Arsenal held by Bolton at the Reebok

Soccer Betting Lines

02/01/2012 - Bolton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal extended its winless run after it was held to a 0-0 draw at Bolton in Premier League play Wednesday.

The Gunners had lost three straight league games heading into their clash against the Trotters, but a staunch Bolton defense ensured that Arsenal would not claim its first win since the turn of the new year.

Despite the deficiency in goals, neither team was devoid of scoring opportunities at the Reebok.

David N'Gog almost shocked Arsene Wenger's men in the first half after latching on to a bouncing ball in the box. N'Gog slipped past Laurent Koscielny and was one-on-one with Wojciech Szczesny, but the French winger failed to control the ball cleanly as he pushed his effort just wide of the post.

Robin van Persie came within inches of putting Arsenal in front 10 minutes from time. The Dutchman sailed a late shot toward goal over the head of goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, but it rattled the crossbar and was cleared to safety by the Bolton defense.

The Trotters had a penalty shout down the stretch when Mark Davies found himself through on goal. The midfielder was tugged by Per Mertesacker and tripped up by Szczesny, but no call was given.

The match finished scoreless, dooming Arsenal to a four-game winless run.

The Gunners slip to seventh place in the Premier League after Newcastle claimed a 2-0 win over Blackburn on Wednesday. The Magpies move into fifth place on 39 points, one point ahead of Liverpool in sixth place and two ahead of Arsenal in seventh.

Bolton remains one spot above the relegation zone, but moves two points clear of 18th place following Blackburn's loss to Newcastle. The Trotters sit fourth from bottom on 20 points.

Newcastle 2, Blackburn 0

Blackburn, England - Newcastle climbed into fifth place in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat of Blackburn at Ewood Park on Wednesday.

Scott Dann conceded an own goal in the 12th minute to put the Magpies in front. Blackburn was left to rue a missed penalty kick from David Dunn in the 44th minute as Gabriel Obertan added a second goal for Newcastle at the death to secure all three points.

The Magpies jump ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool in the EPL table and into fifth place on 39 points. Blackburn, meanwhile, remains in the relegation zone with just 18 points.

Fulham 1, West Bromwich 1

London, England - Clint Dempsey continued his good form Wednesday, but it was not enough to overturn the Baggies as Fulham and West Bromwich played to a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.

The American international bagged his 10th goal of the Premier League season in the 69th minute, but Somen Tchoyi scored eight minutes from time with his first goal of the season to see West Brom and Fulham split the points.

The draw sees the two clubs remain just one point apart, as the Cottagers improve to 27 points compared to 26 points from the Baggies.

Sunderland 3, Norwich City 0

Sunderland, England - Sunderland cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Norwich City at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday to continue its good form under Martin O'Neill.

Fraizer Campbell, Stephane Sessegnon, and an own goal from Daniel Ayala saw the Black Cats claim their sixth win from their eight matches under O'Neill.

Sunderland moved into eighth place on 30 points, one point better than Norwich City, which is tied with Everton for the 10th position in England's top flight.

Aston Villa 2, QPR 2

Birmingham, England - QPR threw away a two-goal advantage on Wednesday as Aston Villa stormed back to claim a point in a 2-2 draw at Villa Park.

New QPR signing Djibril Cisse opened the scoring in the 12th minute, a lead that was doubled in the 29th minute following an own goal from Stephen Warnock. But the Villans battled back thanks to goals from Darren Bent and Charles N'Zogbia in the 45th and 79th minutes, respectively.

QPR moves three points clear of the relegation zone on 21 points, while Villa continues its search for a place in the top half of the table as it sits in 12th place on 28 points.

Sporsbook Soccer Betting News

<< Chiefs offensive coordinator Muir retires
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Bill Muir has retired, the team announced Wednesday. Muir was named the Chiefs offensive coordinator prior to last season after spending the previous two year

<< 2012 debut for Animal Kingdom decided
Oldsmar, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eclipse Award winner Animal Kingdom will begin his four-year-old campaign later this month at Tampa Bay Downs. Team Valor's . Barry Irwin and trainer Graham Motion announced the decision in a press release

<< NHL fines Boulton, Boll $2,500 each
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League on Wednesday fined New Jersey Devils forward Eric Boulton and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jared Boll $2,500 for separate incidents. Boulton was docked for his slash on New Yor

<< Umenyiora fined $20k for missing media session
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora was fined $20,000 for missing a mandatory 45-minute interview session with the media on Wednesday. Umenyiora said in a statement issued by the G

<< New record purse for Daytona 500
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Officials from Daytona International Speedway announced Wednesday a record purse of more than $19 million for the February 26 season-opening Daytona 500. The purse for NASCAR's most prestigious

Charlie Spoonhour passes away >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Missouri State, Saint Louis and UNLV head coach Charlie Spoonhour has died after his battle with lung disease. He was 72. Spoonhour began his coaching career at Missouri State in 1983 -- then kn

Inter and Palermo share points in eight-goal thriller >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Diego Milito scored four times for Inter Milan while Palermo got three goals from Fabrizio Miccoli in a 4-4 draw at the San Siro on Wednesday. Andrea Mantovani started the scoring barrage in the 16th minu

Gronkowski misses another practice >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski missed another practice Wednesday because of the left ankle injury he suffered in the AFC Championship Game. Gronkowski has yet to practice in prepar

Ticats release RB Cobourne, two others >>
Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Hamilton Tiger-Cats cut running back Avon Cobourne loose on Wednesday, along with two other players. Cobourne helped the Montreal Alouettes to a pair of Grey Cup titles in 2009-10, and earn

Carlin named Coastal Carolina's defensive coordinator >>
Conway, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Coastal Carolina head football coach Joe Moglia announced Wednesday that Clayton Carlin has been named the Chanticleers' defensive coordinator. Carlin has spent the last two seasons as defensive coordinator

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.

Police report: Terrell Owens hospitalized after attempt

Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.

The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.

Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.

NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.

"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.

The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.

But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.

The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.

Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.

The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.

The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.

The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.

Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.

Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."

Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.

"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."

Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.

It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.

"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."

Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.

"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."

At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.

According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.

Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.

Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.

When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.

He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.

Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.

Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.

Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.

While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.

"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.

Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.

Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

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