Blue Jackets sign Prospal for another season
Hockey Betting Lines
02/08/2012 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets signed veteran forward Vinny Prospal to a one-year contract extension on Wednesday.
Prospal, who turns 37 later this month, leads the team with 24 assists and ranks second with 33 points.
"We are very excited to have Vinny signed for another year," said Columbus general manager Scott Howson. "His leadership and play on the ice have certainly been positives for us this season."
A former third-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, the Czech Republic native has registered 236 goals and 477 assists in 1,031 career games with seven different clubs.
He also has played for Ottawa, Florida, Tampa Bay, Anaheim and the New York Rangers, making three separate stints with the Lightning over his 14-plus seasons.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Since their heart-to-heart meeting among players and coaches following a loss at Milwaukee last week, the Miami Heat haven't suffered defeat and hope to continue that trend tonight against the Orlando Magic in the opener of a
<< Nuggets entertain Mavs at Pepsi Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Western Conference contenders mired in losing
streaks square off in the Rockies tonight when the Denver Nuggets play host to
the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.
The Nuggets dropped their third in a r
<< Sharks, Flames clash in San Jose
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Staring at a two-week long road trip, the San Jose Sharks
would love to pick up four big points before leaving the friendly confines of
HP Pavilion.
They'll look to accomplish step one of that plan this evening and extend
<< Spurs continue Rodeo Road Trip in Philly
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs were able to get their annual Rodeo
Road Trip off to a promising start, but must face a pesky Philadelphia 76ers
squad that hasn't backed down from any team tonight at Wells Fargo Center.
San Antonio
<< Skinner, Hurricanes begin trip in Anaheim
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner is starting to find his
groove again after missing time with a head injury. Hopefully the club's
cross country road trip won't derail his momentum.
Carolina begins its three-game journey ton
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Only one of Detroit's six wins this season has come on the road and the Pistons would like to change that as early as tonight, when they pay a visit to the New Jersey Nets in the opener of a home-and-home set. The Pistons
Bulls hope to have Rose in New Orleans >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The best from the NBA's Eastern Conference meets the worst
from the West when the Chicago Bulls resume their grueling nine-game road trip
against the lowly Hornets in New Orleans.
The Bulls won their third straight con
Mr. Lin goes to Washington >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Linsanity has officially hit New York.
Tonight Jeremy Lin tries to continue his amazing play when the New York Knicks
go after a third straight win against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon
Center.
After netting
Call of the wild: Wolves, Grizzlies clash in Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The much-improved Timberwolves will aim to win for the
second time in as many nights without All-Star Kevin Love when they take on
the Grizzlies in Memphis tonight.
Love, who leads the Wolves in both scoring (25.
South Carolina State faces tough opening to 2012 schedule >>
Orangeburg, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-ever games at Arizona and Texas A&M
are part of a rugged opening month of the 2012 South Carolina State football
schedule announced Wednesday.
Coach Buddy Pough's team will play only four home game
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.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.
FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.