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01/27/2012 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Dolphins new head coach Joe Philbin chose his coaching staff on Friday, naming Mike Sherman as offensive coordinator and Kevin Coyle as defensive coordinator.
Sherman has spent the last four years as the head coach of Texas A&M, leading the team to a 25-25 record with one Big 12 title and three consecutive bowl appearances.
Prior to coaching the Aggies, Sherman was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 2000-2005, where he compiled a 57-39 record in the regular season and a 2-4 mark in the playoffs.
He also spent 2006-07 with the Houston Texans as an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.
Coyle has spent the last 11 seasons as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff, including the last nine as the defensive backs coach.
The Bengals' defense allowed 211.6 yards per game through the air last season and 104.7 yards on the ground, ranking them ninth in the league in total defense.
<< Sixers sign Elson
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers signed free-agent
veteran center Francisco Elson on Friday.
The signing provides the Sixers depth in the frontcourt as Spencer Hawes and
rookie Nikola Vucevic have battled inj
<< WR Nicks among Giants to miss practice
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem
Nicks missed practice for a second straight day Friday because of a sprained
shoulder.
Nicks, the team's second-leading receiver, said he has a sprained AC join
<< Real Madrid goes for fifth-straight win vs. Zaragoza
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid welcomes Real Zaragoza to the
Bernabeu in La Liga action Saturday as the first-place club looks to secure
its fifth-straight league win.
The leaders enter the weekend with a five-poin
<< Trojans' Dedmon out with torn ACL
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southern California head coach Kevin
O'Neill announced on Friday that forward Dewayne Dedmon was diagnosed with a
torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee as is likely out for the
remaind
Wade back after 6-game absence >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will make his return
to the lineup on Friday night against the New York Knicks.
Wade has missed the last six games with a right ankle/leg injury suffered in a
January 13 loss at Denve
Cremins taking medical leave of absence >>
Charleston, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - College of Charleston men's basketball coach
Bobby Cremins announced Friday that he is taking a medical leave of absence.
Per Cremins' request, associate head coach Mark Byington has been named
interi
Stanley alone in front at Farmers Insurance Open >>
La Jolla, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Stanley posted a four-under 68 Friday to
take sole possession of the lead after the second round of the Farmers
Insurance Open.
Stanley, a first-round co-leader, finished 36 holes at 14-under 130
Bobcats coach Silas ejected from game >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlotte Bobcats head coach Paul Silas
was ejected from Friday night's game against Philadelphia.
Silas received an automatic ejection after receiving two technical fouls with
4:48 remaining in the se
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.
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