Monday, August 11, 2008

Slicing the vig, "In dispute" and Dangerous Dallas

NY Post: Foul Play, NBA Ref blows the whistle, games riggedThe impact of the crooked NBA ref, Tim Donaghy, and headlines like the one the NY Post ran back in June have been felt in Vegas. Why should professional sports books, which are run by large public companies like MGM, Winn, Boyd, etc take risks on a game that might not be on the up and up? This FBI investigation could take years. So the NBA's "integrity of the game" will be in limbo until then.

But, Vegas will still collect its vig - win, lose, or fix.

Chris Reed / SLAM:
Is The NBA Gambling On Its Reputation? -- Las Vegas bookies are considering taking the NBA off the boards.

When it comes to the NBA, more and more professional sports handicappers are finding it a risky bet.

It’s been a year since the hoops world found out that Tim Donaghy was nothing more than a wannabe bookie in a gray shirt — gambling on games he officiated and making calls based on spread in the books...

It’s still not much more than a murmur, but sports bookies are openly taking about the possibility of taking the NBA off the boards. Go into a sports book these days and you’ll hear the talk. “Are you still going to bet on hoops?” “Is it fixed?” “Can we trust the NBA?” ...

As far as Commissioner David Stern and the rest of the NBA higher-ups are concerned, they want this to go away into a locked cell along with Donaghy. But just when the NBA seemed to isolate this to Donaghy and make him the fall-guy, Donaghy’s rat-like squealing implicated fellow official Scott Foster in the scandal. On top of that, other officials are being investigated by the Feds. Dick Bavetta may have had an easier time beating Charles Barkley in a footrace than he will beating the FBI...

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NHL and KHL In Dispute

Have you noticed all the back and forth player moves between the NHL and KHL? And how many of these moves are in dispute? It also looks like the balance of trade favors the East.

Transfers into NHL, June 25-Aug. 1

  • F Nikita Filatov, CSKA Moscow (KHL) to Columbus Blue Jackets in dispute
  • F Fyodor Fedorov, Dinamo Moscow (KHL) to New Jersey Devils in dispute
  • F Viktor Tikhonov, Severstal Cherepovets (KHL) to Phoenix Coyotes in dispute
  • D Tomas Mojzis, Sibir Novosibirsk (KHL) to Minnesota Wild in dispute
  • D Daniel Tjarnqvist, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL) to Colorado Avalanche
  • F Yanick Lehoux, Atlant Mytishchi (KHL) to Montreal Canadiens
  • F Vladimir Zharkov, CSKA Moscow (KHL) to New Jersey Devils
  • D Anton Babchuk, Avangard Omsk (KHL) to Carolina Hurricanes


Transfers into KHL, June 25-Aug. 1

  • F Alexander Radulov, Nashville Predators (NHL) to Salavat Yulaev Ufa in dispute
  • D Kevin Dallman, Los Angeles Kings (NHL) to Barys Astana
  • F Mark Hartigan, Detroit Red Wings (NHL) to Dinamo Riga
  • D Branislav Mezei, Florida Panthers (NHL) to Barys Astana
  • D Magnus Johansson, Florida Panthers (NHL) to Atlant Mytishchi
  • D Steve McCarthy, Atlanta Thrashers (NHL) to Salavat Yulaev Ufa contract unsigned
  • F Jozef Stumpel, Florida Panthers (NHL) to Barys Astana
  • F Sergei Brylin, New Jersey Devils (NHL) to SKA St. Petersburg
  • G Ray Emery, Ottawa Senators (NHL) to Atlant Mytishchi
  • F Josef Vasicek, Islanders (NHL) to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
  • F Jaromir Jagr, Rangers (NHL) to Avangard Omsk
  • F Stefan Ruzicka, Philadelphia Flyers (NHL) to Spartak Moscow
  • F Marcel Hossa, Phoenix Coyotes (NHL) to Dinamo Riga
  • G Wade Dubielewicz, Islanders (NHL) to Ak Bars Kazan
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NY Times had this interesting tidbit about the KHL: The KHL announced today that it will disclose the terms of its players’ contracts on Oct. 1.

It has also amended its original rule that foreign goaltenders will be limited in the amount of playing time they will receive. At first, they were limited to 50 percent of the playing time in KHL games, but now they can play no more than 65 percent of the time.

If a club violates that rule, it will not be able to have that goaltender on its roster for the following season. The previous punishment, now apparently rescinded, is that the goalie would be ineligible for the KHL playoffs.

In other KHL news, Alexander Radulov spoke after his first preseason tournament game against Spartak Moscow, in which he scored twice (and apparently dove on the ice as part of his celebration). As printed in Sports-Express (and reprinted on Sports.ru), he was pleased the fans in Ufa have taken to him so quickly...
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Bleacher Report:
Dallas with Avery will be a dangerous team:

Dallas: Another team with few changes. The loss of Norstrom to retirement will slightly hurt the Dallas defensive core, but with energetic youth mixed with great experienced players, this team is potentially one of the most dangerous in the NHL.

A full season of Brad Richards and Sean Avery, along with great goaltending by Marty Turco, could easily flip Dallas over San Jose. Dallas will yet again be the team to stand in the way of the Sharks' Cup. Projected Western Conference Champion, in seven games...

I think that Mike would agree with Avery about not being impressed by the new Rangers.

Sporting News:
Avery not impressed with Rangers' signings --
During the presser, he said that by signing with Dallas he was clearly signing with a better team than the one he left. Later, I asked him point-blank why the Rangers didn't want him back. That's when he started to warm up:

"I don't know," he started. "That's an interesting question. I guess it probably came down to money, probably. That's a tough call. It's an interesting situation because then they turnaround and spend it on guys they shouldn't have spent it on. It's going to be an interesting situation, certainly I'll sit back and watch. New York is a tough place to play. Markus Naslund is going to have a tough time, so is Wade Redden. New York fans aren't going to put up with those guys. I don't think that they're going to live up to the expectations."

He concluded with: "I've gone to a better team." ...
It's hard to argue with his conclusion.



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