Sounders return to U.S. Open Cup final against Crew

Soccer Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC booked a spot in the final of the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday with a 3-1 win over Chivas USA at Qwest Field.

Nate Jaqua scored in the 10th minute after a pass from Steve Zakuani, while Zakuani assisted on a Fredy Montero goal in the 58th minute to double the lead.

Chivas pulled a goal back through Jesus Padilla 10 minutes later, but Jaqua ensured that Seattle would return to the final of the competition when he bagged his second goal of the match in stoppage time.

Seattle beat D.C. United in the final of last season's tournament, and it looked like a rematch was in order after D.C. took a 1-0 lead over the Columbus Crew into the 89th minute of Wednesday's other semifinal.

Pablo Hernandez put United in front in the 13th minute, but Marc Burch helped the Crew level the match one minute from time when he redirected Andy Iro's shot past goalkeeper Bill Hamid and into his own net.

The game went into extra time, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto converted a penalty kick in the 98th minute to send Columbus through to the final.

Seattle will now defend its title at home against Columbus on Tuesday, October 5.

Earthilnk Soccer Betting News

<< Tipsarevic ousts Roddick in second round at U.S. Open
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Andy Roddick suffered one of his earliest exits at the U.S. Open, falling to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in four sets in a second-round encounter Wednesday night. The ninth-seeded Roddick,

<< Giants capitalize on eighth-inning miscues by Rockies
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Ford scored on a crazy turn of events after a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth frame, as the Giants edged the Rockies, 2-1, at AT&T Park. In a battle of marquee hurlers, Mike Font

<< Valencia the hero as Twins beat Tigers in extras
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danny Valencia's single to center scored Michael Cuddyer with the winning run in the 10th frame, as Minnesota downed Detroit, 2-1, at Target Field. "Great feeling. My first walk-off hit in pro baseba

<< Marlins beat down Nationals; Morgan charges mound to start brawl
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wes Helms drove in five runs and Florida blew out the Nationals, 16-10, in a game marred by a benches-clearing brawl in the sixth inning. It was during the top of that frame when Washington center fiel

<< Rangers edge Royals, expand lead in AL West
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mitch Moreland's solo home run leading off the sixth inning proved to be the difference, as the Texas Rangers clipped Kansas City, 4-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium

Matsui, Angels use long ball to down Mariners >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hideki Matsui belted the go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning and Alberto Callaspo tacked on a solo shot the following frame, as the Angels beat Seattle, 4-2, in the rubber match of a three-g

Marlins P Nolasco done for season; Hayes separates shoulder >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins right-hander Ricky Nolasco will miss the remainder of the season and will have surgery next week to repair torn medial meniscus in his right knee. Nolasco, who is 14-9 with a 4.51 ERA this seas

Roethlisberger to meet with Goodell >>
NEW YORK (AP) - Ben Roethlisberger's six-game suspension likely will be shortened to four games by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after the two meet in New York on Friday.Goodell has said he will make his decision after the preseason concludes. The

UTEP RB Buckram suffers knee injury >>
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas El-Paso senior running back Donald Buckram reportedly hurt his left knee during practice on Wednesday. Several reports indicate Buckram was carted off the field and that the results of an MRI would be mad

Players move on after Hofstra dumps football >>
NEW YORK (AP) -For 84 former players at Hofstra, the start of this football season is bound to come with some mixed emotions.Last December, the school abruptly announced it was eliminating football, leaving players with eligibility scrambling.Some t

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.