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09/03/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's a milestone in itself that Penn State icon Joe Paterno is still coaching in the twilight of his years. So it comes as no surprise that the bespectacled legend is approaching 400 career wins.
His traditional white-laced Nike's and khaki pants have strolled the sidelines in Happy Valley since the 1960s, leaving many to wonder when Paterno will finally call it quits. It's unlikely the all-time leader in career wins among FBS coaches will shoot for the unprecedented 500-win mark since he's currently 394-129-3 (75.2).
Paterno will enter his 45th season as head coach of the Nittany Lions, who kick off the season Saturday afternoon against Youngstown State. The young squad returns 13 starters from a year ago which could make it tough for Paterno to become only the third coach in NCAA history with 400 victories, joining John Gagliardi (471) and Eddie Robinson (408). Paterno, whose tenure as head coach at PSU is the longest at one institution among major college coaches, won 300 games faster than any other at his position.
Inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in December 2007, Paterno's best years may be behind him. But his love for the sport and Penn State is as fresh as the morning dew.
"I'm feeling really good. And as long as I enjoy it, I'll continue to coach, unless I don't think I can do a good job or anybody else doesn't think I can do the job," Paterno quipped during Big Ten media day.
Let's be honest here.
Who in their right mind at Penn State is going to tell Paterno it's time for him to hang up the cuffed khakis after all of the revenue and popularity he has created in his time in central Pennsylvania?
Some may argue the game has passed Paterno by, but he can simply point towards the four Bowl wins over the past five years, back-to-back 11-win seasons, a myriad of players drafted in the NFL and nation-wide respect from both players and coaches. Paterno has also been fortunate to have great scouts who recruit top-tier athletes around the country.
Enter running back Evan Royster.
Royster is from a hot bed of talent down in Farifax, VA, and has transformed himself into one of the nation's premier backs during his days in State College. Penn State is known for sending its linebackers to the next level, a place where Nittany Lion running backs go to die. Royster will most likely be a mid-round pick in 2011 if he stays healthy and looks to avoid the bust label players such as Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter and Curtis Enis are all too familiar with.
Keeping able-bodied is tough to do at any level of football. Former PSU backs Curt Warner, Tony Hunt and Thomas were able to avoid the trainer's room and are the top three rushers in school history.
Royster, who is returning for his senior season, enters the 2010 campaign with 2,918 career rushing yards and needs 481 more to break Warner's record of 3,398 yards set from 1979-82. He needs only 82 yards to become the sixth Penn State tailback to eclipse the 3,000-career rushing mark. He should get that before halftime versus Youngstown State.
"I wanted to return to finish my degree and for my final year at Penn State," Royster told PSU's official website. "I'm looking forward to next season."
Penn State fans should look forward to seeing Royster become the school's all- time leading rusher sometime in October. The Nittany Lions have three fairly easy games in their first four weeks of action (Youngstown State, Kent State, Temple) save a Sept. 11 road bout with defending national champion Alabama.
In other Penn State news, true-freshman quarterback Robert Bolden is expected to start under center for this weekend's game against the Penguins. Paterno is not well known for throwing young players into the proverbial fire, but then again this a matchup Penn State is expected to win with ease.
Paterno had to pick between several signal callers, including last year's backup Kevin Newsome.
"Based on what we have seen to this point, Bolden has a slight edge right now, but we are confident all three quarterbacks are ready to go and hope to give them an opportunity to play until we settle on the one that gives us the best chance to win," Paterno told the team's website.
Paterno should make that decision Saturday night before the team prepares for a tough showdown with the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, AL.
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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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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