QB squeeze: Lemon to start for Dolphins
Football Betting Lines
12/27/2006 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins will reportedly start Cleo Lemon at quarterback for Sunday's season-finale against Indianapolis.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel cited a source as saying Lemon will get the nod ahead of Joey Harrington.
Dolphins head coach Nick Saban said after Monday's 13-10 loss to the New York Jets that both Lemon and Harrington would likely play against the Colts, but he did not specify who would start.
Harrington struggled against the Jets after also having trouble the previous week in a 21-0 loss at Buffalo. He had a 0.0 rating against the Bills and on Christmas night completed just 7-of-15 passes for 42 yards in wet conditions against New York.
After the Dolphins had played six straight quarters without a point, Saban decided to replace Harrington with Lemon to start the second half against the Jets.
Lemon nearly threw an interception on his first series, but settled down and hit on 11-of-16 throws for 104 yards with his first NFL touchdown pass -- a seven-yarder to tight end Randy McMichael that gave Miami a brief 7-3 lead.
Harrington, in his first season with Miami after four years toiling for the Detroit Lions, posted a 5-6 record as the Dolphins' starter after taking over for the injured and ineffective Daunte Culpepper.
The third overall pick of the 2002 draft has completed 57.5 percent of his passes for 2,236 yards with 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for the season.
Lemon, in the last two games, has connected on 20-of-30 passes for 202 yards one touchdown and no interceptions.
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spanish La Liga club Real Betis announced Wednesday that it will appoint Luis Fernandez as head coach. According to the club's website, the 47-year-old former France international will be announced to
<< Jackson, Kampmann and Gould earn NFC's weekly awards
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson,
Green Bay Packers defensive end Aaron Kampmann and Chicago kicker Robbie Gould
have been selected as the NFC's top players for Week 16 of the season.
Jackson ear
<< New executives named at NTRA
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Thoroughbred Racing Association
(NTRA) has announced that former Churchill Downs president Alex Waldrop has
been appointed president and CEO of the organization. In addition, Robert
Ellisto
<< Terry to see specialist in France
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea and England national team captain
John Terry will reportedly see a specialist in France and to have exploratory
surgery on a disc problem in his lower back.
The center defender has missed the de
<< Young, Merriman and Brown earn AFC weekly honors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, San
Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and Houston kicker Kris Brown have
been honored as the AFC's top players for Week 16 of the NFL season.
Young kept hi
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with infielder Alex Cintron on a one-year contract worth $1.9 million, thus avoiding arbitration. Cintron, 28, batted .285 with five home runs and 41 RBI
Celtic's Balde out with broken leg >>
Glascow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic
suffered a blow after Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Dundee United.
Starting defender Bobo Balde suffered a broken leg and will be out for several
months.
"Celtic Fo
Sacramento can get back on track at home >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings are just 11-14 and need to start
winning some games. They have made the playoffs eight straight years and that
streak could be in jeopardy if the Kings don't come around.
The Kings are in fourt
Redskins place Springs on IR >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins have placed cornerback
Shawn Springs on injured reserve because of a fractured shoulder blade.
Springs, who suffered through an injury-filled 2006, was hurt in the first
quarter of
Wolves' numbers keep coming up >>
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Numerologists would have a field day with
the 2006-07 Chicago Wolves, who continue to put up offensive numbers rarely
seen during the American Hockey Leagues 71-year history.
Chicago wrote another headline
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."
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.
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.