Arango agrees to Gladbach extension

Soccer Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Monchengladbach, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Arango has signed a two-year contract extension with Monchengladbach, the club confirmed on Friday.

Arango's previous deal was set to expire at the end of the current season, but the 31-year-old is now tied to Monchengladbach until 2014.

The Venezuela international has scored three goals in 20 Bundesliga matches this season for the club, which enters the weekend in fourth place and three points adrift of leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Wwwplayersonly Soccer Betting News

<< Hoffenheim turns to Babbel
Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim has named Markus Babbel as its new manager on Friday, signing the former Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart boss to a two-and-a-half year contract. Babbel takes the place of Holger Stanislawski,

<< Lin, Knicks try to stay hot vs. Lakers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The flavor of the day in Gotham faces another tough test on Friday, when Jeremy Lin and the Knicks play host to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers at Madison Square Garden. Lin has exploded from obscurity over the past wee

<< Celtics head north of the border to face Raptors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics may have seen their longest winning streak of the season come to a halt on Thursday. But, a trip north of the border to face the Toronto Raptors could get them back on track. Boston saw its five-game win

<< Stars aim for rare win in Buffalo
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars have yet to win the back end when playing games on consecutive nights. That won't make ending their lengthy losing streak in Buffalo any easier. The Stars try to pick up their first road win against the Sa

<< Blackhawks hope to halt fall in San Jose
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The free-falling Chicago Blackhawks will try to end their longest losing streak in over four years when they continue a lengthy road trip with tonight's battle against the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion. The Blackhawks are

Cavs sign Uzoh to 10-day contract >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers inked guard Ben Uzoh to a 10-day contract Friday, a move necessitated by the absence of first- overall pick Kyrie Irving due to a concussion. The 23-year-old averaged 16.8 points

More knee problems for Bayern's Breno >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich defender Breno saw his comeback effort take a step back as it was confirmed that the Brazilian will require another operation on his knee. The 22-year-old sustained a torn ACL in

Fish gives U.S. 1-0 lead against host Swiss >>
Fribourg, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mardy Fish outlasted Stanislas Wawrinka in a five-set thriller Friday, as the visiting United States grabbed a 1-0 lead against Switzerland in their best-of-five opening-round Davis Cup showdown.

Dortmund tests 14-game run against Leverkusen >>
Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund returned to the summit in the Bundesliga last weekend, but the defending champions will face a stern test Saturday against Bayer Leverkusen. Dortmund is unbeaten in 14 straight, and w

Milan hopes to end poor run of form at Udinese >>
Udine, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan will try to return to the win column on Saturday at Udinese after a dip in form has left the Rossoneri staring up at Juventus in the Serie A standings. A run of seven wins in eight matches in all

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.

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.