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Reeling Flyers resume road trip in Boston

Hockey Betting Lines

03/01/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Biron is expected to make his debut in net for the Philadelphia Flyers when they visit the Boston Bruins tonight at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Flyers, who have an NHL-low 42 points, have dropped five straight games and were not in a position to improve this season's already hopeless playoff chances. However, they acquired Biron from the Sabres for a second-round draft pick before Tuesday's trade deadline.

Biron, who was backing up Ryan Miller in Buffalo, is scheduled to be a free agent in July, although the Flyers have designs on signing him before he enters the open market. The 29-year-old netminder was 12-4-1 with a 3.04 goals against average and an .899 save percentage with the Sabres this year.

The Flyers were in action Tuesday evening at Nassau Coliseum and were handed an overtime loss by the New York Islanders. Trent Hunter's second goal of the game came with 31 seconds left in the extra period and sent the Isles past Philadelphia, 6-5.

R.J. Umberger tallied twice for the Flyers, who are 1-4-2 since trading superstar and former captain Peter Forsberg. Dimitry Afanasenkov had a goal and an assist, Sami Kapanen and Simon Gagne also scored and Joni Pitkanen picked up a pair of helpers for Philadelphia in the setback.

Flyers goaltender Antero Niittymaki played well despite giving up six goals on 39 shots in the loss.

Tonight marks the middle portion of a three-game road trip for the Flyers, who are 11-19-3 as the visiting club this year.

The Bruins are coming off Monday's loss to the visiting Thrashers, as Atlanta's Marian Hossa scored the game-winning goal in the 3-2 victory.

Shean Donovan and Brad Boyes each scored a goal while Tim Thomas made 17 saves for the Bruins, who have dropped their past two games after a four-game winning streak.

Boston, which is eight points out of the final two spots in the Eastern Conference playoff race, pulled off a pair of trades on Tuesday, acquiring defenseman Dennis Wideman from St. Louis and fellow blueliner Aaron Ward from the Rangers.

The Bruins gave up Boyes for Wideman and sent defenseman Paul Mara to New York in exchange for Ward.

Boston is 2-0 against the Flyers this season and 5-3-1 (3 losses, 1 tie) in its last nine encounters with Philadelphia.

<< Rangers host new-look Penguins in key Atlantic showdown
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will bring a few new faces to the rink this evening, when they head to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers. On Tuesday morning, the Pens convinced 40-year-old winger Gary R

<< Nation's longest win streak on the line in El Paso
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Memphis Tigers own the nation's longest winning streak at 17 games, and they are clearly favored in tonight's Conference USA clash with the Miners of Texas El- Paso.

<< Bobcats, Trail Blazers try to halt losing streaks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats play the third of a six-game road trip, as they visit the Portland Trail Blazers tonight at the Rose Garden. This is the second and final meeting of the campaign between the clubs. On February 9th, Z

<< Smyth set to make Isles debut as club hosts Blues
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders' newest addition is set to take the ice for the first time when the playoff hopefuls entertain the St. Louis Blues tonight at Nassau Coliseum. The Isles pulled off one of the biggest and most shockin

<< Opening week in Arena Football
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The AFL on ESPN era kicks off this Sunday, March 4, with two marquee matchups at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC. ArenaBowl XX Champion Chicago Rush begin its first title defense after an improbable season-ending, six-ga

Clippers, SuperSonics conclude home-and-home set >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers and the Seattle SuperSonics play the finale of a home-and-home set tonight at KeyArena. This is the fourth and final meeting of the campaign between the clubs. The Clippers have won three strai

Stars shoot into Florida to battle the Panthers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars will conclude a brief excursion through the Sunshine State this evening, when the Pacific Division contenders visit the BankAtlantic Center to face the Florida Panthers. Dallas began the trip on a very goo

Avs start important road swing in Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche start up a crucial five-game road trip this evening at the United Center against a Chicago Blackhawks squad that's hoping to end a recent slide. Colorado begins this trek in 10th place in the Western

Bruins attempt to clinch outright Pac-10 title >>
Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked UCLA Bruins are playing outstanding basketball at just the right time, and the team has traveled to Pullman for this evening's showdown with the Washington State Cougars

Trojans take on Huskies in Seattle >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked USC Trojans and Washington Huskies continue to jockey for position in the upcoming Pac-10 Conference Tournament. USC has posted back-to-back victories to move to 21-8

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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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