Ducks' Selanne will return for another season
Hockey Betting Lines
08/09/2010 -
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teemu Selanne has decided to return for another
season with the Anaheim Ducks.
Reports last week indicated that Selanne was set to come back for the 2010-11
campaign, and on Monday the 40-year-old forward made it official with a
statement via Twitter on the club's website.
"After thinking about it for the last few months, I've decided to return to
play for the Ducks," said Selanne. "I'm excited about the summer additions the
team has made. I know this team can win."
Selanne completed his injury-plagued 17th NHL season in 2009-10 with 27 goals
and 48 points in 54 games. He has spent the past five seasons with the Ducks
and also played for the franchise from February 1996 to March 2001.
Last year, the native of Finland became the third European-born player in
league history to top the 600-goal plateau, and also passed Hall-of-Famer and
five-time Stanley Cup champion Jari Kurri for most goals scored in a career by
a Finnish-born player.
Selanne currently has 606 goals while Kurri retired with 601. Czech native
Jaromir Jagr holds the European-born NHL record at 646.
The 10-time NHL All-Star Game participant began his career with the Winnipeg
Jets in 1992-93 and scored 76 goals his rookie season. He has also played for
San Jose and Colorado during his illustrious career, which features two
selections as a First-Team NHL All-Star and two Second-Team choices.
<< 92nd PGA Championship Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This year's PGA Championship at Whistling
Straits is historic.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time since 1997, it's impossible to
realistically see Tiger Woods contending for a major champions
<< Cunningham double earns him MLS Player of the Week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham was
voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 19, it was announced
on Monday.
Cunningham scored two goals, including the game winner, in the Hoops 3
<< UTEP suspends two players for season opener
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UTEP has reportedly suspended cornerback
Travaun Nixon for the season opener and wide receiver/kick returner Marlon
McClure for the first two games of the 2010 campaign.
According to the El Paso Ti
<< This Week in Golf - August 12th through August 15th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Whistling Straits,
Kohler, Wisconsin - The season's final major championship is on tap this week
with the golf world slightly tipped on its side.
Tiger Woods had his worst profe
<< Cowboys TE Phillips sidelined with torn ACL
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys tight end John Phillips will
reportedly miss the entire 2010 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament
in his right knee.
The second-year pro was hurt during the Cowboys' 16-7 win over
Sky Blue FC keeps playoff hopes alive >>
Kennesaw, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sky Blue FC earned an all important road win
at the Atlanta Beat, 2-1, on Saturday in Women's Professional Soccer action to
stay within striking distance of a playoff spot.
The win put an end to a five-
Hart won't be allowed to leave City >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini
has no intention of allowing Joe Hart leave the club on a temporary or
permanent basis this summer.
Hart enjoyed an extremely successful campaign on l
Like the Queen, Woods a symbolic No. 1 >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods' 611th week as the world No. 1 was his worst.
Clarification: It was his worst week as a golfer. He's had many bad weeks as a
man since last November.
But Woods has never been so bad between the ropes as a pro
Mariners fire Don Wakamatsu >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners have fired manager Don
Wakamatsu and replaced him with Daren Brown on interim basis.
Wakamatsu was in his second season with the Mariners, who are just 42-70 this
season entering Mond
Safina wins Cincy opener >>
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Struggling former world No. 1 Dinara Safina was a
first-round winner Monday at the $2 million Western & Southern Financial Group
Women's Open, a hardcourt U.S. Open Series event.
The unseeded Safina bested It
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.
|