Federer's drive for five begins with Russian

Tennis Betting Lines

06/22/2007 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer will begin his quest for a fifth straight Wimbledon title against someone who has never played on the lawns of the All England Club, as the draw for this year's third Grand Slam event was unveiled Friday.

The top-seeded Federer is again the overwhelming favorite on the hallowed grass courts of the London suburb and will open his fortnight against Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili. Gabashvili has never played at Wimbledon and his first two ventures into Grand Slam play this year ended with first-round losses at both the Australian and French Opens.

Federer is trying to become the first man to win five straight Wimbledon crowns since the great Bjorn Borg accomplished the feat from 1976-80. His opening match next week will be his first on grass this year, as the Swiss star did not play any of the Wimbledon tuneup events. He pulled out of the warmup at Halle, Germany last week on the heels of his loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.

Nadal, who lost to Federer in last year's Wimbledon final, is seeded second this year and will open play against American Mardy Fish. Another American, Andy Roddick, is the third seed. He lost a pair of Wimbledon finals to Federer in 2004 and '05 before a third-round finish last year and is slated to take on fellow American Justin Gimelstob in the first round.

Roddick is in Federer's half of the draw and can only face the Swiss superstar in the semifinals.

Other potential opponents for Federer include two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin of Russia in the third round, 13th-seeded German Tommy Haas in the fourth and American James Blake or Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the quarterfinals.

The ninth-seeded Blake has never made it past the third round at Wimbledon and will open with Russia's Igor Andreev, who will get another chance to eliminate an American in the first round of a Grand Slam. Andreev was a surprise quarterfinalist at the French Open after taking out Roddick in the first round at Roland Garros.

Roddick's potential opponents include Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty in round three and Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic or Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the fourth round. Hrbaty's never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon and Ljubicic has never reached the round of 16, but has advanced to the final at this week's Ordina Open. Stepanek was a surprise quarterfinalist last year.

Britain's Andy Murray is a possible quarterfinal foe for Roddick, although the eighth seed has been battling a wrist injury that kept him out of the French Open. Murray, Britain's latest hope to end the host country's long title drought, could face the nation's previous great hope -- Tim Henman -- in the third round.

Nadal's half of the draw includes a potential third-round matchup with two- time Wimbledon semifinalist Sebastien Grosjean of France and a possible fourth-rounder against Germany's Florian Mayer, who was a quarterfinalist in his first trip to Wimbledon three years ago. Seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and 11th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo could be quarterfinal foes for the three-time French Open champ.

A couple of top-flight grass court players dot the other half of Nadal's portion of the draw, as it features 2002 Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and his opponent in that year's final, David Nalbandian of Argentina. Hewitt, seeded 16th this year, would have to get past fourth-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. Nalbandian, meanwhile, could meet 2006 semifinalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the third round or sixth- seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth. Davydenko, however, has just one match win in five appearances at Wimbledon.

Play at the All England Club is scheduled to start Monday, June 25.

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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.

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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“You play to win the game!”

Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.

The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.

The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.

Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?

Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.

New York Giants betting lines

Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.

Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.

The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.

Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.

Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.

First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”

The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason. 

Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.

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