EWU home victories would turn opponents red

NCAA Football Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an effort to boost exposure, Eastern Washington University will literally go in the red this year, replacing the traditional grass surface of Woodward Field with red artificial turf.

The move is admittedly PR-driven, as athletic director Bill Chaves attempts to drum up interest in a program which averages around 5,000 attendees per home game.

"The uniqueness of the red field was able to generate an amazing amount of publicity," Chaves said after announcing his plan.

It is commonly believed in sports, however, that winning is the true elixir. The quality of the product on the field ultimately puts people in the seats. Is it possible then that Eastern Washingtons new "Red Zone" will serve not only as a marketing wonder, but also as a decisive in-game home field advantage?

The Eagles already project to be a formidable unit in the upcoming 2010-11 season. They add quarterback, and SMU transfer, Bo Levi Mitchell to an offense which includes Walter Payton Award nominee Taiwan Jones. The defense is again anchored by standout senior linebacker J.C. Sherritt.

So it appears likely that the Big Sky Conference school will improve upon last season's 8-4 record. But will this improvement be further accelerated by the presence of a potentially bewildering playing surface?

The questions have already begun to mount. Will the brown hue of the football blend in with the red turf? Will opposing quarterbacks be able to detect defenders, draped in red, lurking in the secondary? Will practicing on the field give Eastern Washington an unfair advantage come game day? Visiting teams' pregame preparations will surely include at least a mention of the freakish turf, no?

Those affiliated with Eastern Washington know better than to speculate. As Sherritt, the 2009 Buck Buchanan Award runner-up, said, "Playing on FieldTurf's gonna be great, especially later in the year when it gets cold. I'm looking forward to that. The fact that it's red is just a perk." Sherritt chose to downplay the turf color's significance, but will it supply more of a perk than he anticipates? For an answer, one must look no further than the most recognizable turf in college football, the template for freakish turf, the original, the path blazer, the one and only "Smurf Turf" at Boise State.

When Boise State unveiled their now infamous "Smurf Turf" in 1986, opponents generally considered the field to be a joke. Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier relished the insults, seeing them as proof that opponents had the field in mind, thus enhancing Boise States home field advantage.

Upon the 20th anniversary of "Smurf Turfs" inception in 2006, Boise State had posted a 108-30 home record; a decided home-field advantage.

Chaves admittedly had Boise State in mind when conceiving this venture. While visiting the campus in July 2009, Chaves noticed, "It was the middle of July and people were coming with cameras. It was like a scene out of Field of Dreams. You lay it down and people will come."

Eastern Washington will find out how many will come on Sept 18, when it hosts Big Sky rival Montana in the home opener. Will the "Red Zone" be merely a spectacle for media and fans, or will it prove to be the 12th man in the Eastern Washington attack?

If Boise State is the litmus test, then Chaves and company ought to be encouraged. On Sept. 13, 1986, Boise State defeated Humboldt State, 74-0, in the inaugural "Smurf Turf" game. The win still stands as the largest margin of victory in school history.

Wwwteamtalk NCAA Football Betting News

<< As the wind blows, scores soar at St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After second-round play was stopped for 66 minutes at the British Open, the wind continued to blow at St. Andrews, and in the process, sent scores soaring. With the final group midway through th

<< Montanes into semis in Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Montanes of Spain rolled over second-seeded Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals of the Mercedes Cup tennis event on Friday. Montanes, seeded fifth, cruised over the second-seeded

<< Lightning re-sign Szczechura
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed forward Paul Szczechura to a one-year contract on Friday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Szczechura appeared in 52 games last season for the Lightning, rec

<< Sunderland's Gordon to miss start of new season
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon will miss the start of the upcoming Premiership season after he fractured a bone in his arm. Gordon sustained the injury in training on Thursday after he fell awkwar

<< Szavay moves on in Prague; Garrigues ousted
Prague, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last week's Budapest titlist Agnes Szavay advanced to the semifinals of the $220,000 Prague Open tennis event with a straight set win over Slovenian Polona Hercog. The seventh-seeded Sza

Predators sign Lundmark >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators signed center Jamie Lundmark to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday. The 29-year-old appeared in 36 games between Calgary and Toronto in the 2009-10 season and tallied five

Roberts, Skelton under contract >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals will head into training camp with their two FCS draft choices, quarterback John Skelton and wide receiver Andre Roberts, signed to four-year contracts. Skelton was the Cardinals' fifth-rou

AL Central: Tribe's future will take shape in second half >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For Cleveland Indians fans, the hard part is over. They've endured a first half of the season that saw their team finish 20 games below .500 (34-54) and fall 15 1/2 games off the pace in the American League Central. Grante

Stars sign veteran D Lukowich, three others >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars signed veteran defenseman Brad Lukowich and two others to one-year, two-way contracts on Friday. Lukowich, 33, has registered 23 goals and 90 assists in 653 regular season NHL games with six

Union hopes to halt Toronto's unbeaten run >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC will be trying to extend its unbeaten streak to nine games on Saturday when they visit PPL Park to face the Philadelphia Union. Toronto recorded a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids last

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.