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08/20/2007 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo and unseeded American Mardy Fish were second-round winners Monday at the $650,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final tune-up for the U.S. Open.
Robredo handled Frenchman Marc Gicquel 6-4, 6-4 on the hardcourts at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. Robredo and his fellow seeds all received opening-round byes this week.
The wild card Fish, meanwhile, knocked off seventh-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-0.
American Vincent Spadea snuck past Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-2, 5-7, 7-5; while Frenchman Arnaud Clement clocked South African qualifier Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-4; Argentine Jose Acasuso erased Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1, 7-6 (9-7); and Frenchman Julien Benneteau blitzed Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-2, 6-2 in opening-round action on Day 2 here. Clement will face third-seeded American James Blake, last week's Cincinnati Masters runner-up, in the second round.
Additional first-round wins came for Peru's Luis Horna, Spaniard Albert Montanes and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who erased Croatian qualifier Mario Ancic 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
Russian Nikolay Davydenko, this week's top seed, topped Argentine Agustin Calleri in last year's Pilot Pen finale. Davydenko will meet American Donald Young here on Tuesday.
The 2007 New Haven titlist will collect $84,000.
<< Iowa suspends pair of players
Iowa City, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Iowa suspended sophomore
wide receivers Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman for an indefinite period
of time Monday.
Both players were arrested Sunday by University of Iowa police
<< Casillas out for Spain's friendly with Greece
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas has been
ruled out of Spain's squad for this week's friendly against Greece after he
suffered an injury in training on Monday.
The Spanish Football Federation said t
<< Beltran named NL Player of the Week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran was
named NL Player of the Week for the period ending August 19.
The switch-hitting Beltran hit .375 with four homers and eight runs scored
in the week. The 30-
<< Rain postpones Cup race again
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR's Nextel Cup race at the Michigan
International Speedway was postponed due to rain for the second consecutive
day. The 3M Performance 400 has been pushed back until Tuesday and the green
flag is
Snedeker climbs 25 places in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandt Snedeker fired a 63 in the final
round of the Wyndham Championship on Sunday to become the first rookie to win
on the PGA Tour this season, a victory that vaulted Snedeker 25 places in the
latest
Molina, Giants complete sweep of Marlins >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bengie Molina finished 4-for-5 with three RBI
and a pair of runs scored, as San Francisco clipped Florida, 8-7, in the
finale of a four-game set.
Rich Aurilia had three hits and an RBI for the Giants,
Dementieva, Bammer win Pilot Pen openers >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva and
seventh-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer were Monday's first-round winners at
the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, a final U.S. Open tune-up.
The two-time major ru
Ochoa increases lead in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lorena Ochoa claimed her fifth win of the
year Sunday at the Canadian Open, solidifying her hold on the No. 1 spot in
the Rolex Rankings for women's golf.
Ochoa upped her advantage on No. 2 Karrie
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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