Creamer among the leaders in Hawaii
Golf Betting Lines
02/16/2007 -
Oahu, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paula Creamer posted a five-under-par 67 on
Thursday to join Paige MacKenzie and reigning Women's British Open champion
Sherri Steinhauer atop the leaderboard after the first round of the SBS Open
at Turtle Bay Resort.
Natalie Gulbis, Julieta Granada, Sung Ah Yim and Wendy Ward are knotted in
fourth place at minus-four.
This is the season-opening, stroke-play event for the 2007 LPGA Tour.
Creamer, the eighth-ranked player in the world who went winless on tour last
year, parred her first two holes before a two-putt birdie at the par-five
third.
She tallied one additional birdie on her front nine. At the par-five ninth,
Creamer reached the green with her second shot and once again two-putted for a
birdie.
Creamer used her length to take advantage of a par five, this time at the
12th. She rolled in a four-footer for birdie there and two holes later cashed
in from six feet for her fourth birdie.
Creamer's final birdie came at the par-four 17th. She knocked a wedge to 15
feet and sank the birdie try to join the logjam at the top of the leaderboard.
"I played really consistent," acknowledged Creamer. "I think I missed only two
greens, maybe three, but I think it was two. No bogeys and five birdies so I
played solid and it was a good day."
Creamer also spoke of her winless 2006 campaign, which was a shock to most
since Creamer established herself as one of the best players in the world
during her rookie year of 2005.
"I just feel it was one of those years where my expectations were incredibly
high and I kind of put a lot of pressure on myself," she admitted. "Just too
many mistakes. Too many bogeys and not enough birdies to cancel it out."
MacKenzie made her LPGA Tour debut a great one as she started on the back nine
at the Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort. She holed a 20-footer for birdie at
the 14th, then dropped a stroke at the 16th when a bee flew by her during her
backswing.
With all insects out of the way, MacKenzie played great golf on her second
nine. At the first, she hit a five-iron to seven feet to set up birdie.
MacKenzie made it two in a row thanks to a 23-foot birdie putt at the second.
MacKenzie closed out well to get into a share of the lead. She tapped in a
short birdie putt at the sixth, and ran home a nine-foot birdie putt at the
seventh. Her final birdie came at the par-five ninth when her eight-footer
found the bottom of the cup.
"It was just a very steady day," said MacKenzie. "I love the front side, it
was the first nine I played on Monday and everything about it just felt
great."
Steinhauer opened with three consecutive pars, then drained a 35-foot birdie
putt at the fourth. She added another 35-foot birdie putt at the sixth, but
dropped her only shot of the tournament at the 10th thanks to a three-putt.
She atoned for the error at 11 when she hit a six-iron to two feet to set up
birdie. The biggest shot of Steinhauer's round came at the par-four 14th when
she holed a sand-wedge for an eagle.
"I was blocked out a little by the trees because I hit it a little to the
left, but my caddie Joe Connelly said you've got the wind and you've got the
green. Everything is going that way," said Steinhauer. "So I did and it just
kept rolling, rolling, rolling and it just disappeared. It is a great
feeling."
Steinhauer got her share of the lead at the 18th when she holed a 20-footer
for birdie.
Yu Ping Lin, Janice Moodie, Irene Cho, Alena Sharp, Hee-Won Han, Stacy
Prammanasudh, Morgan Pressel and Hall of Famer Juli Inkster are knotted in
eighth place at three-under-par 69.
One player that did struggle on Thursday was defending champion Joo Mi Kim.
She carded a five-over-par 77 and is tied for 114th place.
<< Sun Devils breeze by USC
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aubree Johnson scored 20 points and pulled
down 10 rebounds to lead 10th-ranked Arizona State to a 68-57 win over
Southern California.
Danielle Orsillo tallied 11 points, while Briann January and
<< Hejduk nets hat trick as Avs burn Flames
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milan Hejduk's hat trick propelled the
Colorado Avalanche to a come-from-behind 7-5 victory over the Calgary Flames,
in the opener of back-to-back contests between the teams at Pengrowth
Saddled
<< Selanne sends Ducks over Coyotes in OT
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teemu Selanne scored a pair of goals,
including the game-winner in overtime, as the Anaheim Ducks rallied from a
three-goal deficit to defeat the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-4.
In the extra session, Phoeni
<< No. 7 LSU torches Arkansas
Fayetteville, AK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sylvia Fowles scored 23 points and grabbed
20 rebounds to lead the seventh-ranked LSU Lady Tigers to an 86-65 win over
the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks.
Quianna Chaney scored 21 points for the Lady Tigers
<< No. 12 Vanderbilt routs Mississippi State
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caroline Williams scored 24 points to lead
No. 12 Vanderbilt to an easy 84-64 victory over Mississippi State at Humphrey
Coliseum.
Carla Thomas added 12 points and Jennifer Risper had 10 for the Commo
No. 9 Stanford rolls by Oregon State >>
Corvallis, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jayne Appel registered game-highs with 28
points and 17 rebounds, as Stanford eased to a 70-55 win over Oregon State at
Gill Coliseum.
Brooke Smith posted 22 points, seven assists and six boards for th
Anderson's late surge carries Cal past Oregon >>
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Anderson scored 18 points, converted a
three-point play with 1:01 remaining to give California the lead, and the
Golden Bears held on for a 63-61 win over the 15th-ranked Oregon Ducks.
Patrick Ch
No. 22 USC edges No.19 Arizona >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Young posted 26 points and eight rebounds,
as the 22nd-ranked USC Trojans got their first win in Tucson since 1985 by
downing the 19th-ranked Arizona Wildcats, 80-75, in a battle of Pac-10
Confere
Ducks upend No. 22 Cal >>
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eleanor Haring scored 17 points to lead Oregon
to a 62-42 upset win over No. 22 California on Thursday.
Taylor Lilley scored 10 points for the Ducks (15-10, 7-8 Pac-10), who won
their second straight game
Cavaliers top Lakers for first Staples Center win >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James poured in 38 points and hit
the go-ahead jumper with just over three minutes left, as the Cavaliers
secured their first win at the Staples Center with a 114-108 triumph over the
struggl
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.
SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
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