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09/01/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto running back Cory Boyd, Montreal linebacker Chip Cox, British Columbia kick returner Yonus Davis and Toronto linebacker Kevin Eiben have been selected as the CFL's top players for the month of August.
Boyd earned the offensive award as he helped Toronto to a 2-1 mark last month, rushing for 308 yards and three touchdowns on 58 carries. He added eight catches for 78 yards and one score, while accumulating 386 yards from scrimmage. The first-year Argo currently leads the CFL in rushing with 792 yards and yards from scrimmage with 894.
Cox took home defensive honors after collecting 20 tackles, two special teams tackles, two interceptions, one sack and one fumble recovery that he turned into a 14-yard touchdown last month. He leads the Alouettes with 40 tackles through eight games.
Davis compiled 497 kick return yards in three games last month to claim the special teams award.
Eiben was selected as the top Canadian after racking up 23 tackles, two special teams tackles and one pass defended. He leads the CFL with 53 tackles.
<< Missouri drops Washington from football team
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Missouri has permanently
suspended running back Derrick Washington from the football team.
Washington had been suspended indefinitely by head coach Gary Pinkel last week
and the senior wa
<< Red Bull defender Petke to retire following season
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York defender Mike Petke will
retire after the 2010 MLS season, the Major League Soccer club announced on
Wednesday.
"After many months of contemplation, I know that this is the best choi
<< Sharks' president to step down
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose Sharks president and chief executive
officer Greg Jamison has decided to step down.
Jamison will continue to be involved with the franchise, but will step away
from the day-to-day operations of th
<< St. Louis Rams 2010 Season Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the toughest decisions television executives have to
make is how to effectively replace a starring character on a popular program.
More often than not, the swap leaves the presentation falling flat on its
face.
Lat
BYU signs TV deal with ESPN >>
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young University has announced an eight-
year agreement with ESPN for the network to televise the school's football
games starting next fall.
BYU officially announced its decision to leave the Mou
Baltimore brings up three >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles added three to their
roster on Wednesday, recalling outfielder Nolan Reimold, infielder Brandon
Snyder and selecting the contract of infielder Rob Andino from Triple-A
Norfolk
Marlins call up RHP Sosa >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins selected the contracts of
pitcher Jorge Sosa from Triple-A New Orleans and catcher Chris Hatcher from
Double-A Jacksonville on Wednesday.
This will be Sosa's third stint with the b
Quality Road out to make amends in Woodward Stakes >>
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Four weeks after coming up a head
short in the Whitney Handicap, Quality Road will once again go postward on
Saturday in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
The colt, traine
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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