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Motor City BluesBasketball Betting Lines07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I've always thought of sports as the ultimate form of escapist entertainment. And a whole lot of people need to "escape" right about now. It was announced Thursday that the nation's employers cut a larger-than- expected 467,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. All told, 14.7 million Americans were unemployed in June. Perhaps no city has been hit harder than Detroit, where the economic recession has left the Motor City with an astounding 22 percent unemployment rate, over two times the national average. It wasn't always like that. Once upon a time, moving to Detroit was like winning the middle-class lottery. People with little or no real education were able to get jobs in the auto industry and in turn garner nice pay, great benefits and a solid pension. It was the very definition of the "American Dream," for so many. Increased competition from foreign companies, the unyielding demands of the powerful unions and flat out mismanagement at the very top collapsed the entire auto industry from within, leaving a crumbling city both politically and fiscally. Inasmuch, the people of Motown could use an "escape." In recent years, the Pistons have been great at providing a few hours of escapist entertainment. Six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals made late spring basketball a birthright for a generation of hoops fans... Until last year. Convinced his veteran-laden team was stale and couldn't get over the ultimate hump, Pistons president Joe Dumars pushed the plunger and blew up his team. The results were disastrous. Joe D. jettisoned the underrated Flip Saunders for the untested and unproven Michael Curry, and compounded that mistake with the ill-conceived Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade. Curry's decision to bench veteran stalwart Rip Hamilton in favor of Iverson was not well-received by his team. Gone was Detroit's legendary balance, defensive prowess and chemistry, not to mention the run of six straight trips to the East finals. In his first year directing the perennial championship contenders, Curry led the Pistons to just a 39-43 record, good for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Detroit was then quickly swept in the first round of the playoffs by the top-seeded Cavaliers, who won each game by double digits. Needless to say, this is a big summer for Dumars. First, the Hall of Famer did an about-face Tuesday and fired Curry, just two months after he had held a press conference to confirm that his embattled coach would return to the Motor City in 2009-10. Then the team - which did acquire plenty of cap space in the Iverson deal - dove into free agency headfirst on Wednesday, reportedly agreeing to deals with a pair of former UConn stars, sharp-shooting guard Ben Gordon, late of the Chicago Bulls, and emerging forward Charlie Villanueva, formerly of the Milwaukee Bucks. Gordon, an offensive-minded two-guard just like Iverson, had been on the Pistons' radar for quite some time and is a much better fit than the former MVP. "Ben agreed to come here knowing he would come off the bench," a source told NBA.com. "That makes it completely different than Iverson coming here...Gordon is choosing to come here and play the super sub role." Villanueva, meanwhile, became available after Milwaukee inexplicably declined to make him a qualifying offer on Monday. Now, Detroit will feature a three-guard rotation of Rodney Stuckey, Hamilton and Gordon, with Tayshaun Prince at small forward and Villanueva at power forward. The problem is the pivot, where battle-tested veterans Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess are both expected to move on, leaving the perpetually underachieving Kwame Brown as the only current option. Like the city they play in, the Pistons are still a long way away from their glory days. But Dumars' dealings may have provided something far more important than any championship trophy -- a welcome distraction for an embattled fan base.
<< Thrashers sign Antropov
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers signed unrestricted free agent forward Nik Antropov to a multi-year contract Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per team policy. The 29-year-old compiled career-highs
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Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United's hopes of signing Karim Benzema are over after the France striker agreed to a six-year contract with Real Madrid. Benzema, 21, was believed to have been earmarked by United
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana Should be in: Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it? Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel. Work left to do: Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third. Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim. Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either. Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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