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03/02/2010 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea midfielder Deco seems certain to leave London this summer and return to his native Brazil.
The Portugal international moved to Stamford Bridge from Barcelona at the beginning of last season on a three-year contract but has struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular during his time in the capital.
He was quoted in The Sun as saying: "I want to go back to Brazil. I still have a couple of good years of high-level football in me but I want to be near my kids.
"Ideally, I'd like to go after the World Cup and I've been talking to Chelsea about it. It will all depend on Chelsea - if the club release me or let me go on loan."
The 32-year-old ex-FC Porto midfielder was linked with a move away from Chelsea last summer with Inter Milan his preferred choice, only to eventually remain in the Premier League.
Deco has scored six goals in 52 first-team appearances during his time with the club.
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
<< Juve striker Amauri out with thigh injury
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus striker Amauri will miss up to a
month of football with a thigh injury.
The development comes at a crucial point in Juventus' season, as The Old Lady
lie in sixth place, 10 points behind Roma
<< Miller expected to sit for Sabres on Tuesday
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller is
expected to sit Tuesday when his team returns from the Olympic break with a
contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Miller backstopped the United States to a
<< Chelios signed by Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran defenseman Chris Chelios is returning
to the National Hockey League, signing a contract Tuesday to play for the
Atlanta Thrashers.
Chelios was an unrestricted free agent and recently inked a thir
<< U.S. names Kubik assistant coach
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - United States coach Bob Bradley named ex-Czech
international Lubos Kubik an assistant coach for the national team Tuesday.
Kubik's 20-year playing career included stints in Italy, France and Germany,
and a
Eastern Washington gives Earlywine contract extension >>
Cheney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eastern Washington has given men's basketball
coach Kirk Earlywine a contract extension through next season.
Earlywine just completed his third season with the Eagles and has posted a
record of 32-58, in
Royals sign Hochevar, Rosa for 2010 >>
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have agreed to
contracts with pitchers Luke Hochevar and Carlos Rosa for the 2010 season.
Hochevar was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft and debuted for the big
league
Glazers rule out selling United >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Glazer family is adamant that they
have no intention of selling Manchester United.
A group called the "Red Knights" are reported to be interested in buying the
recent Carling Cup winners from the
Real, Barca are world's richest clubs >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona has overtaken Manchester United
in the latest rich list of European clubs.
Real Madrid still top the Deloitte Football Money League but Barca are now
second ahead of United, largely becaus
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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