Feyenoord looking to continue push up Dutch ladder

Soccer Betting Lines

12/23/2006 - Rotterdam, Holland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Feyenoord are traditionally looked at as one of the big three in Holland, along with PSV and Ajax. This season, Erwin Koeman's club have endured plenty of ups and downs on their way to a fifth-place spot in the Eredivisie this season, and will try to improve on that position when they host city rivals Sparta on Saturday.

After fighting their way through a sluggish start, Feyenoord have won seven of their last nine league games, putting themselves back in the top five and within striking distance of second-place AZ. The Rotterdam club is 14 points adrift of league-leaders PSV, making a run at the title unlikely. However, a spot in the Champions League next season is well within reach. With three games to go before the brief winter break, Feyenoord will be trying to position itself for a run at the coveted European spot in the second half.

Koeman's lineup will not include goalkeeper Patrick Lodewijks, who will miss out with an Achilles problem, while Romeo Castelen (ankle), Pieter Collen (shoulder) and Karim Saidi (knee) will also be relegated to the role of spectator. Defender Serginho Greene will be a game-time decision.

On a positive note for Feyenoord, playmaking midfielder Alfred Schreuder could return from a 16-month layoff to make an appearance. Schreuder has missed the past 16 months with a knee injury.

The home side is coming off of a 2-1 loss at Utrecht last weekend, and anything less than three points on Saturday will be a disappointment.

Sparta, meanwhile, languished at the bottom of the table in the early part of the season, but have since lifted themselves out of the basement and three points clear of relegation in 14th place.

The visitors will be without the services of striker Yuri Rose, who is battling muscle issues, and midfielder Sani Kaita, who is struggling with a groin problem. Midfielder Edwin van Bueren will be available after serving a suspension.

On Friday, FC Groningen took-out Heracles Almelo 1-0 at the Polman Stadion courtesy of a 62-minute tally from Goran Lovre.

In other play on Saturday in Holland, Heerenveen, sixth-place in the standings, host Excelsior, NAC and Den Haag get together in a matchup of bottom-half clubs and PSV try to maintain their seven-point cushion at the top when they host Willem II.

On Sunday, Twente travel to Roda in an attempt to move into the top three, Ajax sit third in the table and visit a middle of the standings Vitesse team. AZ are seven points back of PSV in second place and will try to keep pace with the leaders as they entertain NEC and cellar-dwellers RKC Waalwijk host Utrecht.

WEEKEND EREDIVISIE FIXTURES:

FRIDAY

Heracles - Groningen

SATURDAY

Heerenveen - Excelsior

NAC - ADO Den Haag

PSV Eindhoven - Willem II

Feyenoord - Sparta

SUNDAY

AZ Alkmaar - NEC

RKC Waalwijk - Utrecht

Roda - Twente

Vitesse - Ajax

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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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