Saints ink CB Torrence
Football Betting Lines
03/09/2010 - Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints agreed to terms with cornerback Leigh Torrence on a one-year contract Tuesday.
Torrence spent the past two years with New Orleans, appearing in 12 total games. He had four tackles and a half-sack on defense and registered five special teams stops in 2009 before landing on season-ending injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
In parts of four seasons with New Orleans and Washington, Torrence has 55 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and 42 special teams stops in 47 games.
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins re-signed defensive tackle Jason Ferguson on Tuesday. The run-stopping, 310-pound tackle came to Miami in a 2008 trade with Dallas. He has started 128 of 159 career games and recorded 387
<< Vikings re-sign CB Sapp
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Vikings re-signed cornerback
Benny Sapp on Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune
reports it being a two-year contract worth $4.2 million,
<< Rangers opens 13-point lead on Celtic
Kilmarnock, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Whittaker and Kenny Miller each
scored and Rangers beat Kilmarnock 2-0 on Tuesday to move 13 points clear atop
Scotland's Premier League.
Whittaker scored the opener at Rugby Park in the 55th an
<< Jerome leads Birmingham over Portsmouth
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cameron Jerome scored two goals in the
first half and promoted Birmingham defeated Portsmouth 2-1 on Tuesday to move
within six points of fourth place in England's Premier League.
Birmingham won for t
<< Chiefs land RB Thomas Jones
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs announced the
signing of free agent running back Thomas Jones on Tuesday.
Terms of the signing were not released.
Jones was released after three productive seasons with t
Port St. Lucie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets confirmed the test results that stated shortstop Jose Reyes has an overactive thyroid. The club mentioned that Reyes will remain in New York to undergo additional blood testing,
FDU removes interim tag from Vetrone >>
Teaneck, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fairleigh Dickinson has removed the interim tag
from Greg Vetrone and has named him the permanent men's basketball coach.
Vetrone was given the job on an interim basis for last season and led the team
to a 10-
Falcons sign CB Grimes >>
Flowery Branch, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Falcons have re-signed
cornerback Brent Grimes.
Grimes led the team with six interceptions in 2009, had 13 passes defensed and
compiled 67 tackles, 58 of those solo, in 16 games.
Ori
Bears release RB Jones >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears released running back
Kevin Jones on Tuesday.
Jones, who missed all of 2009 with a serious ankle injury, signed with the
bears in 2008 and rushed for 109 yards on 34 carries
Big East champs again: UConn women pull away from WVU >>
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kalana Greene scored 15 points and pulled down
12 rebounds, and top-ranked Connecticut captured the Big East Tournament title
and stretched its winning streak to a record 72 games with a 60-32 triumph
over No
FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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.