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09/02/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat may have dominated the offseason headlines, but the Boston Celtics are still the top dogs in the East.
After taking the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the NBA Finals last season, the veteran-laden Celtics could have gone in two different directions. Coach Doc Rivers' contract was up, while veteran sharpshooter Ray Allen was a free agent and All-Star forward Paul Pierce could have opted out of his deal.
Basketball chief Danny Ainge could have pulled the plug and got started on the inevitable rebuilding process, or convinced the band to get back together to take one more stab at capturing the franchise's 18th NBA championship.
Ainge made his decision, booked the Hard Rock and convinced Rivers to return, while re-signing Allen and securing a still formidable but declining Pierce for another four seasons.
With his core four of Allen, Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo back in the fold, Rivers certainly knows he has a contender but his club has already forfeited the make-believe mantle of favorite in the much-improved East. That now belongs to Pat Riley and the Heat, who brought in LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwyane Wade.
To fend off the Heat and solve the Lakers puzzle, the C's needed to sure up a shaky bench. Ainge has brought in veteran big men Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal to hold down the fort in the middle while Kendrick Perkins recovers from tearing the medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee during Game 6 of The Finals.
Meanwhile, his latest move was bringing back troubled veteran guard Delonte West, the 24th overall by the Celtics back in 2004.
The 27-year-old West, who signed a non-guaranteed deal, spent the last two- plus years in Cleveland with James but was limited to 35 games in 2009-10 and 64 games a year earlier while dealing with an array of personal problems that included depression, along with legal issues stemming from an arrest on weapons charges in September of 2009.
After being stopped for a traffic violation while riding a 3-wheeled motorcycle, police found a Beretta pistol, .357 Magnum and a Remington 870 rifle in a guitar case West was carrying.
An underrated swing guard, West originally blamed the indiscretion on his failure to take his prescribed medication for bipolar disorder. He eventually pleaded guilty this past July to traffic and weapons charges, and was sentenced to electronic monitoring, unsupervised probation, and 40 hours of community service as well as psychological counseling.
The NBA piled on, suspending the St. Joseph's product for 10 games.
"I think we're getting Delonte at a good time in his life," Rivers wrote on Twitter. "He knows who he is now."
Rivers also understands bringing West in could go boom or bust. A healthy, well-adjusted West could provide solid minutes behind both Rondo and Allen, giving Boston one of the most impressive three-guard rotations in the league. On the other hand, a brooding, distant West could upset the balance of a delicate locker room.
"Chemistry is a delicate thing. I understand that, and I'm as cautious as anyone with it. I guarantee you, I'll be keeping my eye on it,"' Rivers told AOL FanHouse on Wednesday. "I don't know yet if we can make it work. It is going to be interesting, that's for sure."
<< Penguins F Staal to miss start of training camp
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jordan Staal
will miss the beginning of training camp with a foot injury.
Despite the ailment, Staal is expected to be ready for the regular season.
Staal suffered a lacer
<< CFL Eastern Division: Rivalries are back after break
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Labour Day approaches in Canada and, in the
CFL, that means rivalries take over for the most-anticipated weekend of the
regular season. The Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are set to
complete the
<< QB Gilbert had clear path to take over at Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -Garrett Gilbert has hardly played since high school and in his only meaningful college game, he threw four interceptions as Texas lost the national championship to Alabama.When Gilbert takes the field Saturday to lead No. 5 Texas
<< UTEP gets good news about RB Buckram injury
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -Texas-El Paso running back Donald Buckram has a bruised knee and may be able to play against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Saturday's season-opener for both teams.Buckram was carted off the field during practice Wednesday, a scary sigh
Cane Pace kicks off Triple Crown series >>
Freehold, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pacing's Triple Crown gets started on Labor
Day with the running of the $300,000 Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway. Eight
three-year-old pacers have been entered for the one-mile stakes.
The Triple Crown
Deutsche Bank extends sponsorship through 2012 >>
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deutsche Bank has exercised a two-year option to
remain as the title sponsor of the PGA Tour playoffs event at the TPC Boston
through 2012.
The Deutsche Back Championship debuted in 2003, marking the return o
Beckham targets Sept. 11 clash vs. Crew for return to MLS >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham, who has
been out all season after he tore his left Achilles tendon on March 14 while
playing for AC Milan, is nearing his return to Major League Soccer.
"The doctors' o
Oak Tree to race at Hollywood Park in 2010 >>
Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 Oak Tree racing meet will be
conducted at Hollywood Park. The announcement became official on Thursday.
"It's an honor to run the Oak Tree stakes races at Hollywood Park," said
Martin
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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