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01/25/2012 - San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose State extended the contract of head football coach Mike MacIntyre through the 2017 season.
"In two years as San Jose State's head coach, Mike MacIntyre created a new dynamic that articulates all the positives of our football program to our fans, alumni and future Spartans. He is a passionate and exceptional leader, a wonderful University ambassador and his football knowledge will point us in the right direction to succeed as an FBS program," San Jose State athletic director Tom Bowen said. "We're looking forward to a very bright future for Spartan football with Mike MacIntyre as our head coach."
After going 1-12 and 0-8 in the WAC in his first season with the Spartans in 2010, San Jose State improved drastically in 2011, going 5-7 and 3-4 in conference play.
"My family and I love living in San Jose. I'm very happy that President (Mohammad) Qayoumi and Tom Bowen are giving my staff and I the opportunity to continue building our program here at San Jose State. There's a belief that the program is headed in the right direction and this gives us the stability needed to build for the future," MacIntyre said.
<< Alouettes sign Boulay, Mims
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes signed safety Etienne
Boulay and wide receiver Adam Mims to two-year deals on Wednesday.
Boulay only played in four games last season due to a concussion. In six
seasons, all w
<< Colts name Pagano head coach
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts have named former
Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano as the team's next head
coach.
The Colts, coming off a 2-14 season, needed a new head coach after getting rid
o
<< Steelers DT Hoke announces retirement
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Chris
Hoke has announced his retirement after 11 seasons in the NFL.
The 35-year-old nose tackle from Brigham Young University had three tackles in
six games this yea
<< Western Illinois coordinator resigns abruptly
Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Western Illinois football is seeking a defensive
coordinator again after the recently hired Kevin Corless resigned due to
personal reasons.
Corless, who spent nine seasons leading the defense at Arkansas State f
Red Sox sign P Bailey >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox signed pitcher Andrew
Bailey to a one-year contract on Wednesday, thereby avoiding arbitration.
Bailey was acquired by the Red Sox from the Oakland Athletics on December 28.
Last sea
Gallinari, Nuggets agree to extension >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets and Danilo Gallinari have
agreed to a multi-year contract extension.
The Denver Post reported the deal to be a four-year, $42 million pact.
Gallinari joined the Nuggets last season i
Ohio State routs Penn State >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Sullinger had a double-double with 20
points and 13 rebounds, helping No. 4 Ohio State record a wire-to-wire victory
over Penn State, 78-54.
William Buford added 15 points and nine rebounds for the
Former MLBer Daryle Ward suspended 50 games >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daryle Ward, who played 11 seasons for six
teams but has been out of Major League Baseball since 2008, was suspended 50
games for testing positive for an amphetamine.
Ward, currently a free-agent mino
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.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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