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05/05/2010 - Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hofstra University named Mo Cassara head coach of the men's basketball team on Wednesday, just two days after Tim Welsh resigned following his DWI arrest.
Cassara spent the last four years as an assistant at Boston College, where he was heavily involved with recruiting, scouting, off-season workouts and scheduling.
"We have had the opportunity to see Mo's dynamic leadership, energy and enthusiasm in action," said Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz. "His experience with college basketball, his passion for the game, and his desire to work with student-athletes in all facets of their development, will serve our basketball team well and help take our program to the next level of excellence."
Prior to joining Boston College, Cassara served as the head coach at Clark University, a Division III program, for two years (2004-06). He also had a one-year stint as an assistant at Dayton in 2003-04.
Cassara agreed to a multi-year contract to replace Welsh, who was reportedly arrested on the morning of April 30.
According to the New York Daily News, the 49-year-old Welsh was found asleep at the wheel at a green light. He registered a .18 on a breath test, more than twice the legal limit, and was charged with driving while intoxicated. He later pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
Welsh had been hired on March 31 to succeed Tom Pecora.
<< This Week in Auto Racing May 2 - 7
Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series
teams spend this Mother's Day weekend at Darlington Raceway, while Formula One
competes in Europe for the first time this season with the Spanish Grand Prix
in Barc
<< AP Source: Hornets interview Fratello
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -A person familiar with the meeting says the New Orleans Hornets have interviewed Mike Fratello, the third candidate to meet with the club about its vacant head coaching job.Hornets executives met with Fratello in Cleveland on Wedne
<< Temple's Golden, Dunphy get new contract extensions
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temple University head football
coach Al Golden and head men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy received lengthy
contract extensions on Wednesday.
For Golden, it is a five-year extension, while D
<< Serena, Venus reach Rome quarters
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning world No. 1 Serena Williams
and her former top-ranked big sister Venus were a pair of third-round victors
Wednesday at the $2 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open
tune-up
Keselowski looking for third win in a row >>
Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday, May
7. Race: Royal Purple 200. Site: Darlington Raceway. Track: 1.366-mile oval.
Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 147. Miles: 200.8. 2009 winner: Matt
Kenseth. Televisi
Motherwell rallies for draw in 12-goal thriller >>
Motherwell, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lucas Jutkiewicz scored in stoppage
time to cap a four-goal rally in the final 23 minutes of a thrilling 6-6 draw
with Hibernian at Fir Park Stadium on Wednesday, keeping the Steelman in
fourth
No Bradley in Mariners' starting lineup >>
SEATTLE (AP) -Milton Bradley is not in the Seattle Mariners' starting lineup one day after he left the stadium following his benching by manager Don Wakamatsu.Ryan Langerhans is listed as the starter in left field for Wednesday's game against Tampa
Ainge comes clean in Cleveland towel incident >>
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) -Danny Ainge says he regrets tossing a towel in the air to distract a Cavaliers player during a free throw attempt.The Celtics GM told WEEI-AM in Boston he behaved unprofessionally during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifina
Chicago, IL - New Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and star linebacker Brian Urlacher shot down reports of a rift, saying they're simply not true.
"There's nothing between us," Cutler said Thursday, when he reported to training camp. "I just want to put that to rest. There never has been anything between us."
Urlacher added: "I never said what I was quoted as saying and that's it. I have a lot of respect for Jay. I think Jay knows that."
Former Bears receiver Bobby Wade caused a stir when he told Minneapolis radio station KFAN-AM that Urlacher used a profanity while questioning Cutler's manhood during a conversation in Las Vegas last weekend. Wade, who now plays for the Vikings, said Urlacher used a profane version of the word "wimp" during the interview that had to be edited out.
go radio station WSCR-AM also reported that Urlacher had to be restrained from confronting Cutler during organized team activities.
"I wouldn't go face-to-face with Brian, anyway," Cutler said. "No, that's never happened. I've hung out with Brian away from the facility numerous times and we've always gotten along."
Urlacher, noting he was limited by a groin injury, denied the reports in an interview with the Chicago Tribune and did it again when he reported to camp.
"I didn't practice this summer, so I don't know how I would fight the guy if I didn't practice," Urlacher said. "We have no problems. I'm excited about football starting. I'm excited to have him as our quarterback."
Why would Wade say that?
"I don't know," Urlacher said. "Maybe he's jealous because we have a good quarterback now."
Cutler said the first he heard of any friction was when he got a call from Urlacher to clear the air. Urlacher, however, said he had already taken several calls from teammates wondering if the reports were true when Cutler phoned.
"He called me and I said, What's up (expletive), what are you doing?'" a grinning Urlacher said, uttering the same word he allegedly used with Wade. "It's so dumb to me that this even got to this point, but it did and then here we are."
better place after going 9-7 and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. They have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades after acquiring Cutler in an offseason trade with Denver. But there are questions about his attitude following a fallout with Broncos management and new coach Josh McDaniels.
His critics include former Bears coach Mike Ditka and former Indianapolis and Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy, one of Smith's mentors. Smith, however, said Cutler has been a model teammate so far while denying any animosity with Urlacher.
"There's no issue with Jay and Brian, except Brian and Jay are both excited about being teammates for our club this year," coach Lovie Smith said. "No more than that. We can't spend a whole lot of time on something that isn't true. I have talked to the players. Whenever something comes out, you have to address it, but it's a non-issue."
In some ways, Cutler is getting a second chance in Chicago, an opportunity to repair his reputation.
Smith said another quarterback - Michael Vick - deserves one, although he doesn't see it happening with the Bears, who lack an experienced backup. The former Atlanta Falcons star, who served a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring, said Thursday he is getting close to signing with a pro football team.
"A second chance, like everyone in society who has paid their debt to society," Smith said. "He deserves a second chance. As far as we're concerned, we like this team that we have right now."
Particularly the new quarterback.
"Me and Brian have been on a good relationship since I've been here, and I expect it to continue that way," Cutler said.
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(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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