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Crawford, Curry propel Knicks over MagicBasketball Betting Lines02/21/2007 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry each scored 20 points to lead the New York Knicks over the Orlando Magic, 100-94, at Madison Square Garden. Quentin Richardson added 15 points and David Lee had 14 points and 16 boards for the Knicks, who returned from a 1-2 three-game road trip to win for the fourth straight time at MSG. Stephon Marbury also had 14 points for New York, which used a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter to distance itself from the Magic. Dwight Howard was a force, recording 27 points and 14 boards, for the Magic, who made it interesting in the final minutes only to lose for the 13th time in 18 outings. Jameer Nelson added 16 points for Orlando, which has lost five straight on the road. Ahead 79-78 to start the fourth quarter, the Knicks began the stanza with a 12-3 run to open up a 10-point advantage. Channing Frye scored six of his eight points during the surge, which was capped by a Marbury three-pointer for a 91-81 advantage with 5 1/2 minutes left. Orlando responded by drawing within 94-91 after Nelson hit a three-pointer with under 1 1/2 minutes to play, but New York held off the Magic by scoring six of the final nine points of the contest. Hedo Turkoglu had 14 points for the Magic, who trailed for much of the contest. Orlando went into the second down 23-22 and trailed 49-45 going into halftime. Game Notes Howard has 37 double-doubles this season...Orlando's Bo Outlaw played in his 900th career game...Lee has 29 double-doubles this season...New York has won the two meetings against Orlando so far this season...NY hit 30-of-37 free throws compared to 17-of-25 for the Magic.
<< No. 18 Bowling Green rolls over Kent State
Kent, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amber Flynn poured in 21 points and led six players in double figures, as 18th-ranked Bowling Green defeated Kent State, 89-66, at the M.A.C. Center. Kate Achter scored 14 points, Carin Horne chipped
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Nebraska falls to Iowa State >>
Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Megan Ronhovde scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds, as Iowa State defeated 25th-ranked Nebraska, 64-53, at Hilton Coliseum. Lyndsey Medders poured in 13 points and had nine boards for the Cyclones (
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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.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." 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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