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07/21/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sal Zizzo, a 23-year-old U.S. youth international, is now a member of Chivas USA following a weighted lottery which took place on Wednesday.
The Goats had the third best chance (16.28 percent) of landing the former UCLA product, who will play in his native California.
Zizzo started all five matches for the USA at the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, where he helped the Americans reach the quarterfinals of the competition.
He had been playing in Germany with Hannover since 2007, but he was limited to just eight appearances in the Bundesliga because of knee problems, and he became available after his contract expired this summer.
The California native played two years at UCLA before turning professional with Hannover after the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in July 2007. Zizzo made his senior national team debut later that same summer on August 22 against Sweden.
Four teams opted out of Wednesday's weighted lottery in which the percentage chances for winning the rights to the player were determined by each team's record over its last 30 regular season games. The New England Revolution, Chicago Fire, Toronto FC and Columbus Crew did not participate.
By virtue of winning the lottery, Chivas USA will not be eligible to participate in another lottery for the rest of the 2010 season.
<< Ottawa inks Foligno for two years
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators signed forward Nick
Foligno to a two-year contract on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Buffalo native slumped in his second full NHL campaign,
recording just nine goals and 26 poin
<< Report: Alabama DE Dareus declared ineligible
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus has
reportedly been declared ineligible in the wake of alleged improper dealings
with sports agents.
According to the Tuscaloosa News, it is standard for a player
<< Twins to reinstate Casilla from DL
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will reinstate
infielder Alexi Casilla from the 15-day disabled list prior to Thursday's game
against Baltimore.
Casilla has been on the DL since June 1 with bone chips in his r
<< Melzer advances at Hamburg as more seeded players fall
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer was
among the second-round winners Wednesday at the German Open Tennis
Championships, while more seeded players fell out of the tournament.
Melzer advanc
Astros add Figueroa among host of moves >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have claimed pitcher Nelson
Figueroa off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies.
The team also claimed infielder Anderson Hernandez off waivers from the
Cleveland Indians. To make r
Thunder sign G Ivey >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed
free agent guard Royal Ivey.
As per team policy, no details of the deal were announced.
The 28-year-old Ivey split last season between Philadelphia and Milw
Ducks sign D Syvret >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Danny
Syvret to a one-year contract on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Syvret has two goals and three assists in 49 career NHL games
with Edmonton and Philadelphia. His
MacArthur a free agent after Thrashers reject contract decision >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forward Clarke MacArthur is reportedly a free
agent after the Atlanta Thrashers walked away from an arbitrator's decision on
Wednesday.
According to TSN of Canada, the 25-year-old, a restricted free agen
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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.
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