Another blow to Schalke's title hopes
Soccer Betting Lines
03/10/2007 - Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Schalke's run of shaky play continued on Saturday as the Bundesliga leaders were held to a 1-1 draw by Hannover at AWD- Arena.
The result puts Schalke four points clear of both Werder Bremen and Stuttgart, but Bremen can close that gap to just one point with a win against Bayern Munich on Sunday. It has now been one month since Schalke last won a game in league play as they have two losses and two draws since that time. The fact that Schalke has remained on top despite its poor run of play speaks volumes about how inconsistent Germany's top-flight league has been this season, but manager Mirko Slomka has to be discouraged by the fact that his team has squandered a number of chances to pull away in the title chase.
The game started off well for Schalke as Halil Altintop put the visitors on the board in just the second minute. However, Schalke let down momentarily and found itself on level terms just two minutes later courtesy of a goal from Michael Tarnat. The hosts then got the better of the play throughout the rest of the game but had to settle for just one point.
Schalke took advantage of an early set-piece opportunity with Mesut Ozil providing the cross. The ball was played into the box from the right and Altintop held off his defender and poked it past keeper Robert Enke with an outstretched foot to make it 1-0.
Hannover then responded less than two minutes later with a set-piece chance of its own. Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer failed to claim a corner kick, leaving his goal exposed behind him. Hanno Balitsch had the first chance to tie the match but his shot slammed off the post. However, Tarnat was there to force the ball over the goal line from close range for his first goal of the season.
The visitors looked to be dangerous on the set-piece, with Enke called into action on a few occasions to keep the game tied at 1-1 before halftime.
After the restart the home club produced the better chances, but were unlucky to grab all three points.
Hannover's Szabolcs Huszti nearly beat Neuer at his near post, but the keeper kept the ball out and jumped on the rebound just before Chavdar Yankov could put it home.
Tarnat almost had his second goal of the match in stoppage time as his free- kick effort was stopped well by Neuer. The keeper then recovered in time to turn away the follow-up effort of Frank Fahrenhorst to ensure Schalke a share of the points.
In other Bundesliga action on Saturday, last-placed Monchengladbach got two goals from Nando Rafael to defeat Hertha Berlin 3-1 and move to within three points of avoiding relegation. Alemania Aachen recorded a 2-0 win at Energie, a Leon Andreasen penalty kick in the 51st minute was enough to get Mainz past Arminia Bielefeld 1-0, Stuttgart missed a chance to gain ground on Schalke as they were held to a 0-0 draw against Wolfsburg and Bochum blanked Dortmund 2-0 behind a pair of goals from Theofanis Gekas.
On Sunday, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich square off in a big game to see if one team can close the gap on Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen hits the road to meet Hamburg.
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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.
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