scored the lone goal of the shootout in the first round. Martin Brodeur, who made 23 saves through overtime, came up with stops on Derek Stepan, Brad Richards and All-Star Game MVP Marian Gaborik.
"It was an emotional win. We've had our share of issues against the Rangers so to come back the way we (did was great)," said Brodeur after New Jersey moved to 9-2 in shootouts this year.
David Clarkson tied the game on a goal with 48 ticks left in regulation, while Kovalchuk and Zach Parise also scored in the game.
New Jersey sits eighth overall in the Eastern Conference, 12 points behind the Rangers.
"It's a big one for sure," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said of the win over New York. "We're at a time when obviously they're all big, but we really needed a win against obviously a really good team, the best in our conference right now. During a critical homestand here, it's a big two points."
DeBoer would love to see his team end the homestand with two straight wins, but he must find a way to solve the Canadiens. Though the Devils have won 10 of the past 14 encounters overall, the Habs have come out on top in each of their last four visits to New Jersey by a 13-4 margin. That includes a 2-1 win on Dec. 10 in which Montreal netminder Carey Price denied Parise on a penalty shot in the game's final minute.
Price was in solid form again on Tuesday, but didn't get enough offensive support in a 3-1 loss against the visiting Sabres. Price ended with 37 saves on 39 shots faced as Montreal failed to secure a third straight win and instead lost for the 13th time in 19 contests.
"That's a shame because he played great," said defenseman Hal Gill of Price. "He tried to steal one for us and we didn't let it happen."
Max Pacioretty scored at the 4:09 mark of the first period, but the next three goals came off the sticks of Buffalo players.
"I think at the end of the first, we lost a little momentum. They came hard and we didn't do the things that we need to do," said Gill. "We turned it over in the neutral zone, we gave them too many chances outside, we didn't attack them enough."
Montreal had knocked off NHL-leading Detroit by a 7-2 margin in its last game before the break and will seek to avoid its eight loss in its last 10 road games.
<< Jazz and Warriors meet in the Bay Area
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golden State hopes to wrap up a six-game homestand in
winning fashion tonight when it plays host to a Utah Jazz team aiming to
bounce back from a tough loss.
After losing the first two games of their current residency, the
<< Furman to visit Clemson, host five games in 2012
Greenville, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A visit to Clemson and a Homecoming game
against Georgia Southern highlight the 2012 Furman football schedule announced
on Thursday.
Furman will play at Clemson on Sept. 15. The Paladins are Clemson's oldest
<< Bruins try to solve visiting Hurricanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Try as they may, the Boston Bruins haven't been able to
solve the Carolina Hurricanes this season. They'll get one more chance tonight
as the two teams clash in Boston.
The Bruins and Hurricanes sit at opposite ends of the
<< Improved Clippers aim for another win over Nuggets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers seem to grow more imposing by the
day and will aim get the best of Denver for the second time in less than a
week when the two teams square off at Staples Center.
The Pacific Division-leading Clips
St. Louis, Bolts try to stay hot vs. Jets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Martin St. Louis heating up to serve as a scoring
compliment to Steven Stamkos, the Lightning seem poised to make a run at a
playoff spot.
Tampa Bay continues that quest tonight and looks to reestablish its dominance
Western Conference powerhouses collide in Vancouver >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two seeds in the Western Conference will collide
tonight in British Columbia, as the Vancouver Canucks welcome the Detroit Red
Wings for a battle at Rogers Arena.
The Red Wings are tied with the New York Rangers fo
Baffert holds the aces in Robert B. Lewis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not only does Bob Baffert have the favorite in this
Saturday's Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita, but the silver-haired trainer also
has what could be the future Kentucky Derby champion entered in the Grade II
event.
Spurs entertain Hornets in Alamo City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will resume a three-game homestand
tonight versus the New Orleans Hornets at the AT&T Center.
The Spurs have been nearly unstoppable at home and have opened 11-1 in the
Alamo City for the sixth ti
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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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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