Jury awards $1.25M in lawsuit against Tubby Smith

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

05/26/2010 -

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -A jury in Minneapolis has awarded an assistant coach nearly $1.25 million in his lawsuit against Minnesota basketball coach Tubby Smith over an aborted hiring.

Jimmy Williams was an assistant at Oklahoma State when Smith called him to talk about a job shortly after being hired at Minnesota in 2007. Minnesota backed away from Williams after athletic director Joel Maturi pointed out NCAA recruiting violations in his past.

Williams said he resigned at Oklahoma State after Smith offered him a job. Smith testified during an eight-day trial that he never finalized a job offer and didn't tell Williams to quit his job.

Williams says Wednesday's verdict vindicates him and that he hopes to return to coaching.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Boxig NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Great Alaska Shootout announces 2010 field
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -Arizona State and St. Johns will be on the basketball court for the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.Steve Cobb, athletic director for tournament host Alaska-Anchorage, says the Thanksgiving week field also will inclu

<< Royals earn split with Rangers
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Billy Butler went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, and Luke Hochevar tossed eight strong innings, as the Kansas City Royals earned a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers in the finale of a brief two- game se

<< Bradley still has many decisions to make for USA
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even with the announcement of his final 23- man roster for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in South Africa on Wednesday afternoon, United States coach Bob Bradley has a lot of important decisions to make.

<< Probable Belmont Stakes favorite training at Saratoga
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box, the probable Belmont Stakes favorite, is being trained for the Test of Champions at Saratoga Race Course by Nick Zito. The colt will be one of two horses that the Hall of

<< Reds place Janish on bereavement list
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds placed infielder Paul Janish on the bereavement list on Wednesday. Janish, who is batting .276 with a home run and five RBI over 17 games this season, is attending his grandmother's

Tentative agreement reached on new CBA in CFL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Canadian Football League Player Relations Committee and Canadian Football League Players' Association have reached a tentative agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement. The agre

Kings sign F Parse >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings agreed to terms on a two-year contract with forward Scott Parse on Wednesday. The 25-year-old registered 11 goals and 24 points with a plus-13 rating in 59 games during his first NHL

FCD, Chicago aiming to get on track >>
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas travels to take on the Chicago Fire in a mid-week Major League Soccer clash on Thursday night at Toyota Park. Both teams are sitting on just two wins to start the season, while taking winl

Oakland sends Crisp back to DL >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics put outfielder Coco Crisp back on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday with a strained intercostal muscle on his right side. Crisp, who has played only two games this sea

Jeter's homer lifts Yanks over Twins in completion of suspended game >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Jeter's sixth-inning homer was the difference as the New York Yankees clipped Minnesota, 1-0, in the completion of a suspended contest at Target Field. Tuesday's game was delayed 1 hour, 23 m

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.

MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook that aims to keep betting fun. The company sees itself as a premier provider of a top-shelf gambling entertainment experience. MySportsbook knows that this can not be accomplished if gamblers are struggling through the betting process, so the emphasis is put on simplicity and ease of use.

Established in 1997, MySportsbook was the first sportsbook to offer the Instant eCheck method, and has since continued on to be one of the most innovate and fastest growing internet sportsbooks the industry has seen. A player doesn’t have to look very far before coming across one of the many sportsbooks that have cloned MySportsbook’s written policies, web pages and advertising campaign, hoping to bottle some of MySportsbook’s magic.

Although MySportsbook’s growth is largely attributed to their talented in-house marketing team, every successful bookmaker will agree that bringing the players in is only half of the battle. In a time when most internet sportsbook were nickel-and-diming players, MySportsbook was creating ways to make bonuses automatic and absent of fine print, while offering all payouts free of charge. This sportsbook also accepts Visa & Mastercard sportsbook.

Almost everything on the online sportsbook site is set in the model of simplicity, making the CS clerk’s job easy as well. Each account action made online results in an automated email sent to the client. When calling MySportsbook, the player feels as if his call is in the united states as no accents can be heard through a state of the art telecommunications system. Few online sportsbooks can compete with My Sportsbook when it comes to offering a fun and hassle-free experience to the small to moderate sized gambler.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.