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07/01/2010 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert-Jan Derksen fired an eight-under 63 on Thursday to take the opening-round lead of the Open de France at Le Golf National.
Defending champion Martin Kaymer, Alejandro Canizares and Frenchman Jean van de Velde, famous for blowing the 1999 British Open, are knotted in second place at five-under 66.
Van de Velde's presence on the leaderboard is something of a shock. The 44- year-old is no longer an active player with any status on the European Tour. He is playing on a sponsor's exemption this week and despite the great start, is still cautious.
"I have no expectations whatsoever, even now. Especially now," said Van de Velde, who is ranked 1,175th in the world. "But we will see -- you never know with a Frenchman."
It's a Dutchman the field will have to worry about.
Derksen began on the 10th tee Thursday and collected his first birdie of the round at the par-three 11th. He parred his next two, then caught fire starting at the par-five 14th.
Derksen knocked his third shot to a foot to set up the easy birdie putt. He played his approach to five feet to set up his second birdie in a row and polished off his third consecutive birdie from four feet at the par-three 16th.
The two-time European Tour winner poured in a 15-footer for birdie at the 18th to make the turn in just 30 strokes.
"It was great, starting out it's never too easy," said Derksen. "I birdied 11 and made a very good par on 13, that was important, and birdied most of the holes coming in. Difficult holes, but played them very well."
Derksen continued his fine form with a birdie at one, which gave him a one- shot lead over the players at five-under.
Derksen closed his round with birdies at six and the nine to move three clear after just one round.
"I hit fairways and hit them very close," said Derksen. "Didn't make any mistakes and played good, gave myself chances and made a few putts.
"I've been playing really good actually. At the start it was very difficult -- I didn't have the confidence and now I do have the confidence. If I can keep this up I can definitely be in contention."
Danny Lee, Scott Strange, Marcel Siem, Robert Rock and Jyoti Randhawa are tied for fifth place at four-under 67.
The tournament got a boost on Thursday just by the fact that two top-10 players in the world teed off.
Lee Westwood, ranked third in the world, had what doctors thought might have been a blood clot. He was cleared and shot a one-under 70, which is good for a share of 30th.
Ian Poulter, who is No. 8, developed an infection after a bug bite, but he posted a one-over 72.
NOTES: Jose Maria Olazabal played for the first time since last October. The two-time Masters champion was battling rheumatic pains and shot an 11-over 82 on Thursday...Kaymer beat Westwood in a playoff last year...Louis Oosthuizen withdrew on Thursday.
<< Injured Henin will miss U.S. Open
Brussels, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Justine Henin says an
elbow injury will force her to miss the final Grand Slam event of the year --
the U.S. Open.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion, a two-time U.S. Open titli
<< Canucks sign C Malhotra
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks signed veteran center
Manny Malhotra to a three-year contract on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Malhotra scored a career-high 14 goals and added 19 assists in
71 games with San Jose last se
<< Phillies' Utley to have surgery
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies second baseman
Chase Utley is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday on his injured right
thumb.
The operation will take place at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New Yo
<< Bruins re-sign F Paille
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins re-signed forward Daniel
Paille to a two-year contract on Thursday.
Boston acquired Paille from Buffalo during the 2009-10 season and the former
first-round pick of the Sabres notched
Gay decides to stay in Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just one day after getting a qualifying
offer from the team, forward Rudy Gay has agreed to stay in Memphis as he will
sign a five-year deal with the Grizzlies.
It is being reported that the deal cou
Zaleski tabbed interim athletic director at Towson >>
Towson, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ted Zaleski Jr. has been named the interim
director of athletics at Towson University.
Zaleski replaces Mike Hermann, who resigned from his position on June 15.
Zaleski has been chief of staff to the
Rodriguez's late homer lifts Yankees over Seattle >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez slugged a two-run homer to snap a
tie in the eighth inning as the New York Yankees rallied late to down Seattle,
4-2, in the finale of a three-game series from Yankee Stadium.
Robinson Cano homer
Coyotes sign Morris >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes have re-signed defenseman
Derek Morris to a four-year deal on Thursday. The total contract is reportedly
worth $11 million.
Morris, 32, is in his second stint with Phoenix after getti
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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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.
Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.
Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.
So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.
In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.
For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.
The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.
The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.
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