Blumenherst to face Uribe for Women's Amateur title

Golf Betting Lines

08/11/2007 - Carmel, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amanda Blumenherst collected eight birdies Saturday to knock off 2006 champion Kimberly Kim and advance to the final of the U.S. Women's Amateur.

Blumenherst will face off again Maria Jose Uribe for the title after trouncing Kim, 5 & 3, in Saturday's semifinals. Uribe held on for a 2 & 1 win over Ha Na Jang to advance to the finals.

The 20-year-old Blumenherst, who was the oldest semifinalist, rolled in a clutch eight-foot putt to save par at the first and took off from there.

She drained a 10-foot birdie try on two, then two-putted from the fringe for birdie on the par-five fifth at Crooked Stick. Those birdies gave Blumenherst a 2-up cushion.

Kim was unable to save par on the sixth and also bogeyed the eighth to fall 4- down. Blumenherst pushed her lead to 5-up with a tap-in birdie on the 10th, kicking off a stellar stretch of golf.

The 15-year-old Kim pitched to 12 feet at the par-five 11th. Blumenherst blasted from a greenside bunker to within a foot of the cup and was conceded birdie. Kim responded by making her 12-footer to remain 5-down.

At the 12th, Blumenherst dropped her second shot three feet from the hole and Kim responded by knocking her approach to seven feet. Both made their birdie putts.

Blumenherst nearly aced the par-three 13th, leaving her shot inside a foot. Kim, once again, answered in fine fashion. She left herself three feet for birdie and made the putt.

After four straight birdies, Blumenherst finally blinked as she missed a seven-foot birdie try on 14. Kim won the hole after her second shot stopped within a foot, but she was still 4-down with four to go.

Kim found a greenside bunker with her second to the par-five 15th. She blasted some 20 feet from the hole, but three-putted for bogey to give Blumenherst the victory.

"It was a lot of fun. I played really solid, hit the ball well and the putts were falling," said Blumenherst, a two-time ACC Player of the Year at Duke. "It was a combination of everything and it worked out. That was a lot of fun not having to putt, but I'm putting well too so it would have been OK either way. Kimberly never gave up, that was nice to see. It was lot of fun. We were giving each other birdies and having to make them. It was a great round."

"There was really nothing I could do about it. Putts weren't falling, I was getting bad bounces, but there is nothing you can do on days like that," admitted Kim, who became the youngest tournament champion ever last year at 14. "I tried and made a lot of birdies, but so did she."

There was far less action in the Uribe-Jang match. Uribe drained a long birdie putt on the third to go 1-up, Jang was conceded par on the fifth and that squared the match. They traded wins at eight and nine as Uribe bogeyed eight and Jang bogeyed the ninth.

Uribe took the lead for good with an eight-foot birdie putt on 10. At the 15th, Uribe made another eight-footer for birdie to move 2-up. The 17-year-old Colombian ran in a long birdie putt to seal the 2 & 1 win.

"I just need to keep doing what I'm doing (in the final)," Uribe said. "I need to make more putts because it is match play and putting is everything here."

The 36-hole final will be contested Sunday.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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