Celtic claims 13th-straight league win

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02/11/2012 - Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic continued its stunning run of form Saturday, defeating Inverness, 1-0, at Parkhead to extend its winning streak in Scottish Premier League play to 13 games.

The Bhoys have not dropped points in Scotland's top flight since Oct. 29 when it was held to a 0-0 draw with Hibernian, and it hasn't lost a league match since Oct. 2 when it fell 2-0 to Hearts.

Neil Lennon's men have been on a roll since, winning 13 successive contests to overtake Rangers at the top of the table.

With Rangers also taking three points on Saturday after a 4-1 defeat of Dunfermline, the Premier League table remains unchanged with Celtic leading its fierce rival by four points.

Celtic needed only one goal to dispatch Inverness, and Joe Ledley provided that lone strike in the 16th minute.

The goal was slightly overshadowed by red cards issued to players on both squads, as Celtic's Daniel Majstorovic was sent off in the 60th minute before Steve Williams of Inverness picked up his second yellow card in the 78th minute.

But all that mattered for the home side at the end of the day was three points, which they earned through Ledley's early strike.

Celtic's 21st win of the season gives the club 65 points on the season, while Inverness remains third from bottom on just 26 points.

Rangers 4, Dunfermline 1

Dunfermline, Scotland - Rangers surrendered an early lead at Dunfermline on Saturday but battled back to claim a resounding 4-1 victory at East End Park.

Andy Kirk opened the scoring to shock the visitors in the 16th minute. Rangers responded quickly with goals in the 24th and 39th minutes from David Healy and Lee McCulloch respectively.

Rangers extended the lead and secured the victory in second-half play with goals from Sone Aluko and Salim Kerkar.

The Gers keep pace with league-leaders Celtic, sitting four points of the pace with 61 points on the season. Dunfermline remains in the cellar of Scotland's top tier with 18 points.

Dundee United 5, St. Johnstone 1

Perth, Scotland - Dundee United handed St. Johnstone its second-straight league defeat in stunning fashion, trouncing the fifth-place club, 5-1, at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.

A pair of own goals gifted the visitors the lead as Steven Anderson conceded the opener in the 35th minute before Callum Davidson gave away another in the 61st minute.

Anderson made amends by pulling a goal back in the 66th, but Dundee responded with three more goals through Johnny Russell, Jon Daly, and Milos Lacny.

Dundee moves into the top half of the table on 30 points where it sits five points behind St. Johnstone.

Kilmarnock 1, Hearts 1

Kilmarnock, Scotland - Hearts earned a dramatic point on the road, grabbing a 90th minute goal as it played to a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday.

Paul Heffernan thought he handed Killie the win with a 79th-minute goal, but it was canceled out late on by Suso Santana as the Spanish winger helped Hearts earn a share of the points.

Hearts improve to 36 points in fourth place, while Killie remains in eighth place after drawing its second straight match.

Hibernian 0, Aberdeen 0

Edinburgh, Scotland - Hibernian was held scoreless at home as it played to a 0-0 draw with Aberdeen at Easter Road on Saturday.

Hibs, sitting second from bottom, have managed just one point from it last three Scottish league games.

Aberdeen has fared much better as it extended its unbeaten streak to five games.

St. Mirren 0, Motherwell 0

Paisley, Scotland - St. Mirren and Motherwell played to a 0-0 draw in a stalemate at St. Mirren Park on Saturday.

With its second-straight draw, St. Mirren improves to 28 points on the season, good enough for ninth place in the Scottish Premier League.

Motherwell, unbeaten in its last four, sits third in the league on 42 points.

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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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