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03/09/2010 - Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots officially announced the signings of defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and guard Stephen Neal on Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a report from Boston.com last Friday, citing Wilfork's agent, revealed his deal is for $40 million over five years with $25 million guaranteed and an $18 million signing bonus.
The 28-year-old was placed under the franchise tag agreement in late February, which would have meant a $7 million salary for 2010 if he had not come to a long-term agreement with the club.
Wilfork has played in 90 regular-season games for the Patriots, including 80 as a starter, since the club selected him with the 21st overall pick of the 2004 draft. He has recorded 449 tackles, including 257 solo, with 7 1/2 sacks in his career.
The University of Miami product was elected to the Pro Bowl this past season after leading New England defensive linemen in tackles with 65. He was also a Pro Bowl pick during the club's undefeated regular season of 2007.
Neal, 33, who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Cal State- Bakersfield in 2001, helped the Pats' offensive line allow a paltry 18 sacks in 2009. He is a three-time Super Bowl winner with the franchise.
<< UL-Lafayette to look for new men's hoops coach
Lafayette, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Louisiana-Lafayette has
decided not to retain men's basketball coach Robert Lee, whose contract
expired at the conclusion of this season.
Lee had spent the past 14 seasons with
<< Turf to Dirt Angle Works Best
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both of Saturday's three-year-old
Kentucky Derby preps were won by horses that raced on the turf in their
previous start. One was favored at Aqueduct while the other was the sixth
choice in the betting at S
<< Sorgi to back up other Manning
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants inked quarterback
Jim Sorgi on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Wisconsin product, who was the backup to Peyton Manning in
Indianapolis for the past six seasons, now gets the chanc
<< Rangers acquire Ramirez from Yankees
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have acquired pitcher Edwar
Ramirez from the New York Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.
Ramirez was designated for assignment in late February when the Yankees signed
Chan Ho Park
Houston signs academy player to developmental contract >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo signed Dynamo Academy
product Francisco Navas Cobo to a developmental contract, the Major League
Soccer club announced on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old midfielder joins goalkeeper Tyl
Browns part ways with QB Anderson >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns terminated the contract of
quarterback Derek Anderson on Tuesday.
The move comes less than 24 hours after the Browns traded for Seneca Wallace
and seems to open the door for Brady Q
Nurnberg loses Breno for rest of season >>
Nurnberg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nurnberg has been rocked by confirmation
that on-loan defender Breno will miss the remainder of the season.
Breno was stretchered off during Sunday's 3-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen
and subsequent s
Broncos sign DE Green >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos signed free agent
defensive end Jarvis Green on Tuesday.
Green had spent each of his eight NFL seasons with the Patriots after New
England made him a fourth-round pick in the
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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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