Big East adds Navy for football
NCAA Football Betting Lines
01/24/2012 -
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big East has announced that Navy will
join the conference for football only, effective for the 2015 season.
Navy's addition will give the Big East 11 football schools. In December, the
league brought in Central Florida, Houston and SMU as full members to go along
with Boise State and San Diego State as football members to help offset the
eventual losses of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
"America's first national football conference is adding a program with true
national appeal," Big East commissioner John Marinatto said in a statement on
Tuesday. "Navy's decision to make the Big East its first football conference
home after over 100 years of independence demonstrates the value of our new
expansion model and the long-term viability of our football product. The Big
East is truly proud to be associated with one of the most prestigious academic
institutions in the country and one of the most storied programs in college
football."
Navy has played as a football independent since the program began in 1879. The
academy, located in Annapolis, Maryland, has produced Heisman Trophy winners
in Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach, as well as one national championship team.
"After careful consideration, we believe this affiliation to be in the best
interests of the Naval Academy, our athletic programs and the Brigade of
Midshipmen," said Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Michael Miller,
USN. "While our independent status has served Navy football well to date, Big
East conference affiliation will help ensure our future scholar-athletes and
athletic programs remain competitive at the highest levels for the foreseeable
future."
The Big East is still planning to add one more football school to reach 12,
creating two divisions to stage an annual conference championship game.
Syracuse and Pittsburgh decided to leave the Big East for the ACC in
September, while West Virginia announced its departure for the Big 12 in
October. TCU, which had agreed to leave the Mountain West for the Big East,
decided instead to join the Big 12.
In 2015, the Big East football playing members will consist of Boise State,
Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Navy, Rutgers,
San Diego State, South Florida and SMU.
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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.
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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.
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