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07/10/2010 -
CLEVELAND (AP) -They're almost giving away LeBron James jerseys in the city he left behind.
All over Cleveland, No. 23 jerseys can be found at discounted rates as merchants look to get rid of their inventories for the superstar, who left the Cavaliers this week to play for the Miami Heat.
At Dick's Sporting Goods in Westlake, James jerseys have been reduced to $29.99 with the store offering a further 75 percent reduction. T-shirts and other merchandise with James' face or number on it are also at bargain prices.
Elsewhere, businesses are offering perks in exchange for James' jersey. At McNulty's Bier Markt in Ohio City, anyone turning in a James jersey or T-shirt got a free beer. Anyone with a T-shirt, hat or tattoo featuring another Cleveland sports star got a free second round.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 The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Red Sox seek to build off needed win over Blue Jays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox halted a four-game losing skid
yesterday and will attempt to make it two wins in a row over the Toronto Blue
Jays this afternoon in American League East action from the Rogers Centre.
Boston will give th
<< Argentina gains edge on Russia in Davis Cup quarterfinal
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos won
their doubles match Saturday to give Argentina the advantage against host
Russia in their best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal.
The matchup was tied after
<< Bosh's decision pulled things together for Heat
MIAMI (AP) -Chris Bosh already has his first Miami Heat assist.Heat president Pat Riley pulled this team together, keeping Dwyane Wade in Miami and talking two-time reigning MVP LeBron James into joining the franchise.But it was Bosh who provided th
<< Foxy win: Orioles rally in ninth, top Rangers in 10
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jake Fox homered off Dustin Nippert in the
10th inning after Corey Patterson's grand slam tied it in the ninth, giving
the Baltimore Orioles an improbable 7-6 come-from-behind win to spoil the
Texas R
Top pitchers to go at it in latest Mets-Braves clash >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Pelfrey was unable to secure a spot on the National
League All-Star roster despite putting up numbers worthy of consideration. The
New York Mets hurler has an opportunity to avenge the snub when he goes head-
to-head wit
Dodgers aim for third straight win over crumbling Cubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Chicago Cubs started out their current West Coast trip
in fine fashion, but the club still hasn't been able to solve its longtime
problems at Dodger Stadium.
After dropping the first two tests of this four-game series
White Sox vie to remain hot in second test with Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Cellular Field is the site of tonight's clash between
the Kansas City Royals and hometown Chicago White Sox, as the two teams
continue a three-game weekend set.
On the hill for Kansas City tonight will be Brian Bannis
Giants try to bounce back in middle matchup with Nationals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A San Francisco Giants offense that had been putting up
runs in bunches lately was shut down by phenom Stephen Strasburg in Friday's
opener of a three-game series with the Washington Nationals. The unit will
attempt to reclai
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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.
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