Finland clinches quarterfinal spot at Worlds
Hockey Betting Lines
05/17/2010 - Cologne, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Finland wrapped up a spot in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Championship with a 5-2 win over Slovakia.
Jussi Jokinen scored a pair of goals and Petteri Nummelin added a goal and two assists for the Finns, who can earn the top spot in Group E with a regulation win over Russia on Tuesday. The Russians are undefeated in the tournament and need only a point to secure the top seed.
Vladimir Mihalik and Tomas Tatar scored for Slovakia, which can still earn a quarterfinal berth Tuesday with a win over Germany.
After a scoreless first period, Finland scored three times in a span of just over four minutes to take control. Jokinen capped the quick burst with his first goal of the contest.
Pekka Rinne made 27 saves in the victory.
In Group F, Norway concluded its qualifying round play with a 3-2 win over Switzerland to remain alive for a quarterfinal berth. The Norwegians were blitzed by a combined score of 17-1 in losses to Canada and Latvia in their most recent games and would have been eliminated Monday with a loss or even an overtime win.
Switzerland, which outshot Norway 45-15, has already earned a berth in the quarterfinals and will play its final qualifying round game on Tuesday against Sweden. The winner will claim first place in Group F.
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Monday the hiring of Tony Ronzone as assistant general manager and director of player personnel. Ronzone spent the last nine years in the Detroit Pistons organiza
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<< This Week in Golf - May 20th through May 23rd
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Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens have signed veteran cornerback Travis Fisher and rookie safety Brad Jones. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. Fisher appeared in just four games for Seattle last season, b
Florida Panthers name Dale Tallon new GM >>
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Dale Tallon has been hired as general manager of the Florida Panthers.The Panthers made the announcement Monday, a day ahead of the press conference at which Tallon is to be introduced. He comes to Florida from the Chicago Blackh
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Panthers tap Tallon as new GM >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers have named Dale Tallon as
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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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