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08/10/2010 - Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the 2011 schedule for all three of its national touring series expected to be released within the next couple of weeks, NASCAR is making some significant revisions to its Sprint Cup schedule, in hopes of generating more fan interest, as well as improving sluggish track attendance and television ratings.
During a news conference last month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer Brian France said, "We'll have some pretty impactful changes to the schedule that I think will be good for NASCAR fans."
We're now getting a glimpse of NASCAR's schedule modifications for next year, as several racetracks already have announced their plans for the upcoming season.
Last week, Atlanta Motor Speedway revealed it will give up one of its two Cup dates in 2011. Speedway Motorsports Inc. will move its Atlanta spring race to Kentucky Speedway. NASCAR and Kentucky track officials confirmed on Tuesday that the 1.5-mile oval, located roughly 40 miles south of downtown Cincinnati, will host its long-awaited first Cup race -- 400 miles in length -- on July 9.
"I always hate to see a racetrack lose a date, because I know there's a lot of fans that do make both of those races and love that race track and love the area where the race track is," NASCAR veteran driver Jeff Burton said. "At the same time, it's capitalism. If there's another venue where more people can come in and more people can enjoy it, then that's where you can expect the show to be going."
Also on Tuesday, Kansas Speedway announced it will receive a second Cup date, while Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA will lose one of its two races, starting next year. International Speedway Corp., the parent company of both tracks, recently requested the transfer of California's fall event to Kansas. NASCAR approved the realignment, with Kansas hosting it races on June 5 and October 9 -- the fourth event in the 2011 Championship chase.
Phoenix International Raceway, also an ISC property, will move its April race to February 27, the week after the Daytona 500. California previously followed the Daytona 500, but next year, the two-mile track will move to a better- suited date of March 27.
Officials from NASCAR and Chicagoland Speedway said on Monday that Chicagoland will kick off next year's Chase, replacing New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the opening playoff race. New Hampshire and Dover International Speedway likely will follow Chicago in the Chase.
Chicagoland beginning the Chase -- the final 10 races of the season -- probably is good for NASCAR, since the track is located in the country's third largest television market area. However, Chicago is a huge sports city, and several of its professional sports teams are in season, particularly the Chicago Bears from the NFL and the city's two MLB teams -- the Cubs and the White Sox. Chicagoland's September 18 race date might be a tough ticket to sell.
"I think it has everything to do with NASCAR trying to create the best product that they can, trying to be in front of the right audiences, the right time of the year for certain racetracks, so the stands are full, action-packed tracks for the Chase and so our television numbers are up," four-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said.
The one thing I hoped would have happened or will happen in the future with the Cup schedule is a change in location for the season-ending race. Despite warm temperatures in South Florida in November, Homestead-Miami Speedway no longer seems appealing for the season-finale.
Move Homestead to earlier in the year, and place either Las Vegas Motor Speedway or one of Charlotte Motor Speedway's two dates to the last race of the season.
Why Las Vegas or Charlotte?
NASCAR's top series now holds its annual awards banquet in Las Vegas, so it would be convenient to place LVMS as the final stop on schedule.
As for Charlotte, let the season conclude in NASCAR's hub city. Then head to Vegas for the big party.
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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been nominated for the highest civilian award in the country.Congressmen including Glenn Thompson, Mark Critz and Tim Holden say the Hall of Fame coach deserves a Presidential Medal
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BOSTON (AP) -The Boston Celtics have signed Luke Harangody, their second-round draft pick.The deal is for two years. Terms were not disclosed.The 6-foot-8 forward was the 52nd pick in this year's draft.At Notre Dame, Harangody finished as the No. 3
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Montana's Wilson to be held out >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Montana senior cornerback Jimmy
Wilson, whose athletic eligibility was restored following his acquittal on
murder charges, will be held out of the beginning of fall camp drills because
of an alleged
Seahawks sign LB Hagler among four roster moves >>
Renton, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Seahawks made four roster moves on
Tuesday, most notably agreeing to a contract with veteran linebacker Tyjuan
Hagler.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The six-year pro started seven ga
Berdych moves on; Roddick pulls out in Toronto >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych was an easy
second-round winner at the $2.43 million Roger Cup, an ATP Masters
event. Former champion Andy Roddick pulled out of the draw here on Tuesday,
citing an illness.
T
Knicks' sign G Mason, Jr. >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks have signed guard Roger
Mason, Jr.
No terms of the deal were announced.
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Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship
(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.
One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.
MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts US credit cards needs.
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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