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02/07/2012 - Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sevilla named former Real Madrid and Spain midfielder Michel its new manager Tuesday, one day after Marcelino was fired.
Michel, 48, spent almost his entire club career with Real Madrid, playing for the Spanish giants from 1982-96. He also played 66 times for Spain and had 21 goals from 1985-92.
He entered the coaching profession in 2005 with Rayo Vallecano, and has also coached Real Madrid's B team and Getafe.
Marcelino's tenure ended following Sunday's 2-1 loss to Villarreal, which gave Sevilla five losses during a seven-game winless streak.
Sevilla is just 11th in La Liga after 21 matches, with European places as well as relegation within reach.
<< Bears bring in Jeremy Bates to work with QBs
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears on Tuesday reached an
agreement with Jeremy Bates to become the team's quarterbacks coach.
Bates is familiar with Chicago starter Jay Cutler, having worked with him for
three seasons
<< Johnson granted sixth season at Eastern Washington
Cheney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eastern Washington linebacker Zach Johnson has
been granted a medical waiver by the NCAA for a sixth season, Eagles head
coach Beau Baldwin announced Tuesday.
Johnson has lost 19 games due to a chronic knee inju
<< Briere returning to Flyers lineup Tuesday
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren
revealed that forward Danny Briere will be in the lineup when Philadelphia
hosts the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
"I feel ready. I feel like it's time,"
<< An A for Eli...and Indy too
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before Peyton Manning's future become
dissected and over-analyzed to tiresome Favrethian degrees over the next month,
it's time to give his little brother some very big credit.
If there were any lingering
Pekka a Rinne-stone Cowboy in Nashville >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Those not convinced that the Nashville
Predators are in it to win long term need to look no further than the massive
contract that general manager David Poile dished out to goaltender Pekka Rinne
back in Nove
Lindell re-ups with Bills >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills re-signed kicker Rian
Lindell to a multi-year contract extension on Tuesday.
Lindell's 2011 season was cut short by a shoulder injury suffered against the
New York Jets in Week 9. H
'Melo sidelined for at least a week >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony will
likely be sidelined for at least a week because of the strained right groin he
sustained during Monday's game against Utah.
Anthony was hurt during the first quar
Oilers' Nugent-Hopkins out with sprained shoulder >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edmonton Oilers rookie forward Ryan Nugent-
Hopkins will be sidelined 7-to-10 days with a sprained shoulder.
The 18-year-old recently returned to the lineup after missing a month with a
left shoulder inju
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.
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