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Sports betting
growing fast
By Brianna Guyer
Staff Reporter
bggsoo3@psu.edu
Type in sports betting on Google
and it is easy to find a wealth
of websites purely dedicated to
placing bets on a wide variety of
sporting events and on those who
provide the information needed
to make those bets. While
sports' betting is illegal in all but
four states (Nevada, Oregon,
Delaware, and Montana) in the
U.S., it is vastly done by many
age groups. With the amount of
places that teens and adults alike
can go to place bets on different
sporting events, such as on the
internet and through friends and
co-workers, it is easy to see why
gambling has become a normal
activity for people of all ages.
Today, it is not just the informed
adult who participates in sports
betting; a vast number of teens
also participate in this activity.
A 1998 study by the Harvard
Medical School and Boston's
Children's hospital showed that
by senior year of high school,
more than 75% percent of all
teens have gambled at least
once. By 2005, that percentage
would have surely increased.
With relatively easy topics for
teens to understand, such as
fantasy football teams, where an
individual has the ability to pick
players from any sports team to
create their own unique superior
team, one can see how addictive
sports betting can be even to
teens.
Freshman Amy DiPasquale
said, "I think that fantasy sports
teams are great. Not only do the
team drafts get you more in-tuned
with the individual players, but
participating in the actual fantasy
sports experience provokes you
to get more involved with all the
teams instead of just the ones
you originally favored."
In many workplaces, employees
have the ability to take part in office
pools with fellow employees on
different sporting events, making
gambling more accessible. One
of the most prevalently betted
on sporting events in office
environments is the NCAA
tournament (nicknamed "March
Bruins
By HOWARD ULMAN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON - Joe Thornton knows
power plays will increase this
season and the Boston Bruins
must do a solid job on them. They
were very productive Saturday
night.
The Bruins scored on four power
plays in a 10-minute span of the
second period and extended the
Pittsburgh Penguins' longest
winless streak at the start of a
season with a 6-3 victory.
With tighter enforcement
against holding and interfering,
the Penguins were called for 14
penalties and the Bruins 10.
"I think you're going to see that all
year," Thornton said after setting
an aggressive tone for Boston
and scoring his first two goals of
the season with two assists. "You
definitely have to capitalize when
you get those opportunities."
Dave Scatchard scored his first
two goals as a Bruin, and Sergei
Madness") basketball games. In
2004, only $1.6 billion was placed
on bets on the NCAA tournament
online, whereas $3.5 billion was
gambled in millions of office pools
across the country. With many
employees engrossed in their
basketball brackets, an estimated
$1.5 billion is lost in productivity
in the American workplace during
the two-week tournament, claims
MSNBC
Even though March Madness
is the largest market for office
betting pools, it only ranks second
in terms of dollars wagered on a
particular sport/sporting event.
Coming in at number one is
the betting that is done on the
National Football League.
"The NFL is no longer just a
Sunday game. They now have
Monday Night Football, Thursday
night football, wild care weekends
it just goes on and on. They've
expanded the franchises and
therefore expanded the game,"
said Dan Gilroy, screenwriter and
executive producer of the new
film Two For The Money.
In reference to watching the
network games Gilroy also said,
"You realize that they kind of
cater to gamblers. They talk
about point spreads, favorites,
who they're picking and make it
interesting."
Gilroy is definitely, an informed
source as he spent a long time
researching for his movie, Two
For The Money, which opened
in theatres on Friday, October 7,
and stars Matthew McConaughey
and Al Pacino. The film, which
was based on a true story, centers
around Brandon Link and how he
became wrapped up in the $2OO
billion a year world of sports
betting. The film was typically
received well by critics, but many
made mention to fact that while
the treatment of addiction is
touched upon, viewers are not
given any real insight into the
struggle these individuals face
on a daily basis.
If any individual needs to seek
help for a gambling addiction,
websites such as www.
gamblersanonymous.org and
http://www.gam-anon.org can be
of assistance.
triumph over Penguins
Samsonov and Glen Murray had
one each to help Boston snap a
three-game losing streak. Three
goals came on power plays
sparked by constant movement
that forced the Penguins to grab
players.
"We're the ones that are going
to have to find a way to play a
disciplined games," Pittsburgh
coach Ed Olczyk said.
Former Bruins defenseman
Sergei Gonchar tied the game 1-1
at 18:36 of the first period, but the
Penguins fell to 0-4-4 after Boston
had three two-man advantage
opportunities in the second.
Before this year, Pittsburgh's
longest season-opening winless
streak was six games when it
went 0-3-3 in 1969-70.
"I just want to win," said Penguins
rookie Sidney Crosby, who had
two assists and has points in
seven of his eight games. "Team
points is what matters."
The NHL record for most power
play goals in one period is six
UHADMEATHELLO
PSU beats Illinois 63-10
By JIM PAUL
Associated Press Writer
CHAMPAIGN, 111. _
Michael Robinson has played
wide receiver and running back,
but there is no doubt he's as
comfortable as could be as Penn
State's quarterback.
Robinson threw four touchdown
passes and ran for two more
scores _ all in the first half _
leading the 12th-ranked Nittany
Lions to a 63-10 rout of Illinois
Saturday night. The win keeps
the Penn State in a tie with
Wisconsin for the Big Ten lead.
"This is as consistent as he's
been all year," said coach Joe
Paterno, who won his 350th
game. "He read things well, hit
a couple of open guys and got
them the ball in a hurry."
