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08/02/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - We already knew Stan Bowman was serious about fixing the Blackhawks' salary cap situation, but that still wasn't enough to prepare us for the recent decisions made by Chicago's general manager.
On Sunday, an arbitrator awarded Antti Niemi, the goaltender who just several weeks ago helped the Blackhawks win their first Stanley Cup championship in 49 years, $2.75 million for the 2010-11 season.
The arbitrator's ruling led to the surprising announcement on Monday that the Blackhawks were walking away from Niemi and his $2.75 million price tag, and signing veteran Marty Turco to a one-year deal worth a reported $1.3 million. Just like that, Niemi became an unrestricted free agent and Turco became the presumptive favorite to start in net for Chicago next season.
So, for the difference of $1.45 million, the Blackhawks lost a Stanley Cup- winning goaltender who, at 26 years of age, is presumably about to enter his prime. Turco, on the other hand, has a losing record over his playoff career and is about to celebrate his 35th birthday in the coming weeks. The fact that Chicago couldn't find a way to keep Niemi for $1.5 million more a year really illustrates how tight the cap situation is in the Windy City.
Of course, the rather large contract of a third goaltender, Cristobal Huet, is among the financial issues that have made Bowman's summer of salary dumping a necessity. Huet was signed by Chicago's previous GM, Dale Tallon, to an enormous four-year, $22.4 million contract in July of 2008. To say that Huet hasn't earned that money would be a comical understatement.
Huet famously lost his starting job to first-year NHLer Niemi during last season, and Monday's signing of Turco reveals that the Hawks still don't have much faith in Huet regaining his No. 1 status. Regardless of how many starts Huet gets this year, he still carries a damaging cap hit of about $5.6 million for each of the next two seasons.
But it wasn't just Tallon's signing of Huet that made it essential for Bowman to play the fiscal voice of reason this summer. Tallon had simply allocated too much money to too many players and Bowman responded this offseason by getting rid of guys like Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd, Adam Burish and others.
Nobody wants to see a championship team get dismantled as quickly as the 2009-10 Blackhawks have been stripped to pieces, but Bowman is taking on a noble crusade in doing so. Chicago's GM is sacrificing depth in order to keep together his franchise's nucleus.
Because of Bowman's maneuvering, the Blackhawks will be able to keep key pieces like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, and Patrick Sharp. However, head coach Joel Quenneville will have the difficult task of winning with a top-heavy lineup that will surely be filled out by inexpensive, journeymen-type players. My guess is the Blackhawks will still make the playoffs and challenge for a division title, but it could be hard to repeat as Cup winners when so much of the team's depth is now elsewhere.
But, Monday's news doesn't just show us how dire Chicago's salary cap issues are. It also reveals how much Turco wants to play for the Blackhawks. Sure, Turco seems to be nearing the end of his career and is coming off a couple of down seasons in Dallas, but it's hard to believe he couldn't have earned more than $1.3 million to play somewhere other than Chicago.
Under different circumstances the Blackhawks would've loved to hold onto Niemi and see if he had another Stanley Cup or two in his future, but the club is erring on the side of caution. In order to save a little bit of money under the cap, the team is essentially betting that Niemi is not the long-term answer in net, and that they could be just as good with an aging veteran like Turco between the pipes.
Now, of course, Niemi is a hot commodity on the open market and will likely land with a contender if the right team can find the cap space to sign the Finnish netminder.
As for Blackhawks fans, they will always remember Niemi for his role in helping end a lengthy Cup drought, and will likely keep a close eye on the rest of the youngster's career. Bowman and the Hawks front office will be watching Niemi as well, but they'll be hoping the goaltender doesn't become the franchise goaltender that got away.
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Rockies' Gonzalez earns NL weekly honors >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez
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Cards sign veteran hurler Robertson >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have signed veteran
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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.
MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds
According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.
Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet. The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.
MySportsbook.com has also posted gambling odds on the conference championships for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. In the ACC – it could be anyone’s title, particularly for the two schools from the Sunshine State. Florida State and Miami, both listed at 2-1, are favored to win the ACC Championship Game odds, with the ‘Noles hoping to finish in the nation’s top 10 for the first time in five years, and the ‘Canes looking to avenge their 10-7 loss against FSU in last year’s ACC Championship betting.
Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL. In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
| Notre Dame Ohio State West Virginia Texas USC Florida California Auburn Oklahoma Iowa Louisville Florida State Michigan Miami (FL) LSU Penn State Virginia Tech Nebraska Tennessee Georgia Arizona State Oregon Clemson Texas A&M Texas Tech Alabama Arkansas Boston College Michigan State Maryland South Carolina Colorado Purdue Georgia Tech TCU UCLA Arizona Pittsburgh Iowa State Wisconsin North Carolina State Virginia North Carolina Fresno State Hawaii Northwestern BYU Oregon State UNLV Field (Any Other Team) |
5-1 7-1 8-1 8-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 18-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 25-1 40-1 40-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 70-1 70-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 150-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 250-1 250-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 400-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 1000-1 1000-1 40-1 |
| Miami (FL) Florida State Virginia Tech Clemson Georgia Tech Boston College Maryland Virginia North Carolina State North Carolina Wake Forest Duke |
2-1 2-1 3-1 7-1 15-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 500-1 |
| Texas Oklahoma Nebraska Texas Tech Colorado Iowa State Texas A&M Kansas State Missouri Kansas Baylor Oklahoma State |
7-5 9-5 9-2 12-1 14-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 35-1 100-1 100-1 |
| Auburn Florida LSU Georgia Tennessee Arkansas Alabama Mississippi South Carolina Mississippi State Kentucky Vanderbilt |
5-2 11-4 4-1 6-1 7-1 7-1 9-1 20-1 28-1 75-1 100-1 300-1 |
For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.
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