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Grizzlies pick up options for Gay, Lowry, two othersBasketball Betting Lines10/31/2008 - Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies exercised the fourth-year team options on forward Rudy Gay and guard Kyle Lowry, in addition to picking up the third-year options on guards Mike Conley and Javaris Crittenton. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but all four players are signed through the 2009-2010 season. Gay, the eighth overall pick in the 2006 draft, led all NBA sophomores in scoring last season (20.1 points per game). He holds career averages of 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 160 games. The 24th overall pick in the '06 draft, Lowry has career averages of 9.1 points, 3.1 boards, 3.6 assists and 1.15 steals in 93 games. Conley owns career averages of 9.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 54 games. He was the fourth pick in the '07 draft. Crittenton, who was acquired by Memphis from the Lakers on February 1, 2008, averaged 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 50 games during his first professional season.
<< North Carolina unanimous preseason No. 1
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina will again start the college basketball season as the number one team in the country, as the Associated Press released its preseason poll on Friday. The Tar Heels were unani
<< Edwards grabs pole for Nationwide race at Texas
<< Matthews steps down as Argos coach
<< Pistons officially ink Maxiell to extension
<< Palmer leads suspended Ginn sur Mer Classic
Petrova reaches Bell Challenge semis >>
Quebec City, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova was among Friday's quarterfinal winners at the $175,000 Bell Challenge. The world No. 11 Petrova handled Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4 at PEPS at Laval Universit
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook BettingNFL 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. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs. |
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