Champions Tour eyes more Asia events
Golf Betting Lines
12/21/2011 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Champions Tour is eying two new events in Japan and China while also finalizing the renewal of a tournament played in South Korea the last two years.
The tour announced its unfinished 2012 schedule on Wednesday, which includes seven new tournament venues and several previously announced date changes for existing events.
The season begins January 20 with the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii and ends at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship from November 1-4.
There are three open dates in September that the tour hopes to fill with events in Asia. Announcements are expected after January 1, the tour said in a news release.
Two of the tour's five major championships will be played on courses in Michigan: The Senior PGA Championship at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores from May 24-27, and the U.S. Senior Open at Indianwood Golf & Country Club from July 12-15.
The Regions Tradition returns to Alabama's Shoal Creek for the second year and will be staged from June 7-10, while the Constellation Senior Players Championship will be held at Pennsylvania's Fox Chapel Golf Club from June 28- July 1 and the Senior British Open will be played at Turnberry in Scotland from July 26-29.
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals signed pitcher Jose Mijares to a one-year contract Wednesday. The 27-year-old left-hander appeared in 58 games out of the bullpen for Minnesota last season, recording an 0
<< Mavericks sign Williams
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Mavericks signed free-agent forward
Sean Williams to a contract on Wednesday.
Williams, the 17th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, averaged 4.3 points and
3.6 rebounds in three seasons with the Ne
<< Austin Peay signs transfer from Navy
Clarksville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Austin Peay's football program bolstered
its team speed by adding Naval Academy transfer Jeremiah "J.J." Rutledge
during the transfer signing period which began Wednesday.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound freshman
<< Johnson, Abraham, Lee named NFC weekly winners
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson,
Atlanta Falcons defensive end John Abraham and San Francisco 49ers punter Andy
Lee have been selected as the NFC's top players for Week 15 of the NFL season.
John
<< Dolphins' Bush among AFC players of the week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dolphins running back Reggie Bush, Chargers
linebacker Antwan Barnes and Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop have been named AFC
players of the week for Week 15 of the NFL season.
Bush took home the offensive a
Saint Etienne, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSG climbed back into first place in Ligue 1 with a 1-0 defeat of St Etienne on Wednesday after Montpellier fell to Evian earlier in the day. Montpellier suffered a humiliating 4-2 loss to Evian t
United rolls over Fulham >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United secured a resounding 5-0
win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Wednesday, keeping the pressure on
leaders Manchester City.
United seized control of the match from the start as Dann
Rams WR Pettis suspended 4 games >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams wide receiver Austin Pettis
has been suspended four games for violating NFL's performance-enhancing
substances policy, according to an NFL spokesperson.
Pettis, a 23-year-old rookie,
Isles recall F Haley and G Nilsson >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders recalled forward
Michael Haley and goaltender Anders Nilsson from Bridgeport of the American
Hockey League on Wednesday.
The duo was recalled following injuries to forwar
Juventus held by Udinese but preserves unbeaten record >>
Udinese, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus preserved its unbeaten start to the
Serie A season with a 0-0 draw with Udinese on Wednesday.
The Turin club is tied at the top of Italy's top flight with AC Milan on 34
points apiece, but AC Mil
SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
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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