Robinson had scoring throws
of 35 yards to Ethan Kilmer,
31 yards and 19 yards to Deon
Butler, and 3 yards to Patrick Hall
during a first quarter in which the
Nittany Lions (7-1, 4-1) averaged
more than 11 yards per play on
the way to a 28-3 lead. He had
Penn State's Tony Hunt (26) is forced out of bounds by Illinois' Kevin Mitchell (42) while trying to dive across the goal line at the University of
Illinois in Champaign, 11l
set by Washington in a 10-2 win
over Toronto on March 13, 1987,
and the Bruins' record is five in
an 8-0 win at Minnesota on Jan.
4, 1975, according to the Elias
Sports Bureau.
"Your special teams better be
good because that could be
the difference between a lot of
wins and a lot of losses," said
Scatchard, who signed as a free
agent after spending four full
seasons and part of a fifth with
the New York Islanders.
Boston had just eight power-play
goals in its other eight games this
season but outshot Pittsburgh
47-21.
Crosby, the first pick in this
year's draft, assisted on goals by
Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik in
the third period after Boston had
taken a 5-1 lead. He also missed
an excellent chance 1:33 into the
third period when he hit the left
post on a breakaway.
Thornton, playing his second
game after missing three with a
touchdown runs of 4 and 31 yards
in the second quarter before he
was replaced by Anthony Morelli
with 1:24 left in the half.
Linebacker Dan Connor ran a
fumble back 18 yards for another
score and Rodney Kinlaw scored
on a 1-yard run 26 seconds
before halftime. Nolan McCready
ran an interception back 76 yards
for Penn State's only second-half
score.
"You never expect it to be
this easy," Robinson said after
completing 11 of 18 passes for
194 yards and leading the team
in rushing with 69 yards on seven
carries.
The victory was so decisive that
Robinson and most of his fellow
starters did not play after the
Nittany Lions built a 56-3 halftime
lead to spoil Illinois' homecoming.
The win moved Paterno's record
to 350-117-3 in 40 seasons,
second on the all-time Division
I-A coaching victory list behind
Florida State's Bobby Bowden.
"Did I know it was No. 350? No,"
Paterno said. "It's nice to hear,
though."
Penn State set a new school
back strain, began the night with
six assists and was a physical
presence near the net.
"He was our leader just by his
actions," Bruins coach Mike
Sullivan said. "He's trying to
make a concerted effort to be a
scoring threat himself."
Scatchard gave Boston a 1-
0 lead at 6:50 of the first period
before Gonchar tied it on a power
play.
Then Scatchard gave the Bruins
the lead for good with a power
play goal 4:46 into the second.
Murray passed from the left
circle across to Thornton who fed
Scatchard in the slot for a five
foot forehand past goaltender
Jocelyn Thibault.
"It's frustrating," Thibault said.
"When you're playing 5-on-3, it's
tough."
Samsonov got his fourth goal
of the season while the Bruins
had a two-man advantage before
Thornton scored with a one-man
advantage and Murray got his fifth
The Capital Times, October 24, 2005
record for scoring in a half,
breaking the old mark of 55 set
on Oct. 11, 1947, in the first half
of a 70-0 victory over Fordham.
"You kind of feel bad," said
Robinson, a senior who played
running back and receiver, as
well as quarterback, during his
first three seasons. "You don't
want to do that to teams, but
nobody felt bad when we were
losing like that the past couple of
years."
The defeat was the worst for
Illinois (2-5, 0-4) since a 69-
13 loss to Michigan on Nov. 1,
1986, and marked the second
consecutive home game that the
Illini have given up more than
60 points, after a 61-14 loss to
Michigan State on Sept. 24.
"There's really not a whole lot
you can say," said Illini coach Ron
Zook after watching his team's
losing streak reach five games.
"We're going to keep pushing and
squeezing and turning. I know
there were some good things out
there tonight. We've got to keep
going."
The Nittany Lions rolled up 438
yards, while Illinois gained 244,
its lowest offensive output of the
Sidney Crosby was the first pick in this year's draft.
goal while Boston had two extra
skaters. The four goals came in a
stretch of 9:08 and made it 5-1.
After the goals by Malone and
Orpik, Thornton scored with
5:20 left on an pass from Travis
Green.
Notes:@ The first of Crosby's
two NHL goals came Oct. 8
against goaltender Hannu
Toivonen in a 7-6 Boston win.
season
"I never really felt comfortable
back there," said Illini quarterback
Tim Brasic, who was 8-of-16 for
49 yards. "When you're uneasy
back there, you make mistakes."
Illinois took the opening kickoff
and marched from its own 20 to
the Penn State 23. But a holding
penalty stopped the drive and
the Illini had to settle for Jason
Reda's field goal and a 3-0 lead.
They would gain only 42 more
yards and get only one more first
down for the rest of the half. They
committed nine penalties for 78
yards before halftime.
Just 1:16 after Reda's field goal,
Robinson found Kilmer over
the middle and he outran two
Illini defenders to the end zone
with 8:58 left in the quarter. The
Nittany Lions scored on seven of
eight first-half possessions.
Chris Pazan relieved Brasic
in the third quarter and threw
the interception that McCready
returned for a touchdown. But he
also threw a 3-yard TD pass to
Rashard Mendenhall to complete
a 12-play, 91-yard drive with 2:19
left in the game.
Photo courtesy of AP Sports
Photo courtesy of google.com
... Pittsburgh has led in only one
of its eight games, in the Oct.
8 contest against the Bruins.
... Before the game Boston's
Brian Leetch received the NHL
Milestone Award after becoming
the seventh NHL defenseman to
score 1,000 points. He reached it
last Tuesday with a goal and an
assist in a 4-3 loss at Montreal.