WR Nicks among Giants to miss practice

Football Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks missed practice for a second straight day Friday because of a sprained shoulder.

Nicks, the team's second-leading receiver, said he has a sprained AC joint but expects to be ready for the Super Bowl February 5 against New England.

"I just want to give myself a couple days to try and get it back right and rehab it a little bit," Nicks said.

Linebacker Jacquian Williams (foot) and cornerbacks Corey Webster (hamstring) and Will Blackmon (knee) also missed their second straight practice Friday.

Meanwhile, running back Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) was a limited participant after missing practice Thursday.

The same thing went for linebacker Chase Blackburn (calf) and center David Baas (abdomen), while defensive end Osi Umenyiora (ankle/knee) was limited for the second straight day.

The-sportsbook Football Betting News

<< Real Madrid goes for fifth-straight win vs. Zaragoza
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid welcomes Real Zaragoza to the Bernabeu in La Liga action Saturday as the first-place club looks to secure its fifth-straight league win. The leaders enter the weekend with a five-poin

<< Trojans' Dedmon out with torn ACL
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southern California head coach Kevin O'Neill announced on Friday that forward Dewayne Dedmon was diagnosed with a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee as is likely out for the remaind

<< Racing legend Foyt forced to skip Rolex 24 at Daytona
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Foyt will miss this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona after being hospitalized due to complications from recent knee surgery. Foyt, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was scheduled to serve as G

<< Mets sign INF Tuiasosopo
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets signed free agent infielder Matt Tuiasosopo on Friday. Tuiasosopo, 25, played sparingly in three major league seasons for the Seattle Mariners between 2008-10 and hit .176 with 15 runs batte

<< Hannover gets first Bundesliga win since October
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mohammed Abdellaoue scored his 10th goal of the season and Hannover edged Nurnberg, 1-0, on Friday at AWD Arena for its first Bundesliga win since October. Hannover had six draws and two losses in its l

Sixers sign Elson >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers signed free-agent veteran center Francisco Elson on Friday. The signing provides the Sixers depth in the frontcourt as Spencer Hawes and rookie Nikola Vucevic have battled inj

PSG resumes Ligue 1 play without Pastore >>
Brest, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSG has continued its spending spree with the signings of Brazilian defenders Alex and Maxwell, but will be without its most expensive addition, Javier Pastore, on Saturday at Brest. Pastore, acquired for app

Dolphins hire new offensive and defensive coordinators >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Dolphins new head coach Joe Philbin chose his coaching staff on Friday, naming Mike Sherman as offensive coordinator and Kevin Coyle as defensive coordinator. Sherman has spent the last four years as the

Browns hire Childress as OC >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns named former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress offensive coordinator on Friday. Childress becomes the first offensive coordinator under Browns head coach Pat Shurmer. Amon

Wade back after 6-game absence >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will make his return to the lineup on Friday night against the New York Knicks. Wade has missed the last six games with a right ankle/leg injury suffered in a January 13 loss at Denve

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.