Braves call up Hicks to replace Chipper on roster
Baseball Betting Lines
08/13/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves recalled third baseman Brandon Hicks from Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday.
Hicks will fill the roster spot of the injured Chipper Jones, who was officially placed on the 15-day disabled list a day after an MRI revealed a torn ACL in his left knee that will require season-ending surgery.
Hicks is 0-for-5 with five runs scored in 13 at-bats for the Braves this season. In 75 games for Gwinnett this year, he batted just .216 with 10 stolen bases, seven homers and 22 RBI.
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joie Chitwood III has been named president of Daytona International Speedway, according to a new release from the track's parent company, International Speedway Corp., on Friday. Chitwood, 41,
<< Crew aim to end RSL's home streak
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew travel to take on Real Salt
Lake in the second Major League Soccer meeting between the two clubs this
season.
The Crew earned a 1-0 victory over the defending champs on April 24 at C
<< Lakers sign second-round pick Caracter
El Segundo, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers signed second-
round draft pick Derrick Caracter Friday.
Caracter, taken with the 58th pick in the 2010 draft, spent two seasons at
Louisville before he transferred to Te
<< No seconds: 49ers RB Coffee abruptly retires
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco 49ers running back Glen
Coffee, the team's third-round pick in the 2009 draft, retired from the NFL on
Friday at the age of 23.
Coffee did not attend practice on Thursday and was also
<< White Sox activate Teahen from DL
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have reinstated
infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen from the 15-day disabled list.
Teahen has been on the DL since June 1 with a fractured right middle finger.
He was hitting .2
Kaiserslautern, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaiserslautern signed coach Marco Kurz to a contract extension through the 2011-12 season on Friday. Kurz led Kaiserslautern back to the Bundesliga last season, and with his deal set to expire af
Celtic, Rangers highlight SPL once again >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers have
combined to win the last 25 Scottish Premier League titles, so when the season
kicks off Saturday, the only suspense is which Glasgow club wins this time.
Celtic
Nadal, Murray reach Rogers Cup semis >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time winner Rafael Nadal and reigning
champion Andy Murray were a pair of quarterfinal winners Friday at the $2.43
million Rogers Cup, an ATP Masters event.
The world No. 1 Nadal was tested mightily in a
Patriots put DL Warren on IR >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots placed starting
defensive lineman Ty Warren on season-ending injured reserve Friday.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Warren is suffering from a hip injury that could
require surger
Columbus exercises 2011 option on coach Warzycha >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew announced Friday they have
exercised the option on coach Robert Warzycha's contract for the 2011 season.
Following a superlative debut campaign, Warzycha is now in his second full
seaso
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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