Clijsters outlasts Venus, will face Zvonareva in Open final
Tennis Betting Lines
09/10/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Kim Clijsters rallied from a set down against Venus Williams to advance to the final of the U.S. Open with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory.
In Friday's opener at Ashe Stadium, Russian Vera Zvonareva reached her second straight Grand Slam final by upending top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, last year's runner-up, in quick fashion, 6-4, 6-3.
The third-seeded Williams, who was playing in her eighth U.S. Open semifinal, won the only break chance in the opening set to take the early lead. Clijsters came back and solved Williams' serve to go up 4-2 in the second, but failed to serve out the set four games later with several unforced errors.
The dual two-time champions here, who had split 12 previous meetings, eventually went to the tiebreaker, where Williams double faulted on her first two serves en route to quickly losing her first set of the tournament.
A deft drop shot at the net gave Clijsters a break chance with the score 1-1 in the final set, and Williams hit a baseline shot into the net on the next point to give the Belgian star the lead.
Clijsters, seeded second, was well long on an easy potential winner to make it 4-4 later on, but broke back immediately, winning the last point with a lob over an exhausted Williams.
On match point, Clijsters, who also won this title in 2005, had Williams on the run and put in a backhand winner to seal a fifth straight win over the American.
Williams had won this Grand Slam in 2000 and 2001 and was runner-up in 1997 and 2002.
The seventh-seeded Zvonareva zipped past a sluggish Wozniacki in just 1 hour, 25 minutes, simply out-classing the top-seeded player on Day 12 as the determined Russian got the service breaks she needed and closed things out on her first match point when her Danish counterpart netted one final weak forehand.
Wozniacki sprayed 31 unforced errors and had her serve broken four times, while a determined Zvonareva was broken only once en route to victory.
The emotional Zvonareva is now 3-2 lifetime against Wozniacki, including a 2-1 mark this year.
Wozniacki had not dropped a set at this '10 Open before Friday and lost a 13- match overall winning streak, which included hardcourt titles in Montreal and New Haven.
"She played a really good game, definitely," said a stunned Wozniacki. "You know, she was not missing a lot. She was going for her shots. Most things were going in. You know, I had chances, and I don't know, I made some mistakes today that I usually don't do. Yeah, it was a tough day for me in the office, and unfortunately it was today. That's the way tennis is sometimes."
Zvonareva will appear in her second career major final and 25th overall championship match (10-14) on the WTA Tour. She titled in Pattaya City earlier this season and has been a three-time runner-up in 2010, including a loss to Wozniacki in a title tilt in Montreal last month.
The 26-year-old Zvonareva also played in July's Wimbledon finale, losing to world No. 1 superstar Serena Williams. She is 2-5 lifetime against Clijsters, though she has won the last two meetings, including a quarterfinal win at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Saturday's big winner at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will collect $1.7 million.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have signed former NFL quarterback Pat White to a minor league contract. White starred at quarterback for West Virginia, and was a second-round pick of Miami's in the 2009 NFL Dra
<< Wi joins Kuchar in lead at BMW Championship
Lemont, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Wi shot a two-under 69 on Friday to join
Matt Kuchar in the lead after two rounds of the BMW Championship.
Still battling an illness that left him almost without a voice the day before,
Kuchar rebounded
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Martin Hanzal to a two-year contract on Friday. Per club policy, financial
terms of the deal were not released.
Last season with Phoenix he appeared in 81
<< Colts' O-line could be without starters Saturday, Johnson
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts may be without two
of their starters along the offensive line on Sunday with both center Jeff
Saturday and tackle Charlie Johnson questionable.
Saturday had knee surgery Augu
<< McNabb questionable for Redskins' opener
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Donovan McNabb is listed as questionable for
his debut as quarterback of the Redskins while dealing with a sprained ankle.
However, all signs point to McNabb taking the field Sunday night at home
again
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards topped Juan Pablo Montoya in Friday's qualifying at Richmond International Raceway to take the pole for the Air Guard 400. Edwards, who has been winless in the last 61 Sprint Cup Series races
Reds bring Edmonds, Leake off DL; move Harang to bullpen >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds activated outfielder Jim
Edmonds and pitcher Mike Leake from the disabled list Friday.
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(.136) in nine game
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DENVER (AP) - Restricted free-agent center Peter Mueller re-signed with the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, agreeing to a two-year contract.Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.The 22-year-old Minnesotan, acquired from Phoenix in March, had n
Fire, Union both gunning for full points at PPL Park >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire have reached the point of no
return.
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Carmona quickly shuts down Twins >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona ended Minnesota's six-game
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Carmona (12-14)
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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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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