Penn State gives women's hoops coach Washington two-year extension

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

05/25/2010 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn State head women's basketball coach Coquese Washington has signed a two-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season.

Washington led the Lady Lions to their best finish in five years last season with a postseason berth in the WNIT and 17 overall wins, including eight conference victories.

"We are very pleased with the progress that our women's basketball program has made under Coquese," Penn State director of athletics Tim Curley said. "With the return to the postseason for the first time in five years and back-to-back nationally-ranked recruiting classes, Coquese has established a solid foundation to put Lady Lion basketball back on the track to national prominence."

She became just the fifth head coach in the history of the program in April of 2007, replacing Renee Portland after 27 years on the job.

Wwwwhat2bet NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Bielsa cuts Mancilla from Chile's squad
Santiago, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chile manager Marcelo Bielsa cut Toluca striker Hector Mancilla from his preliminary World Cup squad, leaving just one more player to be dropped before his final roster has to be submitted. Mancilla won

<< Dundee names Houston permanent manager
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Houston has been confirmed as the permanent manager of Scottish Cup winners Dundee United. The 51-year-old, who also guided the Terrors to third place in the SPL last season, has signed a three

<< Smith to stay with Rangers for one more year
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers manager Walter Smith agreed to a one-year contract extension, but will retire after the 2010-11 season and turn the coaching duties over to current assistant Ally McCoist. "I am wholly committed

<< Bordeaux names Tigana new coach
Bordeaux, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bordeaux named former player Jean Tigana its new coach Tuesday. Tigana, who played for Bordeaux from 1981-89 and made more than 50 appearances for France, replaces Laurent Blanc. Blanc will coach Fran

<< Valencia's Zigic set to join Birmingham
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham is closing in on the signing of giant Valencia striker Nikola Zigic. The Blues are reported to have agreed a fee in the region of $7.2 million for the 6-foot-8 hitman, who has been linked wi

Mackay extends Saints stay >>
Perth, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defender Dave Mackay has signed a new two- year contract with St Johnstone. The 29-year-old joined the Saints a year ago from Livingston and quickly established himself as a first-team regular at M

Ward signs new three-year deal with Wolves >>
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolverhampton Irish defender Stephen Ward has signed a new three-year contract with the Molineux club. The 24-year-old joined Wolves as a striker, but has been successfully converted to a

Talbot guides Indians over ChiSox >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mitch Talbot threw seven strong innings as the Cleveland Indians downed the Chicago White Sox, 7-3, in the second of a three-game set. Talbot (6-3) gave up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts.

Germany's Trasch to miss World Cup >>
Bolzano, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany midfielder Christian Trasch will miss the World Cup after spraining his ankle in a friendly game Monday against Italian club team FC Sudtirol, the team announced Tuesday. Trasch was helped off th

Atletico expects Aguero to stay in Madrid >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atletico Madrid President Enrique Cerezo expects striker Sergio Aguero to stay with the Europa League winners next season. The 21-year-old Argentina international continues to be linked with a m

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.