Masella named associate head coach at Wagner

NCAA Football Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Staten Island, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Fordham head football coach Tom Masella has been named associate head coach at Wagner College, veteran Seahawks head coach Walt Hameline announced Thursday.

Masella, a native of Staten Island who played defensive back at Wagner before graduating in 1981, also will serve as the secondary coach and special teams coordinator.

It is Masella's second coaching stint at Wagner, where he began his career under Hameline from 1982-84.

"I'm excited to be back at my alma mater and to be back home here on Staten Island," Masella said. "Obviously, I have the utmost respect for Walt Hameline as a person and as a football coach. This is an exciting opportunity for me and I can't wait to jump in and start getting to know and working with the players and the rest of the coaching staff."

Masella has coached at nine colleges. Most recently, he served as Fordham's head coach for six seasons. He finished 27-40 overall and was fired last November after the Rams went 1-10 - their worst record since 1999.

He also was head coach at Fairfield (1996), Boston University (1996-97) and Central Connecticut State (2004-05). He has a 44-66 all-time record.

Wagner finished 4-7 overall, and 4-4 in the Northeast Conference, this past season.

Wwwmlife NCAA Football Betting News

<< Report: Harden to miss 2012 season
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free agent pitcher Rich Harden will reportedly miss the entire 2012 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Harden had a torn capsule in his right sho

<< Orioles beat Bergesen in arbitration
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Brad Bergesen lost his arbitration case and will earn a salary of $800,000 for the 2012 season. Bergesen had sought $1.2 million. The right-hander was 2-7 with a 5.70 earned run a

<< High-ankle sprain shelves Pens' Kennedy
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma revealed Thursday that forward Tyler Kennedy has a high-ankle sprain and will possibly be sidelined at least a month. "After a week we'll have a better idea

<< Koivu back in Wild lineup Thursday
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will have captain Mikko Koivu in the lineup when they host the Northwest Division-leading Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Koivu missed eight games with a shoulder injury suffered

<< Real Madrid's Altintop sustains calf injury
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid's Hamit Altintop has sustained a muscle tear in his left calf and will likely be sidelined for a few weeks, the La Liga club announced Thursday. Although Real Madrid gave no exact timetable for

San Jose signs Wondolowski to new contract >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes signed two-time MLS leading scorer Chris Wondolowski to a new deal Thursday, although per league and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wondolowski has led MLS in

Breen prepares Pants On Fire for return >>
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday marks a big day for trainer Kelly Breen with the return of his 2011 Belmont Stakes champion Ruler On Ice. The four-year-old gelding is one of the favorites for the $500,000 Donn Handica

Houston acquires Kandji from Colorado >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo have acquired forward Macoumba Kandji from the Colorado Rapids in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Kandji, 26, has played 57 regular season matches over five seasons in MLS. H

Lafayette-Lehigh to play 150 in NYC? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As if the 150th meeting between the Lafayette and Lehigh football teams wasn't special enough ... How about an extra special venue? The Express-Times of Easton, Pa., reported Thursday about the concept o

Gonzalez will retire next month >>
Santiago, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chilean star Fernando Gonzalez says he expects to retire from the ATP World Tour next month. The former Australian Open runner-up, who has been plagued by hip, knee and back injuries over the las

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.

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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