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03/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before Camilo Villegas arrived at the first tee Sunday, he called his mother in Colombia. "Tell the little bro congratulations and keep it up," he told her.
More than 1,500 miles away, Manuel Villegas was signing his scorecard at the Nationwide Tour's Bogota Open, a final-round 67 that earned him a tie for 15th place and a $9,900 check.
Hours later, Camilo Villegas holed a 19-foot putt on the last hole to win the PGA Tour's Honda Classic by five shots. His third PGA Tour victory netted him more than $1 million.
Believe it or not, there's some question as to which finish was more valuable.
As the elder Villegas was running away from the field at PGA National -- leaving Anthony Kim, Justin Rose, Vijay Singh and Paul Casey in his dust -- his native Colombia was hosting the first-ever PGA Tour-sanctioned event in South America.
Camilo Villegas played a big part in the landmark tournament. He flew to Bogota on Monday, taught in the junior clinic, played the pro-am, went to the dinner and the player party.
Then he hopped on a plane and returned to his new home -- he lives 15 minutes from PGA National -- to play in the Honda Classic.
In one whirlwind week, Villegas shined a spotlight on a part of the globe that has largely been neglected by the major U.S. golf tours, to their detriment. As the tours have expanded to locations in Asia, Australia and elsewhere, they have largely ignored Latin America, even as those countries continue to produce top-flight talent.
The cold shoulder couldn't have lasted much longer. Not while South America is six years from hosting the first Olympic golf tournament in more than 100 years.
"I believe it can be a huge step for Latin American and South American golf," Camilo Villegas said of the Bogota event. "I think the Nationwide should keep exploring other countries down there. I've had a chance to play throughout all of South America, and it's a beautiful place, full of great people, great golf courses, and the game keeps growing.
"I mean, we keep trying to do our best to represent this game and make it grow down there...and we all should keep doing the same things."
Villegas, 28, noted after his win that many Colombians would be watching the Nationwide event closely (48-year-old Steve Pate won in a playoff). But he also knew they would be following him.
He just hoped that the newspapers in his home country would split the page in half: equal space for him and the Nationwide event. Of course, that was unlikely.
The country's oldest paper ran a large picture of Villegas on the front page with the headline "Que buena onda" -- which, as far as I can tell, is akin to "That's awesome."
"Having the Nationwide event there was huge for my country," Camilo Villegas said. "I'm sure all of those guys are going to come back to the states with a totally different perception of my country. That's what I've been telling a lot of people. I mean, you've got to go there. You've got to visit. You've got to experience it. You've got to just see reality."
For a long time a lot was made of Villegas' potential to be a transformative young player. He could bash the ball. He also had a delicate touch. He worked hard and had the biceps of an Olympic swimmer. He had the Spider-Man crouch he used to read greens, a photogenic move that shutterbugs scrambled to capture.
But for two-and-a-half seasons on the PGA Tour, and one on the Nationwide Tour, there was something Villegas hadn't done: win a tournament. That all changed when he won back-to-back events during the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2008, against two stacked fields.
A year before that, in a column on Sept. 9, 2007, I wrote that the media should "refrain from lauding Camilo Villegas until the young Colombian star does something laudable."
We are certainly past that point now.
<< 2010 Big East Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While there are several teams projected to
make it to the NCAA Tournament, there's only one guaranteed bid that comes out
of the massive 16-team beast that is the 31st annual Big East Conference
Tournament.
<< Gonzalez sends Chile into Davis Cup QFs
Coquimbo, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Gonzalez straight-setted Dudi
Sela on Monday, sending Chile into the 2010 Davis Cup quarterfinals. The
Chileans have an insurmountable 3-1 lead over Israel in the best-of-five
first-round affair.
<< Ribery close to decision on future
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich's French ace Franck Ribery
has stated that he will make a decision about his future in the next few
weeks.
The 26-year-old forward is a target for most of Europe's top clubs, with h
<< 2010 Great West Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The inaugural Great West Conference
Tournament takes place at the McKay Center in Orem, Utah from March 10-13. The
champion of this event receives an automatic bid to the Collegeinsider.com
Tournament, as the
Stewart leads NHL's Three Stars >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Avalanche right wing Chris Stewart,
Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos and Florida Panthers defenseman
Bryan McCabe have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending March
7.
Kansas returns to top spot in hoops poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas is back atop the men's basketball
world, taking the top spot in the Associated Press poll for the third time
this season.
The Jayhawks (29-2) were the preseason No. 1 and spent the first eig
Spurs' Parker won't need surgery for broken hand >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker won't
need surgery for the broken bone in his right hand.
Parker was examined Monday by Dr. David Green and the initial diagnosis of a
non-displaced stable fracture o
Pitt, Texas, Maryland and Illinois to play in Coaches vs. Cancer >>
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh, Texas, Maryland and Illinois will
open the 2010-11 basketball season by participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer
Classic.
Those teams will serve as the four regional round hosts for the event.
After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.
Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.
Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.
So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.
In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.
For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.
The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.
The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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