Ruff sidelined; Patrick to coach on Wednesday

Hockey Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Assistant coach James Patrick will be behind the bench guiding the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday when they welcome the Boston Bruins.

That's because Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff is still recovering from multiple cracked ribs suffered in a freak accident in practice on Monday. Ruff had to be helped off the ice after colliding with defenseman Jordan Leopold and was originally listed as day-to-day.

Buffalo confirmed the move via Twitter on Wednesday morning. Ruff has guided a revamped yet underachieving roster to a 22-24-6 record this season.

Oddsmakwr Hockey Betting News

<< Montreal RW Blunden out 4-to-6 weeks following knee surgery
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens announced Wednesday that right winger Michael Blunden underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a meniscus. The 25-year-old will require 4-to-6 weeks to recover. Blunden

<< Dartmouth going prime time again
Hanover, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dartmouth College football is drawing off the success of the first night game at Memorial Field last season with its 2012 opener against Butler. The Big Green will host the Bulldogs from the Pioneer Football Le

<< Isles reward Nielsen with 4-year extension
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders offically signed center Frans Nielsen to a four-year contract extension on Wednesday. No financial terms were disclosed, but multiple outlets reported it is worth $11 million.

<< Pacers seek another road win in Atlanta
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers target their fourth straight win on the road when they take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight at Philips Arena. Indiana is 10-5 as the visitor this season and will also visit Memphis on its quick two-game roa

<< Portland tries to bounce back at home vs. Rockets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland will seek to rebound from a rare loss in Rip City when it hosts the Houston Rockets at the Rose Garden tonight. Russell Westbrook blocked Nicolas Batum's drive to the hoop in the closing seconds of regulatio

Morris reportedly to be Yale's offensive coordinator >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Massachusetts head football coach Kevin Morris will be named Yale's new offensive coordinator, according to reports Wednesday. The coaching web sites Coachingsearch.com and Footballscoop.com reported t

Memphis will join Big East in 2013-14 >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ongoing game of musical chairs in college athletics has its newest player. The Big East made it official on Wednesday, welcoming Memphis in all sports for the 2013-14 season, completing the con

Union signs Colombian forward Pajoy >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday that the club has signed Colombian forward Lionard Pajoy. Pajoy joins the Union from Colombian side Itagui Ditaires and he is coming off the best season of his ca

Traore out as Senegal coach >>
Dakar, Senegal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Senegal's football federation confirmed on Wednesday that coach Amara Traore has been fired following a disappointing showing by the team at the African Cup of Nations. Senegal entered the competitio

Rocchi to miss three weeks with thigh injury >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lazio striker Tommaso Rocchi is expected to miss the next three weeks due to a thigh injury. Rocchi sustained the problem in Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Genoa and will miss Serie A games with Cesena, Palerm

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

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.

Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.