Gainey goes in front at Chiquita Classic

Golf Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - Maineville, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Gainey posted a six-under 66 on Friday to move atop the leaderboard after the second round of the inaugural Chiquita Classic.

Gainey finished 36 holes at 14-under 130 at TPC River's Bend and is one stroke clear.

Chris Kirk, the leading money winner on the Nationwide Tour this year, fired an eight-under 64 on Friday to vault into a tie for second place with Justin Smith and Peter Gustafsson, both of whom had 66s in round two. The trio is knotted at 13-under 131.

Joe Affrunti (65), Colt Knost (66), Chris Nallen (66) and Brendan Steele (65) share fifth place at minus-12.

Gainey, who opened with an eight-under 64 on Thursday, flew out of the gate on Friday with three birdies in his first four holes. He recorded birdies at the next two par fives, Nos. 8 and 10 and added a birdied at the 11th.

"I had it going through 11," acknowledged Gainey. "Seven-under after 11 is pretty good. I wasn't thinking about 59 or 62 or anything like that. I just wanted to keep hitting good shots and keep making some birdies."

He accomplished half of his goal.

Gainey hit a good shot to 12 feet at the par-three 12th, but missed the birdie try. One hole later, Gainey knocked his approach to 10 feet, but once again, his birdie effort stayed above ground.

At the par-four 14th, Gainey played yet another strong iron shot, this time leaving himself 20 feet for birdie. He not only missed the birdie putt, but three-putted for a bogey to fall to 14-under par.

Gainey's group got behind thanks to the group in front looking for a ball and calling in a rules' official. He finished with four straight pars, but wasn't elated about the midway lead.

"The way I played the last five holes, I'm really not happy," admitted Gainey. "I just need to get away from it and relax. I had the momentum going after 11 and then we started waiting 15 to 20 minutes on every hole, that damaged my momentum. It's my fault. I'm the one who let it bother me."

Gainey won this year's Melwood Prince George's County Open for his only Nationwide Tour victory. He is fifth on the Nationwide Tour money list.

Stephen Poole (66) and David Mathis (64) are tied for ninth at 11-under 133.

NOTES: First-round leader Peter Tomasulo, who fired a 61 on Sunday to win last week's Wayne Gretzky Classic, followed his 10-under 62 on Thursday with an even-par 72 on Friday. He fell into a tie for 11th at 10-under par...The 36- hole cut fell at six-under 138 with Kevin Chappell, No. 2 on the money list, missing the weekend.

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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.

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