Blue Jays place Ryan, Romero on DL; recall pair of pitchers

Baseball Betting Lines

04/24/2009 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays have added pitchers Brian Burres and Bryan Bullington to the major league roster after B.J. Ryan and Ricky Romero were recently placed on the disabled list.

Ryan, the team's closer, is on the disabled list with tightness in his right trapezius, which is a muscle in the upper back. He is out indefinitely after struggling to a 11.12 earned run average over 5 2/3 innings this season.

Romero was placed on the disabled list Thursday, retroactive to Monday, with a strained oblique. The Blue Jays' website says Romero may return by the middle of May. The rookie pitcher has been throwing well to start 2009, compiling a 2-0 record with a 1.71 ERA in three starts.

Burres hasn't appeared in a major league game for Toronto this season after spending the last three seasons in Baltimore. In 79 career games -- 39 starts -- he is 13-18 with a 5.88 ERA.

Bullington, the first overall selection in the 2002 draft, has yet to win a game in his brief major league career. In parts of three major league seasons with Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the 28-year-old is 0-5 with a 5.45 ERA in nine games -- five starts.

Sportbettingshop Baseball Betting News

<< Mavs' Terry wins Sixth Man Award
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry captured the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award. Terry received 576 of a possible 605 points, including 111 of a possible 121 first-place votes from a panel of sports

<< Newman tops in qualifying for Talladega Nationwide race
Talladega, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Newman won the pole for Saturday's Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Newman turned in the best lap around the 2.66-mile, high-banked oval at 185.877 m.p.h. in

<< Chivas aims to rebound from midweek loss vs. FCD
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA and FC Dallas square off in a Major League Soccer Western Conference tilt on Saturday at The Home Depot Center. Chivas USA is coming off a midweek loss at Toronto, its first loss of the season,

<< Breaking Down the Kentucky Derby - Part I
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 135th Kentucky Derby is approximately one week away, and almost all the participants are settled in the Bluegrass State. The only three unaccounted for are Mr. Hot Stuff, Colonel John's full brother, and

<< Fiorentina faces crucial Roma test
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The race for fourth place continues to heat up in Serie A on Saturday as fifth-placed Fiorentina hosts sixth-placed Roma in a match that will go a long way towards determining the fates of the two teams.

Wild G Backstrom undergoes hip surgery >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom underwent successful hip surgery on Friday and will have a recovery timetable of about 12 weeks. According to the team's website, Backstrom had a labral d

Langer and Lehman team for share of Legends lead >>
Savannah, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Lehman, playing in his first Champions Tour event, and Bernhard Langer teamed for an 11-under 61 on Friday to share first with Fuzzy Zoeller and John Jacobs after the first round of the Legends of Golf

'Determined' Bayern set for Schalke clash >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich has not led the Bundesliga at all this season and, with six matches remaining, realize "it's all or nothing," striker Luca Toni said this week. Bayern hosts Schalke at the Allianz Arena on S

Eskimos sign pair of RB's, release one >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Eskimos signed running backs Ciatrick Fason and Arkee Whitlock and released A.J. Harris on Friday. Fason was taken in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings and

NAC must produce response >>
Nijmegen, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NAC manager Robert Maaskant is desperate for his side to produce a good performance on Saturday when they travel to NEC. Maaskant has watched his team lose its last five games in all com

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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.

Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.