Stoke re-signs Diao to two-year deal

Soccer Betting Lines

08/31/2010 - Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City re-signed midfielder Salif Diao on Tuesday, two months after the Senegal international's previous contract expired.

Diao, 33, rejected Stoke's initial offer earlier this summer, but agreed to a two-year contract to re-join the club.

"Talks have gone very well and finally I have agreed a two-year contract and I am very delighted and happy to be back at home," Diao said.

"It's fantastic to see Salif back because he is not only an experienced head, he is also a good person to have around the place," Stoke manager Tony Pulis said.

Ccaisno Soccer Betting News

<< PGA Tour suspends rule that led to Furyk DQ
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The PGA Tour has suspended the rule that led to Jim Furyk's disqualification from The Barclays last week. Furyk was kept from the first playoffs event in New Jersey because he overslept Wed

<< Bent joins Wolverhampton on loan
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolverhampton signed striker Marcus Bent from Birmingham on Tuesday on a four-month loan deal. Bent, 32, spent parts of last season on loan at Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers. Wolverhampton a

<< What's eating the slumping Cardinals?
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony La Russa hasn't managed many poor teams during his tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals. In fact, the Cardinals have missed the playoffs only six times since La Russa took over the ballclub back in 1996, a pretty solid

<< Birmingham signs Beausejour, Hleb, Jiranek
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham signed three players on the final day of the transfer window on Tuesday, adding Jean Beausejour, Alexander Hleb and Martin Jiranek. Chile international Beausejour was acquired from Club Amer

<< Quail Hollow gets 2017 PGA Championship
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been awarded the 2017 PGA Championship. The course, featuring one of the toughest three-hole finishes in golf, has hosted a popular PGA Tour event since 2003. I

Canada loses to France at Worlds >>
Izmir, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Batum scored 24 points to power France to a 68-63 win over Canada at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, made 8-of-14 shots and grabbed seve

Bucs part ways with Derrick Ward >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released running back Derrick Ward, who spent just one unsuccessful season with the club after signing as a free agent in the spring of 2009. Ward had a breakout 2008 campaign w

Sunderland shells out record fee for Gyan >>
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland signed Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan for a club-record transfer fee of nearly $20 million on Tuesday and gave him a four-year contract. Sunderland acquired the 24-year-old Gyan from French clu

Jankovic advances in New York >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic was among Tuesday's opening-round winners at the 2010 U.S. Open. The fourth-seeded Jankovic went the distance to sneak past Romanian Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 at

Calgary's Rambo highlights CFL weekly awards >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Calgary Stampeders wide receiver Ken-Yon Rambo, Saskatchewan Roughriders safety James Patrick, Edmonton Eskimos kicker Noel Prefontaine and Calgary running back Jon Cornish were selected as the CFL's top per

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.

MySportsbook features easy-to-use online betting software that’s the most reliable in the industry. If you’re looking to bet underdogs, then this Sportsbook is the place - we have the best betting lines in the business. MySportsbook is your one-stop shop for all your betting needs - sports betting, poker, casino, and horse racing . MySportsbook offers every bet type with lightning fast settlement of wagers. Take advantage of free statistical analysis - including against-the-spread and straight-up trends - in MySportsbook’s game previews section. With MySportsbook there are unlimited free deposits and payouts - and no transaction fees!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.